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A well-functioning ecommerce search bar can significantly impact your business’s bottom line.

Effective search can lead to up to 50% higher conversion rates, translating directly to increased sales and revenue [1]. However, the key lies in effectiveness.

If your search engine fails to understand user queries or leads them to dead ends due to typos or synonym usage, you risk losing potential customers and valuable sales opportunities.

This article explores the challenges of typos and synonyms in ecommerce search and provides best practices and tools to overcome them.

The Prevalence of Typos and Synonyms in Ecommerce Searches

Typos are extremely common in online search, occurring in anywhere from 8% to 20% of queries [2].

It happens due to various factors, including:

  • Accidental mistyping: Some users unintentionally misspell a word and type “snekers” instead of “sneakers”.
  • Lack of knowledge: Some users may not know the correct spelling of specific terms, especially for niche products or technical jargon.
  • Different spelling conventions: Regional variations or individual preferences can lead to different spellings of the same word.

Synonyms, on the other hand, arise from the inherent ambiguity of language. Users may express their search intent using different terms with similar meanings.

For example, someone searching for “sneakers” might also use “trainers” or “running shoes.”

If your search engine doesn’t recognize these synonyms, you’ll miss out on customers who are actively looking for your products but using different search terms.

Despite the challenges, there are several effective strategies you can implement to improve your search experience and capture more sales:

1. Choose an Ecommerce Search Solution with Robust Typo Tolerance:

Start by evaluating your current search solution’s capabilities. If it lacks features like spelling correction, consider migrating to a more advanced platform like LupaSearch.

This platform uses AI-powered algorithms to understand user intent even with typos and misspellings, ensuring relevant results regardless of minor errors.

The AI search understands the intent behind a user query (even when it is abstract) and delivers query-matching search results.

2. Implement Autocomplete Functionality:

Autocomplete features suggest relevant search terms as users type, helping them avoid typos and discover alternative product options. Autocomplete can boost conversion rates by up to 24%, highlighting its impact on user experience and sales.

For instance, in LupaSearch, if a user starts typing “camer”, autocomplete and spell-check features can suggest “camera” or “camcorder” as possible queries.

Autocomplete drastically reduces the zero-results page encounters, makes your ecommerce search more user-relevant, and makes the shopping journey shorter.

3. Leverage Synonym Dictionaries:

Synonym dictionaries map different words and phrases to the same product or category. This helps your search engine understand user intent even when they use non-standard terminology.

Some platforms allow manual synonym addition, while others, like LupaSearch, use AI to automatically suggest and add user-relevant synonyms based on search patterns

  • Analyze search queries: Regularly analyze user search terms to identify common typos and synonyms. This helps you refine your synonym dictionary and optimize search performance.

  • Consider regional variations: If you cater to international audiences, account for regional spelling differences and cultural variations in product names.

  • Prioritize user experience: Focus on creating a simple and intuitive search experience that guides users efficiently toward the products they seek.

By implementing these strategies, you can ensure your ecommerce search engine effectively handles typos and synonyms, leading to a more user-friendly experience, increased conversion rates, and ultimately, higher sales for your business.

Remember to focus on providing a relevant and personalized search experience that meets the needs of your customers, regardless of how they choose to express their search intent.

Handle typos and synonyms effortlessly with LupaSearch

LupaSearch is a powerful ecommerce search platform that provides a fast, relevant, and personalized ecommerce search experience.

This ecommerce search gets to the core of your users’ search intents despite typos and synonyms, offers alternative product suggestions, and significantly improves search relevance.

Be at the top of your ecommerce game.

Request a free demo with LupaSearch and let’s see your business growth.

References

  1. Ornaith Killen. Four reasons why site search is vital for online retailers. November 14th, 2013. https://econsultancy.com/four-reasons-why-site-search-is-vital-for-online-retailers/.

  2. Christine Satchell. Cultural theory and design: identifying trends by looking at the action in the periphery. Interactions, Volume 15, Issue 6, pp 23–25. Published: 01 November 2008. DOI: 10.1145/1409040.1409046. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1409040.1409046.