What Is Searchandising and How to Get It Right

Searchandising, or search merchandising, which is what the term stands for, is the practice of promoting specific search results via a website’s search function to achieve business goals. 

Although the term is still fairly novel in e-commerce, in brick and mortar stores, retailers have been trying to guide shoppers’ attention to the products they want them to notice and purchase for decades. Curating search results through searchandising allows online stores to do the same. 

With searchandising, retailers can do two things: 

1. Display products that are relevant to a user’s search query, helping them find whatever it is they’re looking for faster. So, if a shopper searches for “black dress pants,” they are shown only black dress pants (not also, for example, black dresses). 
2. Incorporate promotions and items into searches that align with business goals, like highlighting trending black dress pants or dress pants with higher profit margins. 

From faceted search to auto-complete to recent and related searches, searchandising can comprise many elements, some of which may be manually set while others may be algorithm-driven. For instance, retailers may manually set boost-and-bury rules depending on stock availability, margin, and other attributes. At the same time, they may also use behavioural data and AI to automatically sort products based on personal taste.

Why Is Searchandising Important?

For many shoppers, the search-site function is far more critical than the navigation menu. 

Research shows that about half of users go straight to the search function on an e-commerce site, and buyers are more likely to use this function than browsers. The reason why is that people who use the search function tend to be at the later stages of their “buyer’s journey.” They have done their research, and they know exactly what they want. For them, all that’s left to do is actually find the item they’re looking for. 

The search box promises quick and relevant results. But it doesn’t always deliver, which often leads to these highly qualified buyers moving on elsewhere. 

The fact is that most customers cite irrelevant product results as their top frustration. Unsurprisingly, about a third of visitors leave a site if they can’t find the product they’re looking for. They’re probably not going to return, either. 

The opposite is also true. When browsers see relevant search results, they are not only more likely to convert but also to come back and recommend your store to others. The result is loyal customers and higher lifetime value. 

For retailers, searchandising makes it easier to adapt to business objectives by boosting or hiding products for a particular term. 

How to Make the Most Out of Searchandising 

When it comes to searchandising, there are many strategies you can use. Here are some of the most effective ones. 

1. Automate product tags

If a customer can’t see it, they won’t buy it. Seems simple enough, yet many brands still fail to successfully implement the one thing that makes product discovery easier: product attributes. 

A unique set of features and characteristics, product attributes allow customers to filter their search by things like fabric, cut, or print, which leads to more accurate results and a higher chance of a sale. 

While the vast majority of retailers understand the importance of product attributes, many still tag products manually. Unfortunately, this can often result in costly mistakes where an employee tags a product incorrectly, making it difficult for a buyer to find what they’re looking for. 

Take a look at the below red and white striped t-shirt by Monki. If the product had been tagged incorrectly, it probably would not have surfaced when a user typed in “striped t-shirt.” If a t-shirt like this is precisely what a customer is looking for and they can’t see it, the next place they try might well be your competitor.