When you’re setting up your e-commerce store, one of the things that people tend to overlook is their store search. And over the long run, we’ve seen this cost them not only sales but customers as well.
Think about it, you’ve spent a lot of time working on perfecting the SEO for your Shopify store. You made plenty of effort to make sure that you’re attracting traffic from a variety of social media platforms. But once they come to your site, the best way for these visitors to see what your store has to offer is using the search box. This is where the Shopify’s default search can let you and your visitors down.
Why search matter for e-commerce stores?
Users engaging with the search are more than twice as likely to convert than non-search users. What’s more, on average close to 10-15% of e-commerce site visitors use the search bar and can contribute up to 30% of the total revenue or more.
The reason for this is because search users are typically in the late stage of their purchase journey. They already have a product in mind and are looking around to see if they can get a better deal or find the right size or color. The search bar becomes a vital point of contact between your store and your visitors. And when these shoppers use the search bar, they expect the same speed and relevance they get when using the search on Google or on Amazon. While Shopify can help you set up the basics, their default site search can be lacking.
At Sparq, we understand the pain points that come up frequently with the default Shopify search and constantly develop our product to best serve online stores. With how crucial search is to run a profitable eCommerce business, Sparq aims to deliver a fast and beautiful search experience that has helped many businesses improve engagement and conversion. Here’s how we do it.
Results in the blink of an eye
For Shopify’s default search, the entire process of typing a search then hitting enter and waiting for the page to reload can take 2-3 seconds or longer. Seeing these long loading times is what will lose you customers. Sparq reduces this to just a few milliseconds. Search users will see results from the first keystroke thanks to our instant search technology. As the customer types in the search query, the results are updated dynamically to show the most relevant results.
Typo-tolerant search
The default Shopify search punishes search users for common spelling errors and shows no-result pages which is a huge factor in them exiting your site. Sparq, on the other hand, can power through these simple typos made during the search to show results directly and keep visitors engaged without disrupting their search.
Advanced Filters
A major complaint that shoppers have with the default Shopify search is the lack of customizable filters. Sparq search comes with smart dynamic filters out of the box and these work across all devices. These filters automatically update and show only the relevant options. Just like our instant search, having these filters will help your customers to successfully navigate your store. You have control over which filters to show on your site.
Mobile Optimised
With 60-70% of traffic on average coming from mobile devices, search has to be optimized for mobile. The default Shopify search doesn’t have filters for mobile making the search experience very poor. Sparq, on the other hand, offers the same smart dynamic filters across devices that look like mobile app-like filters for seamless searching.
With these improvements, visitors using your search will be kept engaged for longer and be closer to getting converted.
Take the next step with Sparq!
The enhancements that your store’s search will get with Sparq will have incredible results in no time. We’ve seen improvements across the board from increased engagements and higher conversions. Many eCommerce and business analysts see search optimization as a budding field of study and with only a few sites actually putting in time and effort in optimizing search experience, you can give your store an advantage by using Sparq on your store.
Keep updated with the latest and best search technologies and leverage the power of fast and beautiful search with Sparq and make it easier for your customers to find what they’re looking for.
