Autosuggest is one of the most central site search features. It can boost ecommerce business sales by 24%. It is an effective tool to improve user experience and increase sales.
What exactly is autosuggest, and how can you use this feature to drive more sales in your ecommerce store?
What is autosuggest in site search?
Autosuggest is a pivotal feature in site search, enhancing user experience and significantly boosting ecommerce sales by providing real-time, relevant search suggestions as users type their queries.
One of the most prominent examples is Google Search. When you start typing your request, Google automatically suggests possible queries. It facilitates and fastens your search experience, allowing you to receive relevant information within seconds.
The same applies to modern ecommerce stores that introduce AI-driven site search that supports autocomplete features.
In this case, a user is typing his request into a search field, and the search algorithm automatically finishes the query and offers similar ultra-relevant suggestions.
Key benefits of autosuggest
As an ecommerce business owner or an e-shop administrator, you should strongly consider introducing autosuggest.
Why?
82% of the top 50 leading ecommerce websites offer an effective autosuggest functionality. When implemented correctly, it can drastically boost conversion rates.
Besides, search and recommendation systems, including autosuggest, reduce search costs for consumers and increase overall sales, with significant benefits for niche products [1]
So, how does autosuggest work, and why should you consider adding it to your ecommerce store?
1. Minimizes zero-result page occurrence
Autosuggest is a critically important feature that reduces the occurrence of no-results pages. If a user accidentally makes a typo, autosuggest offers a fixed search term variation. It is especially relevant for products that require naming specific models (like photo cameras or lenses).
Even if the user types in a correct phrase, autocomplete can guide him to related queries and guarantee the retrieval of the results. Eventually, users will be offered the product they sought, never hitting a dead-end point.
2. Improves in-store customer journey
Autocomplete is a perfect feature to improve and shorten customer journeys. The sooner the website visitor gets to a desired product page, the higher the chance he will make a purchase.
Autosuggest functions significantly improve user interaction speed and satisfaction, despite occasional interaction issues [1].
By providing accurate search terms in real-time, you shorten the time users need to find the products. It can drastically improve search-generated conversion rates.
3. Suggests additional content
Autosuggest is highly engaging in-store content that allows website visitors to find the products they need and learn more about other relevant offers.
Based on autosuggestions, the user can get an idea about related products sold on the website. For example, a person who is searching for _boots _might find it beneficial to choose from various boots sold on the website: _hiking boots, waterproof boots, safety boots, ankle boots, _or lace-up boots.
Based on such search suggestions, a user can get a view of the sold products, specify the search, or get additional ideas about boot types sold on the website.
How to implement autosuggest?
Modern ecommerce platforms, such as LupaSearch, offer integrated autosuggest features that fix typos and provide real-time product suggestions.
By using such an ecommerce platform, you can enhance user experience and boost sales without any coding skills.
Case study of CADENCE: Offline Category Constrained and Diverse Query Generation for E-commerce Autosuggest
CADENCE addresses challenges in query auto-suggestions by using neural networks to generate diverse and relevant query suggestions, improving coverage and reducing the cold start problem.
The approach led to significant improvements in query relevance and product conversion rates [2].
How to use autosuggest to drive ecommerce sales?
You do not need to code or create anything from scratch to drive more sales using an autosuggest feature.
Most AI-based, modern ecommerce search solutions (like LupaSearch) offer an integrated autosuggest functionality. It fixes typos, generates autosuggestions based on your product inventory, and boosts sales.
Such ecommerce search engines automatically check and correct spelling, and provide accurate product suggestions in real time. Besides, it allows you to rank products on the search results based on their profitability (or any other criteria you choose).
Ultimately, such ecommerce search providers as LupaSearch bring your ecommerce business to the next level and provide the practices followed by the top players in the ecommerce market.
The best part is that you do not need any coding experience. The LupaSearch team is there for you.
Contact our product consultant today, and receive a free demo.
References
Hinz, O., & Eckert, J. (2010). The Impact of Search and Recommendation Systems on Sales in Electronic Commerce. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2, 67-77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-010-0092-x.
Furtner, K., Mandl, T., & Womser-Hacker, C. (2015). Effects of Auto-Suggest on the Usability of Search in eCommerce. , 178-190. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17948.