{"id":22682,"date":"2024-04-17T12:02:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T14:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/library\/make-digital-merchandising-easier-with-a-good-product-search-solution"},"modified":"2024-09-19T16:53:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T16:53:12","slug":"make-digital-merchandising-easier-with-a-good-product-search-solution","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/en\/blog\/make-digital-merchandising-easier-with-a-good-product-search-solution","title":{"rendered":"Make Digital Merchandising Easier With a \u201cGood\u201d Product Search Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a creative and energized department, marketing has dozens of activities going on at once to move the needle on its annual targets. Quarterly campaigns, paid ads, speaking and networking engagements, virtual and in-person events, and relevant and engaging content \u2014 the list goes on and on. But the ecommerce team within this department needs to concentrate on what actually works to move the needle on conversion rates and revenue.<\/p>\n

Since it\u2019s a role that wears multiple hats and is responsible for numerous key performance metrics (KPIs)<\/a>, your merchandisers likely feel the same as your ecommerce team and greater marketing organization when it comes to online merchandising \u2014 they need to focus on your most successful go-to-market plays. But how can they? These days, this powerful player of your ecommerce team is often saddled with many objectives, including content creation, site experience design, personalization efforts, and A\/B testing.<\/p>\n

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Yet, our research shows that digital merchandisers only have the bandwidth to make an average of 9 to 13 positive ROI decisions per month, and unlike a visual merchandiser, their daily workflows \u2014 and the obstacles that come along with them \u2014 are way more technical and tend to snowball over time. So, why would you even think of investing in a complex solution that makes digital merchandising workflows even more complex and difficult? You wouldn\u2019t dream of it.<\/p>\n

The problem is that there are a lot of merchandising solutions on the market \u2014 like product search <\/a>\u2014 which seem like a steep learning curve for your merchandisers. Worst of all, they require a lot of work to get off the ground and maintain, and IT might not be on board with the total cost of ownership (TCO) of such an undertaking. And the last thing merchandisers need is another pain point when learning to navigate a solution intended to help them. With that being said, it\u2019s time to let an AI-driven product search solution help your merchandisers reach their goals and keep up with all expectations.<\/p>\n

Investing in a \u201cGood\u201d Product Search Solution Is the First Step<\/h2>\n

As a whole, ecommerce experiences should be about meeting a customer’s intent at any given moment \u2014 from the results you display for a given search term to the sort order of categories and the banners you show on the home screen. Think of these moments as opportunities your brand has to start a conversation with your customer. A great product search engine<\/a> needs to step in immediately and optimize core metrics, like revenue per visit (RPV), margin, conversion, add-to-cart (ATC), and more.<\/p>\n

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To hit these KPIs, your business must understand the customer from the beginning of their purchase journey when they make a search query, which requires deep capabilities in natural language processing (NLP)<\/a> and a firm grasp of the product catalog. Your site search bar needs advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to meet these requirements and extract meaning from words in titles and descriptions. Remember, these algorithms work best when they\u2019ve seen years of data to refine results and drive revenue.<\/p>\n

But What Exactly Constitutes a \u201cGood\u201d Product Search Solution?<\/h2>\n

When it comes to determining a \u201cgood\u201d product search solution<\/a>, you must make sure that your merchandisers can use it to cut down on decision time with intelligent insights that automatically surface the best opportunities to improve revenue on your site. The best product search solutions should offer:<\/p>\n