Searchandising: the new way to convert customers

Online merchants who combine search and merchandising are able to get better results with customer satisfaction, what is now being called 'searchandising'. In a new study by Aberdeen Group, on "Web Site Search: Revenue in the Results" showed that 70% of retailers felt that visitors who searched using tools were likely to convert to buyers from browsers. Conversion rates for online merchants ranged from 5% or more while e-commerce sites saw 2-5% conversion rates.

Among merchants achieving the highest profits, conversions and returns from their online offerings -- termed "Best-in-Class," 54 percent utilize search as a merchandising tool.

Additionally, 62 percent continually fine tune search for desired results based on user actions, current promotions and collective behavior. Further, 38 percent of Best-in-Class retailers segment search query results using faceted search tools.

These metrics clearly show that leading companies are thinking about their search tools as a way to serve up products and inextricably link their merchandising processes to their product discovery tools.