Helping site visitors find what they are looking for quickly can be vital to making a sale. Adopting persuasive architecture is a key component, but you can make it even easier by providing a site search facility.
A recent study shows that offering your customers a site search engine can increase your conversions by up to 50%.
Why e-Commerce Sites Need Site Search
The study, conducted by Screen Pages, did a limited sampling of small, branded niche retailers. The study showed that the average conversion rate when customers use the search box is 2.4%, up from a rate of 1.7% percent among customers who don't use the search box – a 30% increase. A third of the Screen Pages study sample group attained up to 50% conversion improvement.
Here are some techniques for maximising your product search facility and boosting your website sales.
Effective Search Techniques
Guided searches were extremely popular, such as the site search engines offered by big e-commerce sites like eBay and Amazon.com, which offer a drill-down search in a sidebar that gradually narrows the options. For example, users can start with “Clothing” and drill down to “Shoes” and then “Boots” and then “Boots under £50.” Guided searches are very effective, as they mimic link navigation.
Prompting shoppers by suggesting products (by name) as the site visitor types in the search box can help streamline the product search process even more. It also fosters strong customer relations, as users are swiftly offered the help they may need.
Identifying Site Improvements
Search engines can also give you valuable insight into your visitors' minds, and can help you market to them more effectively. Many companies offer tracking software to keep tabs on what is being searched on your website, and can then analyse the data to make recommendations.
For example, if you find that many customers are searching for a product you don't yet carry, it's a no-brainer for you to add that product to your offerings. You already know the market for that product exists. Smart use of search engine data can improve your sales measurably.
Search by Product Code
A special note for retailers who offer catalogues: site search engines can – and should – be optimised to search by product code. This will allow visitors with a catalogue in hand to easily find the exact product for which they're looking.
The bottom line? The easier you make it for website users to find what they're looking for, the more likely those users are to convert into customers – and a site search engine can make that happen. If you would like help in implementing a product search engine on your website, please contact us.
