We live in the age of short attention spans and high consumer demands. The longer the shoppers search for products, the lower the chance of a conversion.
One of the most effective strategies to positively impact e-commerce conversion rates is search merchandising.
It can increase them by up to 50% on average.
How can search merchandising improve your site’s search relevancy, boost conversion rates, and grow your sales?
Let’s discuss this.
What is search merchandising in e-commerce?
Search merchandising (also called searchandising) means tailoring your e-commerce search results to fit custom criteria.
It includes boosting certain products, categories, brands, and discounts or rearranging search results so your website visitors notice certain deals (or products) first.
Similar to highlighting some products in brick-and-mortar stores, search merchandising opens many opportunities that can lead retailers to business success.
How can it impact e-commerce business success?
Search merchandising, when applied strategically, can radically boost business success.
64% of shoppers immediately head to a search bar when they feel the urge to buy something.
Helping them find what they need fast can satisfy both sides: the shopper and you as a business owner.
Here’s how search merchandising can help you achieve that.
It increases search relevance.
One of the key benefits of search merchandising is increased search relevance. By boosting certain products or categories (especially seasonal and time-sensitive) you can help searchers spot desired products immediately.
Later, by analyzing customer search patterns and behavior, you can present even more accurate and relevant results for each search query.
For example, if you sell hiking or other outdoor activities-related goods, you can highlight raincoats and umbrellas specifically during statistically expected rainier periods.
This simple hack can radically improve your e-commerce conversion rates.
It improves user experience.
Search merchandising can also improve the user experience on your e-commerce site. Relevant, easy-to-spot, visually appealing products engage customers and keep them on your site longer.
Besides, the smoother the user experience, the more likely the shoppers become loyal, repeat customers.
It is always more rational for your business to play a long-term game. Returning visitors and repeat purchases bring more value at a lower cost for your business.
That’s why ensuring a seamless user experience can drastically improve long-term conversion rates.
It boosts sales.
Undoubtedly, search merchandising boosts sales. Same as you would display certain products in a brick-and-mortar store for customers to buy them, apply the same strategy to online shopping.
Highlighting best-selling products, boosting the most-demanded product campaigns, showcasing new arrivals, and timing promotions based on trends can make a huge impact on your conversion rates and revenue.
In many e-commerce websites, searchers account for as much as 40% of total revenue.
Investing in an advanced search solution (like LupaSearch) and applying the most-effective search merchandising techniques allows you to earn that money.
It helps you make better-informed business decisions.
Finally, search merchandising provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. Once you boost certain products or deals, get back to the data and analyze it.
Spot trends and popular products and identify other crucial customer preferences. It can help you optimize your product offerings, improve the overall customer experience, and adjust the campaigns based on fresh insights.
Continuous improvement in search relevance can highly decrease bounce rates, improve the relevance and help you earn more over time.
Tested strategies for converting search merchandising
To take the most out of converting search merchandising, apply tested and proven strategies.
Make sure your e-commerce search supports search merchandising. If you currently use a default search solution (and it does not allow customizing search results), consider upgrading to an advanced, AI-driven tool like LupaSearch.
Optimize your website and site search for mobile phones. Searchers spend 2.6X more across mobile devices, so optimize your search results for a mobile experience.
Showcase best-selling, most-demanding products, brands, and categories. By simply showing them to potential customers, you greatly increase the likelihood of a purchase.
Showcase similar products, even if you do not have the exact one the user is searching for. For instance, if you are a gourmet food seller, showcase very similar olive brands to the one the person is looking for. In most brand-insensitive cases, users will happily pick alternatives.
Experiment with different strategies. Test different search merchandising strategies to see what works best for your customers and during different times of the year.
Consider personalization. By using data to personalize search results for each customer, you can further improve the relevance and effectiveness of your search merchandising efforts.
Get back to data to guide your decisions. Analyze search data and customer behavior to identify trends, popular products, and other insights you might have missed (or never thought of).
Search merchandising is a powerful strategy for improving your e-commerce conversion rates and growing your business revenue.
Test this highly effective e-commerce sales-boosting strategy and see for yourself.
If you seek to upgrade to an advanced search solution that allows you to fully customize your site search, contact LupaSearch product consultants. Our team will run a free demo, so you can immediately try it on your product feed.