Why Retailers Must Improve the Site Search Experience

Consumers want to be able to easily search a retailer’s website to quickly find what they need, but many aren’t sold on the quality of the site search now offered on many retail sites. This was a frequent failing found of a new study by RichRelevance that examined whether shoppers felt that retailers’ site search experiences met their expectations. These results are no surprise since there haven’t been significant advances in site search in at least ten years. But retailers can’t afford to ignore site search because a poor search experience will frustrate shoppers—and they’ll leave and shop another site with better search. MediaPost.com featured key results from the study to show retailers why they must improve their site search experience.

Shoppers Are Sold on Site Search

Consumers see online shopping as a way to find the products and services they need with the ease and convenience they want. As a result, the ability to easily search a retail site is a top priority to consumers, as shown in the report:

• 83% of shoppers view the search box as very important or important when they shop a retailer’s web or mobile site.
• 76% always or often use the search box at some point in their retail shopping experience.
• 73% are more inclined to leave a retail website if that site doesn’t provide helpful search results.
• 37% say they won’t revisit a site that offers a poor search experience.

Good Site Search Presents Retailers with Better Gifting Opportunities

Much of consumer shopping is devoted to buying gifts for others. But online shoppers want just as much simplicity and speed in finding the perfect gift for others as when shopping for themselves. Not surprisingly, the quality of a retailer’s site search will improve their quantity of sales, as shown in the findings below:

• 48% of shoppers say the ability to easily search and find products on a website is the “most” important part of the online shopping experience.
• 37% think that search is “more important” when they’re searching and shopping for gifts.
• 26% ranked the placement of product reviews and ratings as the second most popular retail site feature.

Retailers Must Ring Up Greater Site Search Performance on All Channels

Today, consumers have access to more digital devices and channels than ever, and they want to be able to shop on each and every digital platform. However, consumers think that retailers have plenty of room for improvement in their omnichannel search performance, as highlighted in the report:

• 35% are generally unsatisfied with their quality of their search results when shopping via mobile.
• 38% think that their search results are worse when shopping on a mobile device than when using a desktop or laptop.
• 36% want their search results personalized to reflect their prior purchasing patterns.
• 28% say that receiving irrelevant product results is their top complaint with site search.

Learn more about the significant advances in site search and how they can impact your brand. Contact MDG Advertising.mdgadvertising.com.

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