The Future of

Ecommerce Search
A three-part research study conducted in 2023 uncovering
expectation gaps between what shoppers want from site
search, what brands think they’re delivering, and what brands
are actually delivering.

Ecommerce Search
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Contents

01 Introduction: About this research

02 Part 1: Key comparisons between shopper and

brand sentiment

06 Part 2: Shopper sentiment analysis

10 Part 3: Brand sentiment analysis

14 Part 4: Real-world site experience testing

17 Conclusion
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Introduction

Nosto, the world’s leading Commerce Experience Platform (CXP), in partnership with
market research agency, Censuswide, conducted a three-part study to assess
consumer and merchant sentiment toward ecommerce site search. This research
consists of three studies: 

Real-world site experience testing of 100+ online stores’ site search

A survey of 2,000+ consumers across North America and the U
A survey of 308 ecommerce professionals from brands across North
America and the UK

The aim of the research was to uncover expectation gaps between what consumers
want, what brands think they’re delivering, and what brands are actually delivering
when it comes to site search. 

The results highlight a stark rift appearing between brands and consumers, and show
clear areas of improvement for brands to meet consumer needs and wants, especially
around search relevancy.

In this executive report, we’ll go through what we found from each study, giving brands
a clear roadmap for product discovery in 2023 and beyond. 

01
The Future of Ecommerce Search

PART 1
Key comparison between shopper and
brand sentiment

Importance of the search experience

The online customer journey starts (and Product discovery starts–and ends–with
ends) with the search bar, with 69% of your search bar
consumers surveyed likely¹ to go straight to
this when landing on an ecommerce store.
Further to this, the search bar is a key 69%
conversion battleground, as 80% of
consumers surveyed said 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. Brands surveyed also acknowledge
the impact of this; they attribute 39%² of 80%
their site’s bounce rate to a poor search
experience or shoppers not being able to But 80% of consumers have exited a site because
find relevant products.
of poor-performing search

Displaying irrelevant products is a major aspect of a poor search experience and can deter
consumers from converting, as 35% of consumers surveyed have left a site due to the
search not showing relevant results. But seeing irrelevant results is common for consumers
surveyed, with 69% saying they often³ come across irrelevant results when shopping
online. 

Despite 99% of brands surveyed believing their research results are relevant⁴, and 35%
saying they are extremely relevant, the real-world site testing revealed 79% of websites had
irrelevant items from searching 2-word queries. Brands surveyed do recognize that
relevancy is significant to the search experience, though, with 82% agreeing⁵ online stores
could improve their site search experience through providing more relevant results.
Through focusing on relevant search results, consumers are more likely to convert, as 79%
of consumers surveyed are likely¹ to buy a product they’d searched for in the search
results. 

02
The Future of Ecommerce Search

The importance of the search experience is only emphasized in the current economic
climate; 68% of consumers surveyed agree⁵ 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 agree⁵ 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. For example, consumers surveyed aged
25-34 are more likely¹ 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 way in
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
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Opportunity to retain and convert consumers

56% of consumers surveyed are likely¹ to User-generated content (UGC) (such as
continue shopping on an online store if reviews, images, or comments from other
alternative products are suggested upon customers) is one particularly fruitful type of
zero search results being shown. This content brands could better utilize to
illustrates how crucial product suggestions engage and convert consumers. Indeed,
are in ensuring consumers remain on a over half (51%) of consumers surveyed are
website and discover other products. likely¹ to engage with this type of content if it
However, only 34% of brands surveyed is shown in the search results, and over half
said they offer these!

(54%) are likely¹ to buy products having

consumed this type of content. Despite this
70% of consumers surveyed are likely¹ to clear link between influencer and user-
complete a purchase if the results are generated content and converting
personalized to their purchase history, and consumers, 57% of brands surveyed are
the vast majority (82%) of brands surveyed missing this opportunity by not employing
agree⁵ that a personalized search is critical this content type in their search results. 

for higher conversions. However only 34%

of brands are personalizing their search Note this is especially opportune for brands
results. If brands see personalized search who target a consumer demographic of
results as being so critical for higher 25-34yrs. When we compare this age group
conversions, but only around a third have to, say, those aged 55+, the former are much
implemented a solution to allow for that, more likely¹ to engage with relevant
might it be that the maturity of available influencer or user-generated content shown
solutions is lacking?

in the search results than the latter (75% vs

31%)—and similarly more likely to then buy
Outside of personalizing the search products having consumed this content
results, content is a key aspect of a (76% vs 36%). 

consumer’s journey–and an engagement

tactic–as 61% of shoppers surveyed are Shoppers want content in search results 

likely¹ to engage with relevant content if it

is shown in the search results. And 59% 100 % 100 %
are likely¹ to buy products having
consumed related content that was served 75 % 75 %
in the search results. Many brands
surveyed are not utilizing this opportunity 50 % 50 %
to connect with consumers, though, as
60% don’t have content within their search 25 % 25 %
results (e.g., FAQs) and the real-world 61% 59%
website tests suggest even more (89%)
websites do not have content included in Wil engage with content in
the search results
Wil also buy a product
having consumed related
search results.  content in the search results 

04
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Where can brands improve the search experience for shoppers?

Key search functionality brands are missing 
76% Of brands don’t have error tolerance in
their search

66% Of brands don’t offer personalized

search results
Of brands don’t recommend alternative
65% products when search results bring back 0
results
64% Of brands can’t merchandise their
search results
60% Of brands don’t have autocomplete in
their search
60% Of brands don’t offer content in their
search results
57% Of brands don’t offer UGC in the search
results

56% Of brands don’t have facets and lters to

fi

narrow down results

Sites not helping consumers navigate their Interestingly, the vast majority (95%) of
catalog is a key barrier, with 27% of brands surveyed experience at least one pain
consumers having left a site because the point with their current search solution,
search results showed too many options directly impacting the search experience for
and it wasn’t possible to efficiently narrow their shoppers. The most likely pain points
down the results (e.g., through dynamic experienced include: a lack of advanced
filters that are appropriate to the search product data processing (29%); a lack of
query). This barrier is common among desirable merchandising functionality (27%);
brands, as 56% of brands surveyed do not and complexity of implementation (26%). 

have dynamic filters on their site.

Despite these painpoints, the appetite to

Despite customer analytics being critical to invest is still there, because brands
empowering search and improving understand the sheer importance of the
relevancy, 17% of brands surveyed are not search experience; 84% of brands surveyed
measuring any of the listed important agree⁵ they plan to invest on continually
metrics (including percentage of improving their site search, with 3 in 10 (30%)
transactions/revenue that comes from saying they strongly agree they plan to invest.

those visitors, percent of abandoned site

searches, conversion rate for each query, The desire to improve is certainly there, but
popular query terms etc.,). Further to this, the top-3 painpoints discussed could
81% of brands surveyed do not measure suggest a need for a solution that allows for
the most popular query terms that lead to more sophistication (with advanced data
no results and 79% said they do not processing and desirable merchandising
measure the top revenue query. 
functionality) without compromising time-to-
value and efficiency.

05
The Future of Ecommerce Search

PART 2

Shopper sentiment analysis

Shopper purchasing habits

A shopper’s first impression of your site often starts at the search bar, with almost 7 in 10 (69%)
shoppers saying they are likely¹ to go straight to the search bar when landing on an ecommerce store.
Additionally, just over three quarters (76%) agree⁵ that a good, fast, and accurate site search makes
online shopping easier. The search bar has recently become even more important, as almost 7 in 10
(68%) consumers surveyed agree⁵ that, as the cost-of-living increases, they compare products from
different online stores and good ecommerce search makes this easier. 

The shoppers’ journey then progresses from the results shown. Almost 4 in 5 (79%) consumers
surveyed are likely¹ to buy a product in the search results that they directly searched for. However, the
shopper's journey can quickly end, depending on the search results shown. For example, 35% of
consumers surveyed have left a site because the search results haven’t shown any relevant results,
and 26% have left a site because the results showed products that were out of stock. This
demonstrates how easily shoppers are lost to alternative brands if met with a poor search experience.

If brands don’t have any relevant results or items that are in stock to pull through from a search query,
brands still have an opportunity to keep consumers on their site and potentially convert them through
utilizing alternative suggestions on their site. Almost 3 in 5 (56%) consumers surveyed are likely¹ to
continue shopping on an online store if alternative products are suggested upon zero search results.
Further to this, almost a quarter (24%) of consumers surveyed think online stores could improve their
search experience by offering alternative products upon zero results being found. This demonstrates
how effective alternative products can be in encouraging consumers to convert, despite not having
any relevant results or in-stock items relating to a consumer’s query, ensuring fewer chances of losing
a customer.

Serving content within search results can also increase a brand’s opportunity to retain and convert
consumers. As previously mentioned, 61% of shoppers surveyed are likely¹ to engage with relevant
content if it is shown in the search results. And 59% are likely¹ to buy products having consumed
related content that was served in the search results.

Again, influencer or UGC content in particular provides the opportunity to offer material for consumers
to engage with, and complete purchases following this; around half (51%) of consumers surveyed are
likely¹ to engage with relevant influencer or user-generated content if it is shown in the search results
(e.g., reviews, images, comments from other customers) and over half (54%) are likely¹ to buy
products having consumed this influencer or user-generated content.

Some consumers report Where do shoppers think brands can improve site search
that having content the most?

within the search results

40% Say serve more relevant results 
is a key way for brands
to improve their search Say offer filters to help narrow down search
34%
experience. This could results 

be through offering 31% Say improved the speed of search 

content for customers
to read (e.g. articles) 25% Want better error tolerance 
that is related to their
25% Say personalized search results
search (19%) for
instance, or offering 22% Say predicted queries when they start typing
UGC content so
Say user -generated content (UGC) in the
shoppers can see the 20%
search results
items on other people 
(20%).

9
1 % Say content in the search results

06
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Providing content in search results is even more of an opportunity when it comes to engaging
younger consumers. Consumers surveyed aged 25-34 are most likely¹ to engage with relevant
influencer or user-generated content shown in the search results (75%) and buy products having
consumed this content in the search results (76%), whilst those aged 55+ are the least likely to
say the same (31%, 36%). These younger consumers surveyed (25-34) believe brands could
improve their site by providing content within the search results in case they want to read about
content related to their search (28%), but this improvement is much less of a consideration for
consumers surveyed aged 55+ (15%)

Providing influencer or UGC content is a strong opportunity to engage consumers surveyed aged
34 and under, as over half of those aged 25-34 are likely¹ to engage with this type of content
(51%) and buy products having consumed this type of content (54%). This is followed by those
aged 16-24 (67%, 68%). Indeed, younger consumers aged 34 and under want more of this
content, as 31% of those aged 25-34 and 30% of those aged 16-24 said providing influencer or
user-generated content in search results would improve sites as they could see items on people
other than the brand’s models. Meanwhile. only 12% of those aged 55+ said the same. 

Personalization of search results is another aspect Personalization is critical

that can lead to conversion, as 7 in 10 (70%)
consumers surveyed are likely¹ to complete a
purchase if the search results are personalized to
the likes of their purchase history, or specific
brands, colors, and sizes they like. Personalization is
important to consumers as this is a key factor in
ensuring search results are relevant to them and
consumer data can be utilized by brands to inform 70%
them which products are most relevant to the
individual consumer. Despite this huge benefit of
offering personalized search results, 66% of brands
don’t currently utilize this. Creating more
personalized search results also provides brands
the opportunity to reduce the 39%² of bounce
rates they attribute to poor search experiences/ Of shoppers are more likely to
shoppers not being able to find relevant products.  purchase if the search results are
personalized to them

07
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Consumer experiences and opportunity for brands to improve

Given the search bar is an important aspect of a consumer’s shopping experience, it is

interesting to explore what specifically is important and what causes frustrations with
this. 86% of consumers surveyed note that at least one aspect of site search frustrates
them.

Similarly, 83% of consumers note there’s at least one area in which online stores can
improve their site search. The full list of frustrations consumers experience is shown in
the below table.  
What are shoppers’ top frustrations with site search?

1 2 3 4 5 6
50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %
41% 32% 30% 27% 26% 23%
Too many When products Not being able Results taking When the When products
irrelevant are shown in to narrow down too long to load search bar are shown but
results are the results search results can’t interpret not available in
shown despite being with filters my queries or my size
out of stock request

Firstly, consumers surveyed are most likely to say irrelevant results being shown
frustrates them about site search (41%). Experiencing this is common for consumers
surveyed and detrimental for brands; almost 7 in 10 consumers (69%) said they often³
come across irrelevant results, and over a third (35%) have left a site because no relevant
results appeared. 

The opportunity to narrow search results is critical for consumers to search efficiently.
Not having appropriate filters for different queries to enable efficient search is frustrating
for 3 in 10 (30%) consumers surveyed (e.g., not being able to filter by ‘cut’ for jeans). Not
offering such advanced filters and not enabling consumers to efficiently narrow down the
search has resulted in over a quarter (27%) of consumers surveyed leaving a site. 

08
The Future of Ecommerce Search

There is an opportunity for brands to improve the search experience through dynamic,
query-specific filters. Indeed, just over a third (34%) of consumers surveyed said online
brands could improve their search experience by offering filters based on the search
query to narrow down results.

Over a quarter (27%) of consumers surveyed find results taking too long to load
frustrating and just over 3 in 10 (31%) said their search experience could be improved by
results’ loading speeds. If loading speeds are slow, consumers are likely to abandon their
search, as a quarter (25%) of consumers surveyed have left a site because the results
were taking too long to appear. 

Only displaying items that are available is another consumer expectation, with almost 7 in
10 (69%) agreeing⁵ they only want search results to show products that are in stock.
Showing consumers products that are not in stock is a frustration for almost a third (32%)
of consumers, and this has resulted in just over a quarter (26%) leaving a site.

Personalized search results is another way consumers surveyed would like brands to
make searching easier, as over half agree⁵ (53%) it would be helpful if ecommerce search
results were personalized to them (e.g., purchase history). Furthermore, almost a quarter
(24%) of consumers surveyed said online stores could improve personalization to
improve their search experience. It could be suggested this personalization is now
expected as a given for some consumers surveyed, as over 1 in 6 (17%) said they left a
site because the search results weren’t personalized to their individual preferences.

Consumers want personalized search

results
100 % 100 %

75 % 75 %

50 % 50 %

25 % 25 %
53% 24%
53% of consumers agree it 24% of consumers say
would be helpful if online stores could improve
ecommerce search results personalization to improve
were personalized search 
Gathering data about each shopper's search can inform personalization across the rest of
the site too, and therefore is a key method to meet customers’ expectations of having a
consistently personalized onsite experience. Almost 3 in 5 consumers surveyed (59%) agree⁵
that when searching for items or certain product attributes, they want a website to consider
what they are looking for, and use that information to inform what else they are shown while
on the site. Consumers don’t just expect a personalized search experience; they expect this
data to deliver them personalization throughout the rest of their journey, too.

09
 The Future of Ecommerce Search

PAR T 3
B ran d sentiment ana ly
sis

Importance of the search experience

Brands surveyed understand the importance of efficient site search, as just over 4 in 5

(81%) agree⁵ good, fast, accurate site search is essential for a successful ecommerce store.

As previously mentioned, consumers surveyed think that good ecommerce search makes

comparing products from different online stores due to the cost of living easier (68%) and

brands surveyed have anticipated this increased reliance on searching given the economic

climate. Indeed, just over 4 in 5 (81%) agree⁵ the rising cost-of-living makes ecommerce

more important as it allows customers to easily find and compare similar products before

making purchases.

An expectation gap emerges

There seems to be a disparity between

how relevant brands perceive their search

100 % 100 %

to be,  and the experience of consumers.

Indeed, 99% of brands surveyed rate their

75 % 75 %

search results as relevant³, with over a third

(35%) saying they are extremely relevant.

50 % 50 %

But almost 7 in 10 (69%) consumers

surveyed said they often³ come across 25 % 25 %

irrelevant results, and, in fact, the real-world

99% 69%

website testing proved this to be even

more significant, with 79% of sites having 99% of brands say their But 69% of shoppers report

results are relevant irrelevant results when

irrelevant items from searching a few
shopping online

words.

Given that not providing relevant results is the most likely reason why consumers have left a

site (35%), the impact here is profound. Brands do recognize the negative impact of poor

search experiences, as, they said 39%² of their bounce rate is attributed to poor search

experiences/shoppers not being able to find relevant products. This data just illuminates

that relevancy, in particular, is where they brands to invest.

T he kye search f u l
nctiona ities that ecommerce sites are missin g
Having explored the critical features that contribute to a good search experience and can also

cause shopper frustration (including filters, alternative product suggestions, error tolerance and

content), it is interesting to understand the features that brands surveyed don’t have on their site.

Looking at the specific site features brands do not have on their site, just over three quarters

(76%) of brands surveyed said they do not have error tolerance on their site, around two thirds

said they don’t have either personalized results (66%), alternative products offered upon zero

results (66%) or merchandised results (65%).

Around 3 in 5 said they don’t have autocomplete (60%), content within the search results (60%)

or influencer/user-generated content in search results (57%). The real-world site tests show even

more of an absence of these things, with only 11% of websites serving content as well as products

on searches, for instance. Finally, over half of brands said they don’t have dynamic filters (56%)—

something we found to be the second most likely reason that consumers surveyed have left a

site (27%).

10
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Key search functionality brands are missing 

76% Of brands don’t have error tolerance in
their search

66% Of brands don’t offer personalized

search results
Of brands don’t recommend alternative
65% products when search results bring back 0
results
64% Of brands can’t merchandise their
search results
60% Of brands don’t have autocomplete in
their search
60% Of brands don’t offer content in their
search results
57% Of brands don’t offer UGC in the search
results

56% Of brands don’t have facets and filters to

narrow down results

The majority (83%) of consumers surveyed think online stores can improve their search
experience in some way. Brands surveyed recognize the opportunity to improve, with over
4 in 5 saying improving results’ loading speed (83%), offering alternative products upon
zero results being found (82%), providing more relevant results (82%) and providing
content within the results (81%) would improve an online store’s search experience. 

This is followed by 4 in 5 saying that offering autocomplete (80%), personalized results

(80%) and influencer/user-generated content (80%) could improve search results. In
addition, brands surveyed think there is a missed opportunity with product merchandising,
as over three quarters (77%) agree⁵ ecommerce brands are not making the most of the
product merchandising opportunities that search provides.

Given brands surveyed have noted the importance of site search, it is unsurprising to learn
many brands surveyed are planning to make improvements, with over 4 in 5 (84%)
agreeing⁵ they plan to invest on continually improving their site search.

11
 The Future of Ecommerce Search

Current search solution

Brands surveyed are experiencing several pain points with their current search solution,
with 95% of brands surveyed experiencing at least one pain point with their current
search solution, the full list of pain points are shown in the table below.

What are the biggest pain points brands face with site search?

29% Have unstructured product data  meaning they

unable to execute fully relevant results

27% Are not able to merchandise their search results

26% Face too much complexity when implementing a

search solution

26% Say it ta es too much time to ma e manual

k k

improvements to results 

25% Say there are too many manual configurations to

achieve relevant results 

24% Aren t able to show non product blogs content

’ - ( , ,

UG C in search results
)

23% Cite a poor mobile experience 

21% Aren t able to personali e results 

’ z

Exploring the specific pain points brands experience with their current search solution
shows almost 3 in 10 (29%) brands surveyed said they lack advanced product data
processing with their current solution, and over a quarter are experiencing pain points such
as lacking desirable merchandising functionality (27%), complexity of implementation
(26%) and too much time spent on making improvements (26%). Having too many manual
configurations needed to get relevant results is a pain point for a quarter (25%) of brands
surveyed, and just under a quarter (24%) said the same for the inability to serve non-
product results (e.g., not showing related content). Around 1 in 5 said poor mobile
experience of search (22%), high bounce rates due to irrelevant search results (22%), poor
search relevancy (21%), inability to offer personalization (21%) and poor speed of search
results (20%) are pain points with their current search solutions.

Highlighting the difficulties experienced by brands is important, as these pain points are
directly impacting the search experience provided to their consumers. Many of the
aforementioned frustrations experienced by consumers could be a result of a poor search
solution implemented by the brand. Given the vast majority (95%) of brands surveyed
experience at least one pain point with their current search solution, it seems the market
needs to provide better solutions for brands in order for them to fully optimize their search
experience.

12
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Measuring metrics

Some brands surveyed are missing a key opportunity to improve their search experience
through analytics. Useful analytics can ensure brands have a strong understanding of
how their search is used, the experience of customers and the pain points for customers,
all of which can inform decisions on how to improve the search experience. However, 17%
of brands surveyed are not measuring any of the metrics shown in the table below and
therefore lacking customer insight relating to how site searches are used and performed. 

Brands lack customer intelligence from search

17%

Only 17% of brands are actively

tracking and measuring
performance metrics from their site
search

Just over 4 in 5 of the brands surveyed do not measure the most popular query term that
led to zero results (81%) or the click through rate for each query (81%). Just under 4 in 5
brands surveyed do not measure the top revenue query (79%), the percentage of site
visitors using their search (78%) or the most popular query term (78%). Finally, over three
quarters are not measuring the conversion rate for each query (77%), the percentage of
abandoned site searches (77%) or the percentage of transactions/revenue (76%).

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 The Future of Ecommerce Search

PART 4
Real-world site experience testing
Having explored the consumers’ surveyed experiences online and the brands’ website
offerings, it is interesting to discuss the results from the real-world website tests
conducted. 

How the tests were conducted

100 e-commerce brand sites were tested for their maturity and excellence and fell into
the following revenue categories

$1m - $10
$10M - $50
$50M - $100
$100M - $500
$500M - $1
$1B+

The sites also covered the following three verticals: fashion; beauty; and home, garden &
DIY. 

The websites were scored on both their maturity and their excellence and these scoring
systems were developed by taking the characteristics and functions of each website, and
assigning scores. These scores were assigned to the relevant group depending on if that
function or characteristic showed excellence or maturity. For each website, the scores
were then added together and banded into groups of low, medium and high, or poor,
average and good, depending on the relative score.

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The Future of Ecommerce Search

Maturity curve model

Maturity criteria and scoring system  Search Maturity

Low maturit 100 %

Overall search spee 90 %
Alternative products are displayed 80 %
when 0 results served 
70 %
Medium maturity 60 %
Error tolerance 50 %
Autocomplete (query predictions) 40 %
Dynamic facets and filters 
30 %
High maturit 20 %
Non-product served in search 10 %
results
Overall search relevance Laggards
Followers
Leaders

30% 60% 10%

Looking at maturity scores, websites tested were most likely to be rated medium in terms of
maturity, with 3 in 5 (60%) receiving this score. This is followed by 3 in 10 (30%) websites
rated low for maturity and only 1 in 10 (10%) were rated high for maturity.

Search excellence model

Similar to the maturity scores, websites tested were most likely to be rated average in
terms of excellence, with 7 in 10 (70%) receiving this score. This is followed by just over 1 in
5 (21%) websites rated poor for excellence and only 1 in 11 (9%) were rated good for
excellence.

Excellence criteria and scoring system  Search Excellence

Poor 0-
Does the search serve content as well as
products? 4/1
Are alternative products displayed when Poor: 21% 
there are 0 results served? 4/10
Average : 70%
Average 5-
Good: 9%
Does the search have error tolerance
(understand and/or autocorrect typos)? 6/1
Does the search have autocomplete? (query
predictions) 7/1
Does the search offer dynamic facets and
filters? 7/10

Good 8-1
Overall search speed 9/1
Overall search relevance 10/10

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 The Future of Ecommerce Search

Key findings

Almost two thirds (65%) of sites tested show their results are not completely relevant. The
site testing also shows that over 2 in 5 (44%) e-commerce websites do not offer alternative
products if 0 results are shown. Another downfall is found in that over a quarter (28%) of all
brand sites have slow search (a lag time of more than 1 second). In addition, 89% of e-
commerce websites do not serve content in the search results—suggesting just 11% show
both content and product in their search results. 

As detailed in the individual breakdowns, only 10% of sites are rated as ‘high’ for their maturity
and a similar pattern is true across the verticals:

Fashion: Low (35%), Medium (57%), High (8%)

Beauty: Low (26%), Medium (61%), High (13%)

Home & Garden: Low (28%), Medium (63%), High (9%)

From these results, it seems there is a huge opportunity for most websites tested to improve
their maturity (90%) along with their excellence (91%) to meet the offerings of websites
scoring high for these characteristics. Juxtaposing this against the survey with ecommmerce
professionals (which showed they thought highly of their websites across a number of
attributes) illuminates that brands have more opportunity to improve than they currently
believe. 

The results of the real-world site experience testing also highlight that higher revenue
possibly correlates with search maturity. For example, 48% of e-commerce brands with
revenue below $50m are in the low maturity category, whereas only around 20% of those
with a revenue between $50m and $500m are in this category. 

While this supports a hypothesis that higher revenue correlates with search maturity, it
should be noted that, for the very top end of revenue ($500m-$1B), 33% are in the low
maturity category, which is higher than $50M-$500M brands (around 20%), but lower than
brands with a revenue below $50M (48%).

The reason for high-end revenue bucking the trend this way might be due to more well-
known brands having lower quality search because shoppers are still attracted to that brand
due to its establishment or popularity, despite a poor experience. An alternative reason for
this might be due to legacy technology from well-established brands and a reluctance to
move to cutting-edge technology like their start-up counterparts. 

It is also interesting to note, the results suggest websites are more likely to be rated low for
maturity (30%) than rated poor for excellence (21%). When looking at average ratings, more
websites are rated average for excellence (70%), compared to maturity (60%). However, it
appears a similar proportion of websites are scoring high for maturity (10%) and good for
excellence (9%), perhaps suggesting there is little difference between the proportion of
websites that are outperforming other websites in terms of maturity and excellence.

16
The Future of Ecommerce Search

Conclusion
Overall, the results from the three research projects have clearly demonstrated how integral
search is to a consumer’s experience and how it can impact behaviors and likelihood to
convert. 

The data demonstrated many brands are not meeting consumers’ expectations for a
number of search aspects, including relevant search results, alternative suggestions,
personalized search and content provided, suggesting there’s a huge opportunity for
brands to improve their offerings to improve consumers experience and engagement with
their website.

Relevant search results appear to be one of the most influential aspects of a consumer’s
search experience. 79% of consumers surveyed are likely¹ to buy a product they have
searched for from the search results, demonstrating that displaying relevant products in
search is crucial for conversion. 

However, there are clear discrepancies between the proportion of brands saying they
provide relevant⁴ search results to consumers (99%), and the number of websites from the
real-world websites tests that actually provided relevant results from searching 2-word
queries (79%). This trend (of consumers not receiving the desirable aspects within search)
was consistent when looking at the many search features discussed.

Along with search feature improvements, brands also have the opportunity to measure
more key metrics, as 17% of brands surveyed are not measuring any of the metrics
questioned and are therefore lacking customer insights relating to how site searches are
used and performed.

Finally, the real-world website tests demonstrate the true scale of opportunity for brands,
as there is a significant scope for the majority of websites tested to improve their maturity
(90%) along with their excellence (91%) to meet the offerings of websites scoring high for
these characteristics and, in turn, improve shoppers’ search experience.

Full research data

¹ ’Very likely’ and ‘Somewhat likely’ responses combined

² Mean % of sites bounce rate

³ ’Very often’ and ‘Somewhat often’ responses combined

⁴ ’Extremely relevant’ and ‘Somewhat relevant’ responses combined

⁵ ’Strongly agree’ and ‘Somewhat agree’ responses combined 17