The search function at the heart of your UX: how to optimize your online store

Imagine the following: Customers visit your online store full of anticipation for a new favorite item. They type the desired product into the search bar, press enter and - nothing. Or even worse: a flood of irrelevant search results. The result? Frustration, wasted time and potentially lost customers. The search function is like the Swiss army knife of every online store, because it is the key to your products and therefore the decisive factor for the success or failure of your user experience. We have taken a closer look at this topic and prepared a short guide for you on how to implement the online search function correctly.

The power of the search

A well-optimized search function can have a considerable impact on your customer satisfaction - both positive and negative. After all, we've all been there: you're looking for a certain product but can't find it directly using the online store's search function. This frustrates potential buyers and may mean that these customers do not return. A poor search function can damage your brand image, affect customer loyalty and cause your sales to decline.

On the other hand, a well-optimized search function can increase the satisfaction of your buyers, increase your conversion and traffic rates and ultimately boost your sales. A well-optimized search function also helps your products to be found and ranked better by search engines.

All in all, search is a decisive factor for the success of your online store. But how exactly can you optimize and adapt the search function as an online retailer? Here is a Guidethat can help you optimize your UX:

1. Accessibility & Usability

The search function should be designed to be accessible in accordance with current standards and comply with the legal requirements of the Accessibility Act meet the requirements. This includes ease of use, texts in plain language and support for screen readers. In addition, your search function should motivate visitors to vary their search prompts, for example by using auto-suggest to display other similar and popular search terms and categories. It is also very important that the search results are clearly structured and displayed correctly on all devices, both mobile and web-based. With the help of a detailed filter, the search results can also be sorted according to relevance and ascending or descending purchase price.

2. High quality of product data

The search function is primarily based on correctly stored product data. In order to deliver optimal results, this data must be complete. This means that in addition to the relevant product name, certain properties must also be assigned to your product selection, such as the fit, size and color for clothing items or the article number. Product texts and product images also complement your selection and simplify display and filtering in search engines. Maintaining this product data is the be-all and end-all of a functioning search function. This is where modern store systems such as SAP Commerce Cloud come in handy, as the "Product Cockpit" allows online retailers to analyze the data quality of the products they offer.

3. Choosing the right search engine

There are various search engines for online stores, depending on requirements and budget. It is important to choose a solution that meets your individual needs. You should therefore draw up a list of criteria in advance and send it to your provider in order to find the optimal solution for your store. Apache Solr is the ideal open source engine here, as it is also directly linked to the SAP Commerce Cloud. Nevertheless, programming knowledge or professional help is required for correct implementation and customization. However, once optimally set up, the service offers a precise full-text search, real-time indexing of your products and the option of highlighting hits. Other alternatives include FactFinder, Algolia or Elastic Search.

4. Support for your search function through AI

Artificial intelligence can sustainably and continuously improve the search function through machine learning and personalization. This delivers more relevant results and optimizes the user experience. Personalization is a particularly important factor in e-commerce. Once the customer has registered with your store, the results of the search function - fed by previous shopping behaviour and old search queries - should also be individualized.

5. Ongoing optimization

Optimizing your search function is a dynamic process that is constantly adapting and evolving. Search queries should therefore be continuously monitored and optimized. To keep your search function up to date and guarantee your customers the best possible service, you should analyze search errors, regularly adjust relevance criteria and study your customers' search behavior using analytics data, for example.

Conclusion

It's often just the little things that make an online store successful. However, user-oriented search filters and relevant search results are the key to a good user experience and customer loyalty and could give your e-shop a decisive advantage.