Improving Site Search for E-Commerce Retailers

Where does a website that sells products such as pants and sweaters fail to find their right place?
Where do many customers look for products?
Do e - retailers have higher or lower site abandonment rates?

Transcription

1 codifyd.com Improving Site Search for E-Commerce Retailers KEY STRATEGIES FOR RELIABLE PRODUCT FINDABILITY

2 Introduction Searching an e-commerce website for products is one of the preferred ways customers find and buy what they re looking for. A search box on your website is useful for a variety of customers, from those who don t know what they want to those who know the exact product they need. A search box is only useful, however, if it displays results that match what the customer searched for. Accurate, relevant product results are essential for good product findability, which is how fast and easily customers can find your products. As the saying goes: if customers can t find your products, they can t buy them. = If customers can t find your products, they can t buy them. sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 2 E T F

3 Introduction Many e-retailers struggle, however, to display accurate, relevant search results, which leads to higher site abandonment rates and lower online sales. Why do so many e-retailers struggle with site search? It s not because they lack the right technology; it s because they lack the foundation for effective, reliable site search: highquality product content. In this white paper, we ll talk about what makes for high-quality product content, how it affects your site search performance, and show you that before you can improve site search you must first improve product content. Before we get started, let s first go over some site search basics. Before you can improve site search you must first improve product content. $ E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 3

4 What Is Site Search? When a customer enters a keyword into your website s search box, such as sports watch, your website scans your products and displays a list of sports watches the customer can buy. This functionality is the basis of site search. There are many types of keyword searches customers perform, from simple keywords like sports watch to more advanced ones using part numbers, abbreviations, or product characteristics. The basic functionality of site search. A customer who enters the keyword sports watch into this retailer s search box sees a variety of different watches for sale. sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 4 E T F

5 What Is Site Search? Effective site search should always achieve two basic things: (1) display products that match what the customer searched for and (2) display products that match what the customer expects to see. For example, a search for sports watch should only display sports watches (what the customer searched for) and exclude products like watch straps or batteries (the customer doesn t expect to see accessories). Similarly, a search for cashmere sweaters shouldn t display Oxford shirts because these are irrelevant to the customer s search. The retailer on the left is an example of effective site search. A customer who searches for cashmere sweater sees relevant products that match what the customer expects to see. On the right, a retailer s ineffective site search displays irrelevant products like pants and knit sweaters. E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 5

6 Why Is Site Search Important? According to studies conducted by user experience think tank Neilsen Norman Group 1, more than half of all users are search-dominant. The search-dominant users will usually go straight for the search button when they enter a website: they are not interested in looking around the site; they are task-focused and want to find specific information as fast as possible. Considering many customers prefer to look for products using the search box, it should act like a knowledgeable salesperson and guide them to the right products. Unlike a salesperson, however, a search box can potentially serve millions of customers a month. While this exposure to more customers can lead to higher conversion rates, many e-retailers fall short here because they struggle to accurately steer customers to relevant products. Your search box should act like a knowledgeable salesperson and guide customers to the right products. Why is relevancy so important? Forrester Research Inc., the market research company, predicts online retail sales in the US will reach just under $300 billion in 2014 and forecasts over $400 billion in sales by To take advantage of this tremendous growth and see an increase in online sales, your e-commerce website must put the right products in front of customers. sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 6 E T F

7 Why Product Content is the Foundation of Site Search Since we know relevant search results are the cornerstone of effective site search, how does your website know what products are relevant? Search technology plays an important role, but it s not a magic bullet. Search technology relies on your product content to know what products are relevant to a customer s search. Product content that is organized, consistent, structured, and accurate will always help your technology display more relevant products to customers. As we said before, when a customer searches by keyword your website scans your product content to decide what s relevant (and therefore should be displayed) and what s irrelevant (and therefore shouldn t be displayed). The two types of product content your website scans are product categories and product characteristics. Using our example from earlier, imagine a customer enters the keyword sports watch into a website s search box. Let s say this website sells five different sports watches from five different brands. Each watch has varying levels of product content associated with it: Product Product category Product type Product material 1 Watches Sports watch Resin 2 Watches Sports watch Plastic 3 Watches Swim -- 4 Accessories Plastic watch Rubber 5 Jewelry & accessories Watch Plastic The above product content is what your search technology scans as it decides what products are relevant. If we look more closely at the above product content, a few questions arise:»» If a customer searches for plastic sports watch, will products #1 and #3 both display to customers? * Product #1 lists resin as the product material, but this is inconsistent with the material listed for other products. How will your website know if resin is a type of plastic? * Product #3 is missing content entirely for product material. How will your website know if this watch is what your customer is looking for?»» If a customer searches for sports watch, will products #4 and #5 both display to customers? * Products #4 and #5 don t have the keyword sports watch anywhere in the product content. How will your website know if these products are relevant to your customer s search? * Products #4 and #5 have vague category names such as accessories and jewelry & accessories. How will your website know if these are sports watches or other types of watches? E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 7

8 Why Product Content is the Foundation of Site Search These questions reveal this product content is unorganized, inconsistent, and incomplete. After a customer searches for sports watch on this website, it s likely some of these products won t display to customers, and therefore, it s likely customers won t buy them. As we ve just shown, there are two types of product content your website scans to determine what products to display to customers: (1) product categories and (2) product characteristics. Organized, consistent, accurate, and complete product categories and characteristics help your search technology display more relevant results, and ultimately, contribute to better product findability and higher online sales. Product Categories Product categories refer to how you group, organize, and name the products on your website. When you create product categories it s important to keep site search in mind. They act like a helping hand as your search technology decides what products are relevant to a customer s search. In relation to site search, there are two best practices to follow when you create product categories: 1. Group similar products together 2. Name product categories with words your customers use These best practices ensure your product categories are structured and consistent. Structured product categories are the skeleton on which all your products hang; they tell your search technology what a product is, where it s located on your website, and what products aren t located there. These are need-to-know guidelines for your search technology as it decides what products are relevant to a customer s search.??? sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 8 E T F

9 Product Categories Best Practice #1: Group Similar Products Together When you organize products online, group similar products together and put them in the same place on your website. For example, group all the sweaters in one category, all the cameras in another category, and all the girls toys in yet another category. If similar products are scattered in different places on your website, your search technology has to work harder on its own to know where to look for relevant products. Poor Product Grouping and Organizing Good Product Grouping and Organizing A retail website that sells party supplies. These product categories aren t grouped consistently. There s one category for party decorations, another for graduation party supplies, and a third category for special occasions. If a customer searches this website for streamers, where should your search technology look for relevant products? Another retail webiste that sells party supplies. These products are consistently grouped into distinct product categories. E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 9

10 Product Categories Best Practice #2: Name Product Categories with Words Your Customers Use When you name product categories, use keyword data to learn what your customers call different products. For example, the term dress slacks might be an appropriate name for what people wear to an important meeting, but keyword research shows most customers call these products dress pants. Using customer-preferred language prevents contradictory, inaccurate, confusing, and irrelevant search results. Poor Product Category Naming A retail website that sells makeup brushes. On the left, a customer who navigates to the cosmetic brushes category sees 88 products for sale, but a keyword search for makeup brush on the right shows only nine products. The missing products on the right are a result of poor category naming. Since keyword data reveals more customers call these products makeup brushes, the product category on the left should be renamed to achieve better search results. sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 10 E T F

11 Product Categories Good Product Category Naming This retail website has correctly named their product category makeup brushes. Since keyword data reveals most customers call these products makeup brushes instead of cosmetic brushes, the product category on this website accurately reflect this. Product Characteristics The second type of product content your website scans to determine relevancy is product charateristics. Product characteristics are the defining features of your products customers need to know before placing an order. For example, product characteristics for a belt might be it s color, size, and material. These product characteristics are collectively known as product attributes and values: Product attribute Color Size Material Value Black 38 inches Leather Just like product categories, product characteristics should be structured, consistent, and complete for your search technology to display relevant products to customers. As it relates to site search, there are two best practices to follow when you structure product characteristics: 1. Product characteristics aren t missing 2. Product characteristics described consistently E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 11

12 Product Characteristics Best Practice #1: Product Characteristics Aren t Missing If your products are missing content for key characteristics, these products won t appear in search results. Missing product content leads to under-representation of products, poor product visibility, and lost sales. Missing Product Characteristics A retail website that sells travel mugs. On the left, a customer who navigates to the drinkware category and selects plastic for material sees 33 products. On the right, a keyword search for plastic travel mug shows only seven products. Here, missing content on the right for product material leads to incomplete search results. sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 12 E T F

13 Product Characteristics Complete Product Characteristics An e-retailer that sells lamps. On the left, a customer who navigates to the table lamps category and selects piano for its style sees 52 products. On the right, a keyword search for piano lamp shows the same 52 products. These two search results are identical because content for lamp style isn t missing from the product characteristics. E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 13

14 Product Characteristics Best Practice #2: Product Characteristics Described Consistently Choose consistent words for product characteristics instead of using various synonyms. For example, if you sell kids dressers, use the term dressers across all your product content instead of flip-flopping among dressers, bureaus, and chest of drawers. When you describe products consistently, your search results display a list of products that is complete, which means more products are likely to be purchased. Inconsistency in Product Characteristics A retail website that sells TVs. On the left, a customer who navigates to the flat-panel TVs category sees 638 products, but a keyword search for flat screen TV on the right displays 1,435 products. Lack of consistency between flat-panel TVs and flat-screen TVs means less products appear in search results on the left. sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 14 E T F

15 Product Charateristics Consistency in Product Characteristics An e-retailer that sells refrigerators. On the left, a customer who navigates to the side-by-side refrigerators category sees 141 products for sale. On the right, a keyword search for side-by-side refrigerator shows the same number of results. E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 15

16 In Conclusion In conclusion, product content that is organized, consistent, accurate, and complete helps your search technology display more relevant products to customers. When you invest in high-quality product content you not only display better search results, you also achieve higher conversion rates and increased online sales. Without structured product content, your search technology has little to work with and often displays incomplete, irrelevant, and inaccurate search results to your customers. To learn more about structured product content and how it helps improve site search, visit or call us at (312) to talk to one of our site search consultants lse&highlightterm=ecommerce sales@codifyd.com codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL Page 16 E T F

17 For additional information about Codifyd, please contact your Codifyd sales consultant. us at or visit codifyd.com E sales@codifyd.com T F codifyd.com 800 W. Huron Suite 200 Chicago, IL 60642