- Reduce Bounce Rate
Searchandising: Sales promotion via search technology
80% of online shoppers use the search technology of online stores to find the items they want.¹ So it's no surprise that site search today must not only be able to search, but also sell. When a visitor uses the search function, they are usually interested in a product, and store operators should take advantage of this. Searchandising aims to do just that. Want to know more? Then read on.
What does searchandising mean?
Searchandising is a term from e-commerce that combines the two words " search " and " merchandising." The aim is to use the search function as a sales promotion tool. Search technology is no longer seen purely as a "search and find" tool, but also as a supporting marketing instrument.
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The challenge here is that search technology and merchandising campaigns actually have different goals: search functions aim to show users exactly the products they are looking for. Merchandising, on the other hand, aims to sell certain products or product groups, regardless of whether the customer is looking for these items or not. Therefore, searchandising must be approached sensitively in order to combine both goals and ensure that the customer:
a) relevant and
b) Products belonging to the merchandising campaign
are displayed, which he then likes to buy.
The role of search technology
To use searchandising in your own online shop, you need to integrate search technology that includes various features. This technology should be customizable and understand what the customer wants. After all, searchandising is only as good as the online shop's onsite search. That's why features such as:
- an intelligent ranking,
- effective fault tolerance,
- an automatic autosuggest and
- user-friendly after-search navigation
Basic requirements for searchandising. Standard search technologies are usually unable to do this, which is why the first step in searchandising is to ensure that the search technology is correctly configured. In addition, individual configuration options should be available in order to implement merchandising campaigns.
Searchandising with search technology
Once an intelligent search function has been integrated into the online shop, searchandising can begin. There are no limits to the creativity of the shop operator here. The most popular measures are:
- promoting products,
- the general reclassification of products,
- the integration of banners and landing pages.
Promoting products
The best-known measure is probably product promotion. It has long been clear that the higher a product appears in the search results page, the more likely it is to be seen by customers. For example, if a customer types "jeans" into the search field and there is currently a marketing campaign for a particular brand of jeans, the matching pants can be manually ranked higher to boost sales. Especially with such unspecific search terms, pushing individual products or brands hardly affects the relevance of the search results page, but the advertised products are much more likely to be noticed.
General reclassification of products
It can also make sense to reorder entire results lists. For example, during the sale phase, the order of the search results list can be based on relevance, in:
- Sale items
- new articles
- other items
be changed. The customer will therefore first be shown sale products that match their search query, bringing these to the forefront.
Sorting the results list in the epoq demo shop by T-shirts on sale
Integration of banners
The integration of banners for specific search terms is another classic searchandising campaign. For example, if there is a summer promotion highlighting aqua colors, this color should be displayed to the customer as a banner at the top of the search results page every time they search for summer items (and related, frequently searched terms), thus making it clear to them.
Integration of banners in the epoq demo shop
Banners and landing pages
Banners can also be linked to special landing pages for campaigns that display all products included in the promotion. For a promotion offering free shipping on laptops, for example, this means that a special theme page is generated with all laptops available in the online shop. This measure is particularly useful for brand campaigns and promotions with many different products, so that customers can immediately see all relevant items and do not have to search for them themselves.
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Our conclusion: Searchandising – a win-win situation for shoppers and store operators
Searchandising combines the search technology of online shops with merchandising. This allows onsite search to be used as a sales promotion tool. It is important that the search function is designed intelligently and that the seemingly contradictory goals of site search and merchandising are combined. Then both can support each other and bring added value to both the customer and the shop operator.
Source: ¹ E-commerce guide
Janina Küpferle
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