In the State of Ecommerce Search and Product Discovery 2024 report, a consumer survey found that more than 4 in 10 shoppers (42%) say current search & product discovery experiences merit a “C” grade or below.
Moreover, nearly 7 in 10 online shoppers (68%) think the search function on retail websites needs an upgrade. Surprisingly, this is an increase since last year’s survey (60%): possibly reflecting growing consumer expectations and — amidst important tech advances, which illustrate what’s possible — a dissatisfaction with the status quo.
These findings underscore the fact that retailers have an opportunity to do more, or risk falling further behind. Let’s explore hypotheses on where the gaps are, and what retailers can do to create and enhance experiences that benefit them and shoppers alike.
Where Today’s Product Discovery Experiences Are Falling Short
Eighty percent of customers now consider the experience a company provides to be as important as its products and services. In ecommerce, a major part of that experience is how easy it is for shoppers to find products they want to buy on a retailer’s site.
The search bar is one of the primary tools consumers use for discovery, but most present-day search algorithms aren’t capable of understanding queries right off the bat. In fact, 85% of online shoppers report having to reformulate their search queries at least “sometimes” so retail websites better understand what they mean.
The need for reformulation plays into another issue: the sheer amount of time it takes most consumers to find the right product. Forty-four percent of shoppers say it takes at least 3 minutes to locate the product they need from search results (or 47% if we include the 3% that never find it).
And of course improving the ecommerce customer experience isn’t only about search and product discovery. The entire experience is multifaceted, including finding the most efficient, streamlined solutions for the following areas:
- Easy, intuitive checkout
- Fast and reliable site performance
- Dynamic product pages and rich catalogs
- Multiple, secure payment options
- Loyalty programs and incentives
- Informative, plentiful customer reviews
- Live chat and customer support
- And much more…
Thanks to the “Amazon effect,” as a retailer, you’re no longer just being compared to your closest competitors. You’re being compared to all of the experiences your customers are having. The comparison is only exemplified by ChatGPT and other nascent technologies that continue to trailblaze the way for customer expectations (more on this below!).
How Retailers Can Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
The Red Queen hypothesis in business suggests that companies must constantly evolve to survive. This applies to ecommerce as well: maintaining the status quo might seem safe, but in reality, it's a sure way to fall behind and risk extinction.
Here’s how to get ahead and stay ahead in a saturated market filled with discerning customers.
Experiment with nascent technologies
It’s a drum that ecommerce leaders have been beating since the beginning of this year: proactively experiment with new technology now. If you wait until it’s a must five years down the line, you’ll be playing catch-up to your competitors. One nascent technology that continues to gain steam as the year passes is Generative AI (GenAI), thanks to the advent of ChatGPT.
There is evidence that brands using GenAI are seeing considerably higher traffic. As a matter of fact, new Adobe Analytics research finds that online traffic to retail sites jumped 304 percent year-over-year (YoY) from GenAI tools, underscoring that consumers are leveraging conversational interfaces to support their shopping experiences online.
When it comes to product search and discovery, GenAI-powered solutions are already making waves in the industry. And their use cases cover front- and back-end, including award-winning conversational language programs, automatic attribute enrichment, and AI-generated collections, to name a few.
Listen to customer feedback via reviews, support channels, etc.
Reviews are where people turn to when they’re extremely satisfied while shopping. Forty-one percent of shoppers leave positive reviews after excellent search and discovery experiences. But they’re also where shoppers turn to when things don’t go as planned — both pre- and post-purchase.
If you want to get ahead and stay ahead, pay attention to candidly shared customer needs via lines of communication like reviews, support channels, social media, etc. And then the most important part: take care of them!
Customers will feel heard, and you’ll build brand loyalty by showing them their feedback isn’t just disappearing into the void.
Do something with the data customers share with you
Let’s step into the life of Theresa, a working mom of three who’s in the market for a new mattress. But with her demanding job and weekend sporting events, she doesn’t have time to physically shop around. Plus, she can’t just purchase any mattress, or her scoliosis will flare up.
So, Theresa turns to her favorite furniture store’s ecommerce site. They just launched a new product quiz, and lucky for Theresa, this new quiz is all about finding the perfect mattress to address sleeper needs and challenges.
Between meetings one week, Theresa squeezes in time to do the quiz, carefully answering each question: Who are you mattress shopping for? What do you dislike about your current mattress? How do you sleep at night?
"The results are in!" the quiz announces. Based on her answers, it recommends the perfect mattress tailored to Theresa's needs and preferences.
“Maybe I should’ve selected ‘side sleeper,’” Theresa thinks, realizing she sleeps on her side more often. She retakes the quiz, changing her answer to ‘combo sleeper.’ After completing the quiz again, the results are identical. ‘Weird,’ she thinks, and retakes it a third time, double-checking her answer.
"The results are in!" the quiz repeats. Theresa's hopes rise, but she’s disappointed to see the same recommendations. Frustrated, she exits the site, her perception of the furniture brand forever soured.
Sadly, this situation happens more often than not.
When customers voluntarily give you information about themselves, they expect you to use it to improve their experience. For engines that leverage collaborative personalization, this zero-party data can be blended with first-party clickstream data and other behavioral signals to ensure the best possible recommendations in a current session and over time.
Let’s be honest: when customers invest time expecting a personalized shopping experience, it’s a letdown when the brand fails to deliver on that promise.
Explore unified commerce
The idea of "unified commerce" was brought up as an essential part of retailers’ future during Shoptalk Europe 2024. According to Ben Miller, Vice President, Original Content and Strategy, at Shoptalk, it should be built around four components:
- A unified tech stack, with retailers potentially needing to validate their tech use over time.
- A unified data platform, designed to facilitate smooth data transfer and provide a centralized perspective of customer interactions and business operations.
- A unified corporate structure, aimed at eliminating silos and other roadblocks.
- A unified customer experience amplified by the above components, concentrating on improving in-store aspects and establishing a continuous narrative that mirrors the whole consumer journey across both online and physical stores.
How to Forge Ahead of Status Quo
Staying at the forefront of ecommerce requires more than just meeting expectations — it demands a commitment to exceeding them. By harnessing a connected operations platform and embracing strategic shifts, businesses can establish a powerful, efficient, and resilient digital presence primed to tackle challenges and seize opportunities.
Want to see more data on changing consumer expectations and ways to improve experiences? Download the State of Ecommerce 2024 here.