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10 eCommerce Site Search Trends From Experts
eCommerce site search is an integral part of a smooth user experience. The more accurate the results of a search, the higher chances your online shop has of securing a sale. Just like all the other elements in the rapidly developing online shopping industry, eCommerce site search solutions are constantly improving in what they can do.
What Is eCommerce Site Search?
Let’s discover the top 10 eCommerce website search trends from experts that would be actual in the nearest 5 years.
#1: Enhanced Voice Commerce
Enhanced Voice Commerce refers to the advancement and integration of voice recognition technology and natural language processing (NLP) within eCommerce site search, enabling users to perform voice-based searches and complete purchases using voice commands.
The future of search tools highly relies on voice recognition technology, which has a market value of nearly $11 billion and is only growing. A big contributing factor behind this rapid growth is voice-enabled shopping. The time efficiency element of looking something up by simply saying it rather than typing it is not the only benefit. Big tech corporations are also making large investments in this technology as it also helps with machine learning development.
#2: Augmented Reality (AR) Integration
Talking about this trend, we mean the incorporation of AR technology to enhance the shopping experience by allowing users to visualize products in a real-world context before making a purchase. AR integration in site search enables users to view and interact with virtual product representations, providing a more immersive and engaging way to evaluate products and make informed buying decisions.
For example, users can use AR to see how furniture would appear in their living room, try on virtual clothing items, or preview cosmetics on their own faces.
AR integration also provides opportunities for increased customer engagement and interactivity. Users can interact with virtual objects, explore different product variations, and even share AR experiences with others. This not only creates a memorable shopping experience but also fosters social sharing and user-generated content, as customers may showcase their AR experiences on social media platforms.
#3: AI-Powered Hyper-Personalization
Recent research by a platform specializing in personalization found that eCommerce sites that display personalized search results have an ROI of $20 for every $1 spent. It clearly shows the necessity for eCommerce owners to have advanced customization and tailoring of search results and recommendations based on individual user preferences, behavior, and real-time data. It involves leveraging customer data, machine learning algorithms, and artificial intelligence to deliver highly personalized and relevant search experiences to each user.
With hyper-personalization, eCommerce sites can create unique user profiles that consider factors such as past purchases, browsing history, demographics, location, and even real-time contextual information. This data is then utilized to dynamically adjust search results, showcasing products that align with the user’s preferences and interests. For example, if a user frequently purchases sports-related items, the site search can prioritize displaying sports-related products or even recommend new products within that category.
Users are more likely to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, reducing the time spent searching and increasing the chances of making a purchase. Moreover, the personalized search experience can create a sense of individualized attention, making users feel valued and understood by the eCommerce platform.
#4: Blockchain-Powered Search
By implementing Blockchain-Powered Search, eCommerce sites can leverage the decentralized nature of blockchain to ensure the authenticity and origin of products. Each product can be assigned a unique identifier or digital certificate that is recorded on the blockchain, providing an immutable record of its journey from production to the point of sale. This helps in verifying the legitimacy of products, reducing the risk of counterfeit items being sold.
Furthermore, blockchain technology enables transparent and tamper-proof product information management. All product details, such as specifications, manufacturing data, and customer reviews, can be securely recorded on the blockchain, ensuring their integrity and preventing unauthorized modifications. This enhances the trustworthiness of product information provided through the search results, allowing users to make well-informed decisions.
Blockchain-Powered Search also offers improved data privacy by empowering users with more control over their personal information. Users can have ownership of their data and choose to share it selectively with eCommerce platforms or advertisers, ensuring their privacy preferences are respected.
#5: Advanced Search Filters
It’s not a secret that the implementation of more sophisticated and granular filtering options enables users to narrow down their search results to find products that precisely meet their requirements.
Advanced search filters allow users to specify attributes such as size, color, material, style, ratings, availability, and more, depending on the nature of the products being sold.
As an example, we can consider the situation where a user is looking for a new laptop. They filtered by processor type, selecting an Intel i7, and narrowed the screen size to 15 inches (ca. 38 cm). Finally, they filtered by storage capacity, opting for a minimum of 512 GB SSD. Within minutes, your client found the ideal laptop that met her performance, size, and storage needs, thanks to the advanced search filters provided by the eCommerce site.
Advanced search filters are an essential aspect of eCommerce site search trends, providing users with a powerful tool to streamline their search process and discover products that closely match their individual preferences.
#6: Search-As-User-Type
With Search-As-User-Type, as users start typing in the search bar, the system quickly generates and displays relevant search results that match the entered keywords or phrases. Additionally, auto-complete suggestions dynamically appear, predicting the user’s search intent and offering possible search queries based on popular or frequently searched terms. This feature saves users time and effort, as they can quickly evaluate the search results and refine their query while still typing.
This trend in eCommerce site searches not only improves the overall user experience but also increases the chances of users finding the products they are looking for, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
#7: Cross-Channel Search Integration
Imagine that Sarah searches for a unique piece of jewelry on a retailer’s website, then seamlessly transitions to their mobile app. Using advanced search filters, she narrows down her options by metal type, gemstone, and price range. Sarah saves a necklace to her wishlist, and later completes the purchase on the Instagram Store with a few taps.
In this example, Sarah benefits from Cross-Channel Search Integration as she effortlessly transitions between the website, mobile app, and social media, exploring and purchasing jewelry in a seamless and convenient manner.
With the web development technology, the Internet in general, and the devices used to browse it being so dynamic, there is no singular online shopping experience. People search for products across different channels and devices, all leading to your eCommerce site. This means that the semantic search tool needs to be optimized for all devices and platforms to a point where users don’t have to think twice about how to find or use it.
#8: Gamification Elements
In the context of eCommerce site search, gamification elements can take various forms. For example, progress bars or achievement badges can be implemented to track and showcase user progress as they navigate through search results or complete specific actions. Points, rewards, or virtual currencies can be awarded to users for active participation in the search process, such as submitting reviews, sharing products, or making purchases. Leaderboards can be introduced to encourage healthy competition among users, motivating them to engage more actively with the search feature.
Gamification elements have the potential to make the eCommerce site search experience more immersive, interactive, and entertaining. They tap into human psychology, leveraging the innate desire for achievement, recognition, and a sense of accomplishment.
#9: Visual Search
The line between the real world and the virtual world is becoming thinner, and visual content search is part of the reason why this is happening. Text information is useful, but there is nothing that beats a great picture. Now imagine seeing someone wearing a pair of shoes that you liked, all you have to do is take a quick picture of them with Google Lens and countless offers from different online stores will show up.
Another eCommerce search example is right-clicking a picture of a product that you are interested in and selecting “Search Google for image”. This is another reason why having product images that meet the best practices is important, as they are more likely to rank higher and appear in the results.
#10: Chatbot Assistance
So we established that the technology used for eCommerce website search engines should be as sophisticated and advanced as possible. But what if that’s not enough and a shopper doesn’t see the relevant result? An AI-powered chatbot or a chat widget is the solution. Besides acting as a personal assistant that is available 24/7, chatbots can turn a potentially bad experience into a good one by directing the shopper to the right product.
Conclusion
As the eCommerce industry continues to evolve, embracing these trends can provide businesses with a competitive edge, foster customer loyalty, and drive conversion rates. By prioritizing the implementation of these trends, eCommerce platforms can elevate the site search experience and meet the growing demands and expectations of modern online shoppers.
Also remember, that any great search experience is as good as the product information that appears in the online store. The more organized and clear the information is the better the search experience a customer will have and using a PIM solution will help you achieve that.
eCommerce Search FAQ
How Do I Increase Search Results On eCommerce Websites?
There are a few methods that help online shop owners optimize search performance. Some are technical, some are user behavior-related. For example, there should always be a search algorithm in your site’s code that sorts the most relevant and popular items first. There should never be alphabetical sorting since it serves no helpful purpose, users are looking for specific items and don’t tend to pay attention to the way they are spelled.
Another user behavior is that people like to “scroll through”, social media apps are a good example of implementing this in their UX. By implementing infinite scrolling, you are forcing shoppers to go over all of your catalogs and increase the chances of them buying more items.
What Is The Best Search Engine For eCommerce?
There is no one best eCommerce search solution for this as every online retailer has its own needs, product specifics, and business models. However, from a technical point of view, if for example, your online shop operates on Magento, it’s best to go with a faceted search that is native to it or any other system that is being used.
How To Get The Best ROI From Site Search?
Employing different analytical tools is always helpful to see how users act and to draw certain conclusions. For example, you can notice that a certain percentage of users searching for an “x” word leads to a high rate of abandoned sessions. This means that there must be some correlation with the results they are seeing and adjustments need to be made.
Another way of getting the best ROI is displaying products with a higher value first unless selected otherwise by a shopper. It also doesn’t have to be necessarily the price tag but can be products that you are eager to remove from your stock. Additionally, running follow-up campaigns based on user searches that didn’t lead to purchases can also increase your ROI.
