Searchandising combines "search" and "merchandising" to describe the practice of curating search results for business goals. It applies traditional merchandising strategies to site search, promoting certain products while keeping results relevant to the query.
Why Searchandising Matters
Nearly 30% of ecommerce visitors go directly to the search box. These search users convert at 5-6 times higher rates than passive browsers. According to Forrester Research, searchandising can increase conversions by up to 50% and revenue by up to 30%. Amazon exemplifies this impact with conversion rates jumping from 2% to 12% when visitors use search. Walmart sees similar gains, going from 1.1% to 2.9% conversion.
How It Works
Searchandising blends relevance algorithms with business rules. The search engine determines base relevance, then adjust the order based on profit margins, inventory levels, seasonal promotions, new arrivals, trending products, and sponsored items. For example, searching "winter jacket" might naturally surface relevant jackets, but searchandising rules boost high- items or overstocked inventory to the top positions.
Key Strategies
Boosting: Promote products higher in results. Useful for bestsellers, new arrivals, or high-margin items.
Burying: Push products lower in results. Useful for low-stock items or products being discontinued.
Pinning: Lock a product to a specific position. Common for sponsored placements.
Banners: Display promotional content within search results. Highlights sales or category campaigns.
Redirects: Send specific queries to landing pages. "Sale" might redirect to the promotions page.
Best Practices and Common Mistakes
Never sacrifice relevance entirely for business goals. Test merchandising rules with and use analytics to identify high-value search terms. Update rules seasonally and for promotions. Monitor zero-result searches to identify gaps and balance automated rules with manual curation.
Common mistakes include over-promoting items that frustrate searchers, applying the same rules to all queries, ignoring search analytics, not updating rules after inventory changes, and boosting out-of-stock products.
