Do I Need A Search App For Shopify?

Complete guide to using Shopify search & filters to improve online shopping experience

eCommerce is a competitive domain. No matter which industry you're in and what product you're selling, your ideal customer has at least 10 brands to choose from when making a purchase. So how do they finally pick the brand they want to buy from?

The answer lies in the ease of shopping. It's not the quality of the product or the deal or discount you're offering. It's all about how easily the shopper can find those things on your Shopify store. The lesser the friction, the higher are your conversions. That's where Shopify search and product filters come in.

In this guide, we're sharing everything you need to know about smart search on your Shopify store, enhanced search widgets, Shopify predictive search, Shopify product filters, the best search app for Shopify to do it all and some of the best practices that conversion experts follow.

Advanced search widget for Shopify stores

Let's explain this with an example. You reach a site and you're looking for a black t-shirt so you head over to its search widget and type in 'black t-shirt'.

Now the website displays all the products that match your search intent and list them down for you on the search results page. As a shopper, this makes it easy for you to get an overview of all the products that match your search on the store.

As a business, this serves as an opportunity for you to show the shopper your vast collection under what they're looking for. That's what a Shopify smart search widget can do for your store. But only when you go beyond the basics to also take into account the following factors:

Some shoppers may know what they're looking for but might struggle to describe it in words that can be used for search
Some shoppers may not be able to spell the words correctly to search for the product they're looking for
Every shopper's search behaviour is different, even when they're looking for the same or a similar product
When you use Shopify basic search functionality, you're able to display products based on the keywords that a shopper uses to search for them. But the moment these keywords/ phrases change, the search widget is not able to identify or match the intent with what you have on your store – even though you might have an entire range of products under it.

That's where the importance of implementing an advanced search comes in. This smart instant search widget should be able to offer the following:

Automatic instant suggestions
Spellcheck and auto-correction
Typo tolerance
Synonym search
Results from products, categories, collections and other pages
When your shoppers could come seeking absolutely anything and are unpredictable, you need to equip your store with a powerful search to not lose sales.

Enter Searchly for smart search and product filters on Shopify.

The plug and play app simply connects to your store, indexes all your products, learns from every search being made using the widget and makes sure that you don't miss out on a potential sale just because a shopper misspelt something or couldn't find the right page at the right time!

Advanced product filters for Shopify stores

When navigating through your Shopify store, your shoppers might spend a lot of time browsing your catalog to find the right product for them. This is especially a time-consuming task if your product catalog is large. With product search filters, you can easily reduce time spent browsing, ensure quicker conversions, and provide a personalized shopping experience.

In this blog, we'll look into what product filters are, why you need to enable them on your Shopify store, the different types of filters, and how can you achieve it with Searchly, thebest search app for Shopify.

What are Product Search Filters?

Product Search Filters allow your shoppers to refine their product search with specific details like color, size, price, reviews, etc. This allows shoppers to find the exact product they are looking for without spending too much time searching.

Such a fast searching experience makes it easier for shoppers to checkout faster and for you to decrease drop-offs.

For instance, if a shopper is searching for T-shirts, they can choose the exact color they want and the size so that they can find the exact products quickly. With search filters, shoppers get to personalize their search to their exact preferences, ensuring they get exactly what they want.

Also read:How This Shopify Fashion Brand Uses Search and Filters To Increase Sales

Why Your Shopify Store Needs Product Search Filters

Shoppers are impatient. They want to find the exact product as quickly as possible. This is why the average time spent on a site by shoppers is 5 minutes . Shoppers want to be able to find the product and for this, they even look up products using the exact keywords. However, any errors while typing their query would bring up an empty search result.

Statistics show that 75% of users leave a site if they do not find what they are looking for in 15 seconds. This also explains why only 2.86% of eCommerce website visits convert into a purchase.

You need to set up a feature that simplifies and enhances the searching experience on your Shopify store. This is where product search comes into place.

Shoppers will only take seconds to search for the products they want using exact filters to match their needs. This also allows you to deliver personalized browsing experiences for different kinds of shoppers. Some may be focused on finding the right size, others may only choose products with a high rating. Whatever their priorities, your shoppers can filter their search based on it.

You can set up product search filters with the Searchly app. Get the search and product filters app today !

Types of Search Filters to Set Up And Why

There are 9 kinds of search filters you can add to your store's search, based on the Shopify filter app you use.

1. Price Range Filter

The price range filter allows your shoppers to select the range within which they want the products to be priced at. They can set a minimum and maximum value so that the search shows only products that are within their budget.

This allows shoppers to search within their budget, ensuring higher chances of conversion.

For instance, a shopper looking for a T-shirt may prefer to only pick up a T-shirt that is under $5. By setting this filter, they won't have to sift through higher-priced T-shirts. base

2. Review Filter

With a review filter, your shoppers can choose to see only products rated that many stars. Shoppers can choose to include products rated 1 star or even 5 stars.

This is perfect for shoppers who prioritize high ratings and only want to buy a product that has been vetted and adored by other shoppers.

Shoppers with this preference can add a filter to only show products with 4 and 5 stars. This makes their search more specific and they would be more likely to shop the products that come up within the search results.

3. Product Type Filter

You're sure to have different types of products on your store. You can allow shoppers to find products based on their type using the product type filter.

For instance, if you run a fashion store, some may be interested in shirts while others may want to see trousers. Whichever the case, the product type filter helps them effectively view products based on the type they choose.

4. Color Filter

Most shoppers have a preference for the color they want for a product they want to own. You can cater to this by setting up the color filter. Shoppers can filter products by the product's color using the color filter. This allows them to find the product in the color they want to own it in.

5. Size Filter

The size filter allows shoppers to filter products based on the sizes it is available in. This filter is perfect for wearable products like glasses, accessories, clothing, shoes, etc.

For instance, some shoppers find it hard to find products in their size. With the size filter, they can filter products based on size and view only products available for them. This ensures they don't see a product they really like only to find that it isn't available in their size.

6. Product Tag Filter

Using the Product Tag Filter, your shoppers can find products based on the tags you've added to them. This filter is especially helpful for stores with large catalogs where shoppers need highly specific filters to narrow their search.

For instance, you may have tagged your products with 'linen', 'cotton', and other such fabric-related tags. If this filter is added to your Shopify store, your shoppers can select tags based on their fabric preferences.

7. Availability Filter

Allow shoppers to filter products based on their availability. Many shoppers are looking for a product that they would like to own availability. By excluding products that are out of stock, they can ensure that the products they are browsing through can be bought immediately.

8. Brand / Vendor Filter

Brand/ Vendor Filter allows shoppers to filter products based on the brand or the vendor of the product. Shoppers that are loyal to a specific brand can easily exclude others and browse only products from that brand.

This filter is built for stores selling products curated from different brands/vendors.

9. Collection Filter

The collection filter makes it easier for shoppers to include or exclude specific collections. This allows them to make their product search highly specific.

For instance, as a fashion brand, your shoppers can pick the collection they want to view products from. Some may want to see products from your winter collection while others may want to see products from a newer collection.

Also read:Analyzing How Amazon Search Engine Increases Conversions

Best Practices When Setting Up Product Search Filters

1. Add filters if you have too many variants

How do you know you need to set up a specific filter? Add a filter if there are too many variants to allow shoppers to look through the products better. For instance, if a shopper searches for 'polo shirts', they may be shown 30+ product results.

With a filter, shoppers can pick the size, color, and price of the shirt they want, cutting short their search.

On the other hand, if you only have 1 brand/vendor, you can avoid setting up this filter.

2. Remove variants that won't be restocked soon

If a certain variant will be out of stock for a while, remove the variant from your search filter entirely. Shoppers who see the variant name within the filter would expect the variant to be available and be disappointed when they find that it is not available.

3. Keep your filter names simple to understand

When naming your filters, ensure that they are named with simple terms. Shoppers want to be able to understand the different aspects of your store as soon as they start interacting with it.

For instance, instead of naming the filter 'Vendor', you can name it 'Brands'.

4. Localize your filter names for easy understanding

Cater to your audiences' local language. Name your product search filters using the language that your audience is more familiar with. This way, you can appeal to your audience and ensure a smoother experience.

Also read:How This Shopify Fashion Brand Uses Search and Filters To Increase Sales

5. Make it mobile responsive

Your product search filter should work even when the shopper is on mobile. A majority of shopping takes place online. By not optimizing the features available on your store for mobile, you lose out on converting mobile shoppers.

The best search and product filters app comes with instantly mobile responsive search and filter widgets. The filter is shown as a seamless and non-intrusive swipe-up menu on your product search.

Provide a Personalized Shopping Experience with Product Search Filters

This feature is a must-have for every Shopify store! With product search filters, your shoppers can quickly find the products they want, creating a personalized shopping experience, and ensuring they spend less time searching.

The Product Search Recommendations app allows you to increase conversions and ensures fewer drop offs on your Shopify store. As the best search app for Shopify, Searchly is quick to set up and allows you to customize the different filter names and even set up custom filters so that you can quickly provide easy search functionality on your store.

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Smart search, filters and recommendations for fast-growing online brands