When eCommerce site search is working well, it is a dream for your customers; they can find what they’re looking for on the first try.  No need to endlessly click through your site’s categories and attributes.  Unfortunately, eCommerce search is too often scaring customers away.  At a time when years of eCommerce progress has been made in a matter of months, it’s even more important than ever that your site search is up to scratch.  We’ll look at six scary statistics and the ways that you can ensure your site search is not one of the frightening ones…

Scary Statistic #1

70% of eCommerce search implementations are unable to return relevant results,

requiring users to search using the exact same jargon as the site[1]

Yes, that’s right, nearly three-quarters of eCommerce site searches will only return the right products if the customers happen to use the right language.  That’s a lot of lost revenue when those customers become frustrated and abandon the site.

To ensure that your customers can find what they’re looking for, you need a Natural Language search solution.  Natural Language search solutions find different versions of the same terms so that pluralities and tenses can be managed.  For example, it wouldn’t make any difference if a customer used the term “mens”, “man”, “men” or “womens”, “women”, “ladies”.  An intelligent Natural Language search system will understand this automatically, without any input.

Scary Statistic #2

34% of eCommerce site searches don’t return useful results when users search for a model number or misspell just a single character in the product title[2]

This scary statistic raises 2 important issues:

1. Misspelling

A good spell correction system is not just about correcting, but about finding words that occur in the product data which most closely match what the user described.

With EasyAsk’s intuitive search system, your product data becomes the look-up dictionary, meaning that your customers don’t have to match the spelling of your products exactly.

2. Complex Product Numbers

Whilst most good search systems will find common misspellings, they lack the ability to deal effectively with part or model numbers.  Consumers who are taking the time to type in a part number are undoubtedly more ready to buy, so it is even more important that they are able to find what they are looking for.  This is a particular issue for B2B companies.

EasyAsk has the ability to index part and model numbers comprehensively, indexing all variations to ensure that users can find the product, even if they forget or mistype part of the number.

EasyAsk’s ‘Part Number Expander’

A ‘Part Number Expander’ is especially useful for complex part numbers that include a combination of letters, numbers, and other characters.  A user might forget whether characters were separated by a hyphen or a slash, or might omit letters from the end.

The Part Number Expander takes each part number and creates all the different versions of terms, inserting them into the searchable index so that if any of them are searched for, they will match to the product.  The code is broken up into parts and the separators are substituted in all combinations.

For example, if the part number is

123-HC/1345AB

the Part Number Expander would index:

123-HC-1345AB                                     123

123/HC/1345AB                                    123-HC

123/HC-1345AB                                    HC

123 HC 1345AB                         1345

…amongst many other combinations.

If a customer types a part/model number that is slightly different (for example, using spaces instead of hyphens) the correct product will still be found.

JLMWholesale.com demonstrates how Part Number Expander can avoid no results for customers:

The part number for this door handle is 1191-E-3 US32D.  If a customer replaces the hyphens with spaces and omits the last section of the part number, the exact product is still returned.

Scary Statistic #3

If people have a negative experience on mobile, they’re 62% less likely to purchase from you in the future[3]

A negative experience will stay with prospects longer than a positive one, so if you want your mobile customers to become regular, you’ll need to make sure you’re not putting them off with a poor user experience compared to your desktop site.

Does your site have a mobile responsive design, so that the text, images, and menus change according to the screen size?  Furthermore, as your site adapts to a mobile size, do you show relevant categories and attributes, as opposed to just the first ones from the desktop site.

Customers using a mobile eCommerce site are more likely to use voice input, and therefore different word choices and sentence structures when speaking.  Your search system needs to be able to cope with voice input and the long-tail queries that are more likely on mobile.

Scary Statistic #4

46% of e-commerce sites have a “No Results Page” implementation that is essentially a dead-end for users, offering no more than a generic set of search tips[4]

Generating a generic ‘Sorry, no results matched your search’ message could be disastrous.  How many shoppers would stay on your site and how many would go straight to your competitor?

There are better ways to use a ‘No Results’ page, but what if it was possible to avoid searches returning no results in the first place?

It may be that a simple spell correction rectifies a ‘No Results’ search, but it is also important to monitor what EasyAsk calls ‘relaxed’ searches.  A relaxed search is one where the search system has modified the search by intelligently dropping (or ‘relaxing’) a term or terms.

For example, if a customer searched for a ‘Men’s black lace jacket’ and there are no products that match this description, we would want the results to show ‘Men’s black jackets’, rather than ‘Men’s lace jackets’ or ‘black lace jackets’, having relaxed the term ‘lace’.  Some searches will inevitably need to be modified and in this example, we want our search system to recognize that the gender stated in the search query is more important than the fabric.

If a user’s search has been modified (such as by spell correcting or relaxation) it is important to display a message explaining the changes to the original search.  For example, a user may search for “purple leather couches” and see the following message:

This user could have searched for leather couches in the first instance and spent a long time scrolling through the pages of results looking for any in purple.  But by using messaging in this way, the user is informed immediately and is more likely to use the search system again.

So-called intelligent ‘No Results’ pages will suggest searches based on what a user asked for, but truly intelligent search systems will change the search to find relevant products based on what the user asked for, even though there may not be an exact match.

Scary Statistic #5

It’s 5 to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing one[5]

A worrying number of businesses still don’t use merchandising tools such as cross-sells and up-sells effectively on their eCommerce sites.  These businesses are leaving money on the table.

EasyAsk’s search solution includes a comprehensive set of merchandising controls.  With 9 predefined promotion types, banners, and business rules, amongst other functions, the business user is in control of the products that are presented to the customer.

Scary Statistic #6

36% of autocomplete implementations on eCommerce websites do more harm than good[6]

Although basic autocomplete suggestions can be found on 82% of eCommerce sites, most sites do not take the opportunity to capitalize on merchandising while users are searching.

As a user types into a search box supported by EasyAsk, however, search suggestions and category suggestions will be displayed as well as the products themselves.

EasyAsk offers ‘Search as you Type’, or SAYT, because it means a whole lot more than just a list of suggested searches.  It means many possibilities for getting the right products in front of your customers.

SAYT progressively searches for and filters through text.  As a user types a query, suggestions, products, categories, and attributes are found and presented with each keystroke.  This allows a user to stop short of typing the entire word or phrase and find what they were looking for quicker.

Search suggestions as well as relevant and popular products, attributes, and categories can all be displayed in an easy to use interface.

Here is an example from EasyAsk customer personalizationmall.com:

The user is looking for a wedding gift and the letters ‘wedd’ have been typed into the search box on the desktop site so far.  The above drop-down panel is displayed without needing to execute the search.  Alongside the search suggestions in the right-hand column, a popular category to browse and 7 products are displayed, based on the first search prediction, ‘wedding’.  Scrolling through the search suggestions using the down and up arrows updates the real-time search and therefore the categories and products displayed.  Personalization Mall could have also configured their search so that it updates just by a mouse hover for a certain amount of time.

Typed characters are shown in bold in the list of suggestions, with the rest of the suggestion in normal type.  Often, autocomplete systems only show suggestions that begin with the typed characters, but we can see here that the suggestions can contain ‘wedd’ anywhere.

Presenting customers with the most relevant search, product, and category suggestions is essential.

Conclusion

When your site search is performing well, customers won’t be scared off, and your business won’t become one of the statistics above.

Getting the right products in front of the customer as quickly as possible shortens the path to conversion, keeping your customers and your bank balance happy.

Follow the tips and best practices in EasyAsk’s upcoming eGuide: “Preparing for the Holiday Season: A Guide for your Ecommerce Site” to ensure your customers find the right products the first time.

[1] https://baymard.com/blog/ecommerce-search-report-and-benchmark

[2] https://baymard.com/blog/ecommerce-search-report-and-benchmark

[3] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/advertising-channels/mobile/few-tips-speed-your-mobile-site-and-tools-test-it/

[4] https://baymard.com/ecommerce-search/benchmark/page-types/no-search-results-page

[5] https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers

[6] https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/the-current-state-of-e-commerce-search/

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B2B eCommerce: Benefits

B2B eCommerce has many benefits for any company looking to streamline their procedures, reduce costs and increase sales.

The rise in popularity of purchasing online means that the doors are open for your business to the national or international marketplace. Your business needs to be online, where the customers are. Your B2B customers are also B2C customers of someone else, and they are used to the B2C experience. They expect functionality and UX that mimics Amazon and the like. Use this to your advantage and take tips from B2C, such as increasing order value by offering cross-sells or up-sells.

B2B commerce traditionally happens through sales reps, catalogs and call centers. These routes to purchase are expensive compared with eCommerce. Providing a great experience to B2B customers online helps your business move away from spending time and money on processes that can be fully automated on an eCommerce site. The product information can still be extensive and accurate, with specification sheets, manuals, and diagrams being easy to view and download.

When a B2C customer searches for something on an eCommerce site, they will usually see a combination of what they’ve searched for and what the business wants them to see. B2B customers, on the other hand, will need to see what they’ve searched for, but also what they usually buy. In B2B, customers are buyers, not shoppers; they’re much less likely to be browsing. They’re likely to be repeat buyers and want the quickest route to the products they’re looking for. They may even just want to click a button to reorder last week’s purchase. For this reason, personalization is key in the B2B domain. Using historical buying and browsing data, it is possible to create a personalized buying experience. B2B eCommerce can create a streamlined ordering process for customers who know exactly what they want.

B2B eCommerce: Challenges

B2B products have a different set of characteristics to B2C products. These differences can present the following challenges that we will explore in more detail over the coming weeks:

Product ‘Findability’

A B2B company may have hundreds of thousands or even millions of products that are typically complex with lots of attributes and variants. It is therefore vital that your B2B site search solution is able to cope with these complexities and shorten the path to purchase.

We will explore how to use dynamic filters and advanced search capabilities to make sure that your customers can find what they’re looking for among the many products. We will also share how to make sure that your customers are only viewing products and prices that are relevant to them.

Complex part or catalog numbers

Many organizations struggle with multiple versions and formats of catalog numbers resulting in failed searches and lost revenue. We will discuss how to ensure that however a user searches – they find the correct product.

Customer-specific catalogs

B2B buyers expect catalogs to be customized based on negotiated product assortments, warehouse locations, and pricing. The last thing that a customer wants to see on your site is products that are not available to them. Personalization can significantly affect B2B online revenue.

Dynamic Pricing

Customized pricing is a challenge unique to B2B businesses. Prices are individualized based on factors such as contract, purchasing frequency, and volume. We will explore the ways in which complex B2B pricing can be handled in the context of search.

Omni-channel B2B

B2B customers will experience your company through different channels – call centers, eCommerce site, sales representatives. All of these channels should have the same information and your business should be able to have a single view of all customer activity.

With over 60% of B2B customer research happening on mobile devices, the ability to understand more verbose, natural language queries is paramount.

Managing the Relationship

There will always be B2B customers who simply want to reorder. A good eCommerce system allows you to maintain a list of regular order items and to use analytics to spot trends. Online B2B means that you have a closer view of customer activity, so that if there are any issues, or the customer simply hasn’t logged in for a while, you can make contact.

The Global Market

If your company intends to do business outside of the U.S. there are implications in terms of language, currency, and regulations. The EU regulations may be different for your products, for example, product or product labeling may need to be modified. Using a search solution that intuitively understands multiple languages and currencies is imperative in the global market.

Customer Acquisition

Although some techniques are transferable from B2C commerce, often B2B companies have a specific buyer group, meaning that their initial customer contact will be made through channels such as trade shows or sales representatives. Once customers are aware of your business, however, they are likely to try to find your company online to continue their research. Good content and S.E.O. is therefore just as important as for B2C sellers.

Are You Ready?

There are huge benefits in putting in place a strategy to drive B2B customers to your eCommerce site. But is your site capable of maintaining the relationship and even driving more revenue through excellent functionality? When asked to cite the top features or functions they would most like from suppliers in the selling process, most business buyers chose enhanced search functionality on their website (60%).

EasyAsk offers the only merchandising tool designed exclusively for the rigors and challenges of B2B eCommerce. EasyAsk can be configured for any platform, either commercial or built in-house.

EasyAsk has long served the B2B customer segment and over 200 B2B distributors have chosen us to power their B2B eCommerce sites, including: Aramark, Alphabroder, Demco, Kaman Industries, Tacoma Screw, and Crown Packaging.

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