Remember the days when “Google it” wasn’t the go-to response to any fact-based argument, or when you had to “agree to disagree”, rather than revel in the sweet satisfaction of Google-powered vindication? You should, because those days were just a few years ago. Mobile technology is one of those things that has so fundamentally changed the way we do so many things, that you can’t be blamed for not having processed the extent of its impact. This is certainly true for online retailers, many of whom underestimate how huge mobile search has become in the online shopping ecosystem.
A recent study by Internet Retailer showed that mobile commerce is growing at 3 times the rate of US e-commerce overall. In another study, Invesp showed that “mobile devices accounted for 19% of all US retail e-commerce sales. This figure is estimated to reach 27% by the end of 2018, which represents 1 out of every 4 US retail e-commerce dollars. If over a quarter of all online sales will take place on mobile devices, and the vast majority of those will start with search, it becomes pretty clear that mobile search needs to be made a serious priority.
Measuring Mobile Search
Back when we started domesticating crops and settling in villages (OK maybe not that far back) Revenue Per Session (RPS) and onsite conversion metrics were acceptably representative of how customers were finding our products and eventually buying them. That doesn’t cut it anymore though. If you’re going to have any chance of making correct attributions, measuring ROI across all channels and using that data to improve your marketing, you need a realistic picture of where your customers are coming from, and a clear picture of each stage in their journey.
If you’re going to make the most of all that sweet mobile traffic, then a mobile-friendly search strategy is essential. When a customer searches for a product, she’s going to use her own words to describe what she’s looking for. It’s a unique opportunity to be the brand to provide relevant, individualized results and get your relationship with that customer off to a great start. This is why online retailers are pouring millions into connecting the dots between the search terms a customer uses and the products they’re looking for. It’s also why keyword strategies must be dynamic, living things that constantly change based on search trends. This brings us to our next point.
Site Search: A Sad Story of Neglect.
So you’ve got that little search block in the top right corner of your site and you think it works… Maybe. Given how massively an effective site search feature can be in boosting conversion rates, it’s surprising that site search functionality remains a much-neglected feature for so many online retailers. Ever heard of “findability”? It’s a measure of the accuracy and relevance of search results, coined by Professor Michael Hendron. His research showed that over 90% of users are likely to use site search, yet only half of those searchers will actually find what they’re looking for.
We’re talking about a customer who’s already on your site, looking for the fastest and most efficient way to find what he’s looking for. If that’s not an opportunity that no retailer can afford to miss, then we don’t know what is. So how can you improve the site search experience for your customers?
Relevance is king. Providing intelligent results based on the user’s search terms is cool, but making those results more relevant by leveraging personalization data is where it’s at. The path that your customer has taken and the interactions he has had with your site are gold in terms of understanding what he is looking for in search. In this regard, a shopping personalization AI can transform your site search experience.
How about zero search results pages? When a search yields no results, are you presenting your customer with a dead end, or a list of possibilities? At the very least, your site search should present a “try these” list of alternate search terms, a broader category match, or a link to an advanced search or live chat feature. Don’t let zero results searches be the end of that customer’s journey.
Wrapping Up
Unlike many top-of-funnel channels in the e-commerce world, search has become even more relevant as time goes by. Now, as more users do everything from discover to purchase on their mobile devices, it has become essential to make mobile search a priority, both in search engines and in site search. If you’re going to extract all the value you can from the latter, you’re going to need a versatile, fast and powerful personalization AI. That’s where Liftigniter comes in. Talk to us to find out how simple and affordable it can be to bring advanced personalization features to your marketing efforts.
