The Future of ofThe Future
Ecommerce SearchEcommerce
A three-part research study conducted in 2023 uncovering
expectation expectation gaps between what shoppers want from site
search, what brands think they’re delivering, and delivering,what what think brandsbrandssearch,they’re
are actuallydelivering.are
Ecommerce SearchThe FutureofEcommerceSearch
Contents
01About thisresearchIntroduction:
Part 1: Key comparisons between shopperand between comparisons 1:KeyPart
02sentimentbrand
06Shoppersentimentanalysis 2:Part
10sentimentanalysis 3:BrandPart
14testing experience site Real-world 4:Part
17ConclusionThe FutureofEcommerceSearch
Introduction
Nosto, Nosto, the world’s leading Commerce Experience Platform (CXP), in partnership with
market market research agency, Censuswide, conducted a three-part study to assess
consumer consumer and merchant sentiment toward ecommerce site search. This research
consists of three studies: three ofconsists
search site 100+onlinestores’ of testing experience site Real-world
North AmericaandtheU across consumers 2,000+ of Asurvey
A survey of 308 ecommerce professionals from brands across North
America andtheUK
The aim ofthe research was to uncover expectation gaps betweenwhat consumers
want, want, what brands think they’re delivering, and what brands are actually delivering
when it comes to site search. site towhen itcomes
The resultshighlight a starkrift appearing between brands andconsumers, and show
clear areas of forimprovement brands to meet consumerneeds and wants, especially
around search relevancy. searcharound
In this executive In report,go this we’llthroughexecutivewhat we foundfromeach giving study,brands
a clear roadmap for product discovery in2023andbeyond. discovery product fora clearroadmap
01 The FutureofEcommerceSearch
PART 1
Key comparison between shopperand between comparisonKey
brand sentimentbrand
Importance of the search experience thesearchImportance of
The online customer journey starts (and Productdiscoverystarts–and ends–with
ends) with the search bar, with 69% of bar searchyour
consumers surveyed consumerslikely^1surveyed togo straight to
this when landing on an ecommercestore.
Further Further to this, the search bar is a key 69%
conversion conversion battleground, as 80% of
consumers consumers surveyedsaid they have exited 69% of consumers go straight to the search bar
when they visit an online store
a website because of poor performing
search. search. Brandssurveyedalso acknowledge
the impact of this; they attribute 39%^2 of80%
their site’s bounce rate to a poor search
experience experience or shoppers not being able to But 80% of consumers have exited a site because
find relevant products. relevantfind of poor-performing search
Displaying irrelevant products is products Displayinga irrelevantmajor aspect ofa poor and experiencesearchcan deter
consumers consumers from converting, as 35% of consumers surveyed have left sitea due tothe
search not showing relevant results.But results.notsearchis results seeing showing commonrelevantirrelevantforconsumers
surveyed, surveyed, with 69% saying they often^3 come acrossirrelevant results when shopping
online.
Despite Despite 99% of brands surveyed believing their research results are relevant, and 35%
saying they are extremely relevant, the real-world site testing revealed 79% of websites had 79% ofwebsites revealed testingsite the real-world relevant, extremely are theysaying
irrelevant irrelevant items from searching 2-word queries. Brands surveyed do recognize that
relevancy is relevancysignificantto the searchexperience, though, with 82% agreeing online stores
could could improve their site search experience through providing more relevant results.
Through Through focusing on search consumersresults,aremorerelevant likelyto convert,as 79%
of of consumers surveyed are likely^1 to buy a product they’d searched for in the search
results.
02The FutureofEcommerceSearch
The importance of the search experience is only emphasized in the current economic
climate; 68% of consumers surveyed agree they like to compare products from
different online stores, due to the cost-of-living increases, and a good ecommerce
search makes this easier. It’s clear brands recognize this shift in purchasing habits, as
81% of brands surveyed agree the rising cost of living makes ecommerce search more
important as it allows customers to easily find and compare similar products.
The importance of a good search experience is even more crucial when targeting
consumers under the age of 34, as they have higher expectations and are more likely to
leave a site due to a poor search experience. Forexample, consumers surveyed aged
25-34 are more likely^1 to go straight to the search bar when landing on an ecommerce
store compared to those aged 55+ (77% vs 61%) and say there is at least one wayin
which online stores can improve their search experience (94% vs 77%). These younger
consumers aged 25-34 are also less likely to tolerate a poor search experience and
abandon their search due to a variety of poor performing aspects. These include
showing out of stock items (with 25-35 at 33% vs 55+yrs at 21%), results taking too long
to appear (30% vs 45-54yrs at 21%), and search results not being personalized to their
individual preferences (29% vs 55+yrs at 10%).
03