Your search engine should be as helpful as a friendly store assistant. Have you ever walked into a store with only a vague idea of what you want and no idea where to start? Fortunately, a helpful assistant guides you straight to your item, and suddenly, shopping feels like a breeze.
But here’s the thing: Online, customers might type in something vague, like “blue shirt,” when they’re really after a “men’s slim-fit navy button-down shirt.” An ideal search engine is intuitive, helps understand your customers’ needs, and guides them to the right product.
So, what makes a search engine the best option for your ecommerce business? This blog will discuss the five most important features to look for in a powerful search engine and provide some helpful tips so you can start using one today.
What Is the Role of Search Engines in Ecommerce?
What comes to mind when you think of search engines? Most people answer Google. Ecommerce search engines, unlike Google’s, are focused on helping you find products in an online store instead of a broader range of content.
These types of search engines function as virtual guides, helping your customers find the products they need. Its primary role is to take your site visitor’s search queries and sift through the vast amount of data on your site or product catalog to present the most relevant results.
A good ecommerce search engine will leverage artificial intelligence to elevate the shopping experience by making it easier for customers to navigate the site and find what they want. This convenience can lead to higher customer satisfaction and increased sales, as users are more likely to complete a purchase when they find what they need quickly and efficiently.
However, not all search engines are created equally. Accuracy, speed, and relevance are crucial in search results. If a customer searches for “running shoes,” they expect to see the most relevant options first, including bestsellers and items in their size. If the results are slow or irrelevant, it can lead to frustration, causing the customer to leave the site without buying.
Five Important Features To Look for in an Ecommerce Search Engine
A well-optimized search engine doesn’t just help customers find what they’re looking for; it enhances their entire shopping experience, driving higher satisfaction and sales. To make the most of this critical tool, here are five essential search features to consider when selecting the right option for your ecommerce store.
Advanced Search Algorithms
Many retailers are losing sales because customers can’t find the right product. Don’t let that be you. Select a search engine with advanced search algorithms.
Algorithms use processes and rules to help customers find what they want. They process the query and search the site’s database to find the best match. However, the algorithm goes beyond showing all products related to the query.
It will sort and rank the results to make them relevant and personalized. The algorithm considers factors like the product’s popularity and past shopping behavior.
For instance, if your customer searches for a “red dress,” the algorithm will not just show every red dress. It will show a red dress of the right size, of a preferred brand, and even discounted options based on browsing and purchase history.
Bloomreach offers AI-powered site search to ensure that your customer is shown the most relevant product. It’s powered by Loomi AI, which is specifically built for ecommerce use cases so you can deliver the best ecommerce search available.
User Intent Prediction
User intent is why your customer types a query into the search engine. But as we discussed above, a customer can ask a vague query or make a spelling mistake.
Your search engine should understand the user’s intent despite the errors. Not everyone might realize they’ve made a mistake and correct it, or they may not know exactly what terms to put into the search bar. As a result, if they don’t find a specific product, they’ll assume your site doesn’t have it.
With Bloomreach, you get ecommerce site search with day zero learnings — our AI has been learning from 14+ years of data on how consumers shop, giving you a seamless way to understand customer intent right from the start. This means that even before a user starts typing a query into the search bar, you’ve already benefited from years of commerce-specific data incorporated into our algorithms, informing our search retrieval and ranking processes. For instance, when a customer searches for a “black waterproof Bluetooth speaker,” Loomi AI effortlessly identifies “speaker” as the product and recognizes “black” and “waterproof” as descriptors.
By harnessing natural language processing (NLP), Loomi AI enables semantic understanding, ensuring you don’t have to worry about keyword matching alone. Our semantic engine is already parsing out attributes and applying known synonyms, so your customers receive relevant search results even when their queries are unclear or contain typos. With machine learning (ML), Loomi AI adapts in real time, learning from user behavior to continually enhance performance. This powerful combination ensures that your customers find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, improving their overall experience on your site.
Personalization and Customization
Have you ever noticed how some online stores intuitively know what you want? That’s the power of personalization. Your ecommerce search engine can also offer personalized recommendations.
Picture this: A returning customer logs in and is immediately greeted with a pair of shoes they looked at last week but didn’t purchase, along with suggestions tailored to their past searches.
Providing a personalized customer experience is your key to increasing conversion rates and average order values. Even better, personalization transforms browsing into a more enjoyable experience — almost like having a personal shopping assistant at your fingertips.
Bloomreach enables true personalization by analyzing a user’s behavior and preferences to deliver relevant and accurate search results. Whether it’s customizing the search experience for different customer segments or adapting in real time to individual browsing habits, Loomi AI ensures that every visitor feels understood and valued.
Plus, with Loomi AI’s no-code product discovery platform, you can easily customize the algorithms that power your site. Make quick adjustments, test different strategies, and deploy changes effortlessly — without relying on your tech team.
Just look at MKM — the brand boosted total web orders by 4% and revenue by 2% using the power of personalization in its search engine.
Faceted Search and Filtering Options
Filters and facets can significantly improve how customers interact with your site, helping them find exactly what they’re looking for more quickly and easily.
Filters are broad categories that help narrow product search results based on general criteria, such as customer ratings or price ranges. They can be applied before or after a search, ensuring your customers can easily adjust their options to suit their needs.
Facets, on the other hand, dive deeper into specific attributes related to the search results. They allow customers to refine their searches by selecting particular features like brands, colors, or model years. Facets are especially helpful on search and category pages, as they rank options based on product count, relevance, and user engagement, making it easier for shoppers to discover what they want.
Bloomreach gives you control over facets so that you can boost and always show facets across your entire site, or remove facets you never want to appear on promotional campaign pages. With Bloomreach’s ecommerce search solution, you can enhance each customer’s shopping experience and increase satisfaction.
Speed and Performance
Modern online users expect quick results, and even a slight delay can lead to frustration and lost sales. If your search engine doesn’t deliver relevant results promptly, users will likely leave your site to look for a faster option.
Bloomreach can bridge this gap with our lightning-fast search capabilities and minimal downtime. Our site search tool ensures customers enjoy a seamless and swift shopping journey. Remember, speed isn’t just about time; it’s about building trust, enhancing efficiency, and keeping customers engaged for the long haul. With Bloomreach, you can provide the fast, relevant results that today’s shoppers demand, helping you drive conversions and foster loyalty.
Tips for Implementing Ecommerce Search Engine Effectively
Usability Testing and User Feedback
Usability testing involves evaluating your search engine by observing real users as they interact with it. This hands-on approach provides valuable insights into how effectively your search performs. For example, watching users navigate your search engine can help identify hurdles they encounter, such as a confusing layout or an ineffective search bar. Understanding these pain points allows you to make necessary adjustments.
Bloomreach helps streamline this process by offering AI-driven tools that monitor user behavior in real time. It also allows you to gather user feedback directly within the search interface. This means you can solicit input from customers seamlessly, creating a continuous feedback loop for ongoing improvements.
Continuous Optimization
A/B testing allows you to test changes to your search engine before rolling it out. By running these tests, you gain insights into what truly drives conversions, enabling you to make data-backed decisions to boost your conversion rates.
Bloomreach allows you to test every element of your search engine, from redirects to category rankings, ensuring that every change you make directly enhances the user experience and increases sales. The platform’s flicker-free technology guarantees that your customers only see the content you want them to see.
Beyond just A/B testing, Bloomreach leverages first-party data to provide you with reliable, actionable insights from the moment a customer engages with your site. This means you can continuously refine your search functionality, tailoring it to meet user needs more effectively and driving higher conversion rates.
Analytics and Reporting Tools
Things move fast in ecommerce, and you need quick insights to thrive. Effective search analytics tools transform complex data into actionable insights, allowing you to track user behavior, identify search trends, and enhance the overall search experience.
By monitoring key metrics such as search conversion rates and click-through rates, you can gauge how well your search functionality is meeting user needs. For instance, if many people search for a specific item but don’t find it, Bloomreach’s analytics can highlight this issue, prompting you to adjust your inventory or customize any search rules you have in place accordingly.
Moreover, Bloomreach’s intuitive platform simplifies the data analysis, so you don’t need a technical background to interpret the information. With customizable dashboards, you can visualize the data that matters most to your business, making it easier to identify trends and spot opportunities.
Seamless Integration Capabilities
A search engine that doesn’t integrate well with your ecommerce platform can lead to a host of issues, from poor user experience to costly development work. For businesses aiming to optimize their search functionality, it’s essential to choose a search solution that easily aligns with their current technology stack.
Bloomreach simplifies this process with its robust integration capabilities. Seamlessly connect with a wide range of ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce. With powerful APIs and developer tools, Bloomreach gives you the flexibility to tailor your search experience, helping your business scale efficiently as it grows.
Analyze Search Query Results
Search query reports allow you to understand user behavior and identify search patterns. They provide insight into how users interact with your website’s search functionality, allowing you to optimize the relevance and accuracy of search results.
Search relevance measures how well the search results align with the user’s query. By analyzing search queries, you can enhance search relevance by tailoring results based on various factors, such as user intent, business goals, textual relevance, spelling accuracy, and geographical location. For example, if customers frequently add a specific cocktail dress to their cart, you can surface that particular item more often in the results, improving the chances of conversion.
Bloomreach’s analytics tools are specifically designed to assist with this process. With features like real-time search query tracking, you can gain immediate insights into search queries, identify trending products, and spot zero-result searches that indicate potential gaps in your offerings. This data empowers you to make informed adjustments to your search functionality, ensuring a smoother and more satisfying user experience.
Build Stronger Search Functionality for Your Ecommerce Website With Bloomreach
By investing in a strong site search solution for your online store, you can start providing relevant search results that boost revenue, enhance customer satisfaction, and position you as an industry leader.
Essentially, you need something like Bloomreach Discovery — a comprehensive search solution that meets all your needs and more. With AI-driven features like real-time search tracking and semantic understanding, Bloomreach ensures your customers find exactly what they want. Elevate your ecommerce experience and transform your search functionality today.
Want to see how it works? Get started with a personalized demo today.
