Product Discovery: Trump card for eCommerce customer retention?

When was the last time you wanted to buy something online but didn’t know what it was called, so typed something descriptive or relevant and still found the exact product you wanted?

Now, that’s what product discovery is all about. Thanks to the tech!

Today’s shoppers are accustomed to entering misspelled or poor words into the search box and ending up getting the exact results they need immediately.

Similarly, every time your site displays “no relevant results” for a search, your online store loses a potential customer.

Ergo it goes without saying, enhanced product discovery with high-quality product data is the ultimate kick-starter for a positive shopping experience and sales growth.

According to Shopify, $2.3 trillion in revenue has been generated by online stores through 3.5 billion eCommerce searches in 2019.

Here are 5 ways by which you can enhance the product search and discoverability of your eCommerce store.

1. Listing maximum attributes

When you have hundreds of products on your online store, slice and dice every product attribute possible and add it to your listing. This way you allow your shoppers to filter the products they need with much ease.

The basic attributes are price range, brand, type, size, quantity, and color. However, there are much more that you can consider based on your industry such as design, weight, material/ingredients, reliability, rating, marketing claims, taste, feel, and smell.

2. Optimize on-site search

Make searching for products a painless process by optimizing the onsite search procedure.

• Place the search bar in a prominent spot.
• Implement predictive search.
• Allow auto-correction for misspelled words.
• Include semantic search to improve relevance.
• Use frequent searches to improve your results and suggestions.
• Ensure your internal search engine is shaped to handle alternate words for a specific product.

3. Product-specific landing pages

Dedicated landing pages are the backbone of conversion and retention.

• They fine-tune the shoppers’ attention to the most relevant or single product category.
• It offers a personalized experience and a better shopping experience.
• Specific landing pages are more targeted, customized, and laser-focused for conversion.

4. Feature offers

Putting on a spotlight on certain products or promotional offers is the best way to help customers discover new products and trigger them to shop more.

• Customized product listing based on recent searches and shopper’s behavior.
• Suggesting combo deals or limited-time offers.
• Listing new arrivals and trending items.

Remember, the homepage is the best place for all promotional or educational content.

5. Maximize upsell

By upselling you give shoppers to revisit the online store once again and shop more. Further, by upselling you promote secondary product discovery.

Upselling helps you build a deeper relationship with your customers, creating more touchpoints to interact with. This way you build a more happy and loyal customer base.

BONUS POINT

Social commerce (selling products directly via social media), visual search (searching products through pictures), voice search (searching through commands or voice assistants) are the future of eCommerce product discovery.

So, take advantage of the rising innovation and get all prepared to make a difference in the shopping experience of your customers.

Conclusion:

In short, most times shoppers don’t know what they need. They might just check random stuff, browse your store, or spend time wondering what to pick. Regardless, why they’re on your site helping them with effective product search and discovery give increase customer experience, conversions and retention.