Cyber Monday Reflection: The Importance of E-commerce Search

(Cross posted on the Google Enterprise Blog)

Last week, we asked you and the Twittersphere to share your shopping experiences during a record-breaking Cyber Monday. We were pleased to hear from so many of you, and the good news is that you found a lot of great deals (we’re jealous!).

We looked at each of your comments and noticed a few interesting trends:

• 77% of those surveyed used search within an e-commerce website to find products.
• Responders were most impressed by e-tailers who had great deals (22%) and a fast/easy shopping experience (14%). (Top Trends)
• Shoppers cited a difficulty finding items (11%) more frequently than shipping problems (10%) or a lack of good deals (8%). (Top Trends)

This Cyber Monday, online retailers seemed to be focused exclusively on offering great deals and promotions. Yet when provided an open-ended format to comment on their shopping experiences, consumers were most concerned with findability. Here’s what some of them had to say:

"I was utterly appalled by the experience. All the products were just in a long list, where you had to click through the pages to browse. There was no search box... it took me nearly half an hour to find what I wanted.”

"[It was] difficult to find what you want, meaning you spent hours searching."

“You couldn't search worth a darn. So disappointing... Why is it so hard to get this right?"

"Their site was extremely lagged for most of their sale. It cost them a purchase from me because I gave up."

We think it’s time for online retailers to re-evaluate their priorities. Google Commerce Search was created to address the above concerns and more, and retailers who have implemented it have seen searches increase, search time decrease, and conversions rise significantly. Consider BabyAge.com, an IR500 website who switched to GCS and saw searches rise 58% and search page views grow 64%, contributing to a 34% increase in sales conversions. Implementing a hosted e-commerce solution like Google Commerce Search can fundamentally improve your shopping experience, but don't take our word for it – hear what the CEO of BabyAge.com has to say.

Posted by Guillaume De Zwirek, Product Marketing, Google Commerce Search Team