Three arguments to convince you to invest in an e-commerce search solution

E-commerce is a dynamic and competitive ecosystem, not always profitable, where convincing management to invest in new technologies can be challenging but critical to the growth of a brand or retailer.

You may undoubtedly wonder about investment priorities. If you take the time to analyze your customer journeys and their importance, you'll realize that search functionality is crucial. One of the strategic investments is to optimize this journey. However, this task remains complex. Today, there are advanced e-commerce search and product discovery solutions that can accelerate progress in this area. This represents a significant opportunity to improve your company's competitiveness.

Increasing conversion rates, enhancing brand identity for a seamless and consistent user experience, and finely analyzing consumer behavior for informed decision-making in compliance with regulations: these are three solid arguments that will help convince you of the importance of investing. Let's explore them in detail.

1 - Maximizing Return on Investment

Investing in a search solution to optimize the user journey is a fundamental pillar of any conversion strategy on an e-commerce site. This first argument is based on tangible data: users who utilize the search engine are four times more likely to convert than those who simply browse through the site*. This direct correlation between the type of journey and the conversion rate underscores the importance of focusing resources where they are most effective. Indeed, each visitor represents a cost, and by maximizing conversion chances, by facilitating access to the offer, the e-merchant also optimizes the return on their initial investment in traffic acquisition.

Beyond the "conversion" aspect, this strategy also aligns with the logic of customer retention. Providing a hyper-personalized, seamless, and efficient user experience encourages buyers to return. When a customer perceives the quality of their interaction with the site, they are more likely to repeat their buying experience. Thus, investing in user journey optimization is not only a way to maximize immediate conversions, but also a way to nurture long-term customer relationships and build brand loyalty. In short, it's a profitable short-term investment and a strategic tool for sustainable business growth.

 * Source: Sensefuel (survey of search practices in e-commerce)

2 - Enhancing Brand Identity

Much more than a platform for commercial transactions, the e-commerce website is a space where customers interact with the brand, where their perceptions and brand positioning are built. In this digital environment, it's essential to evoke positive emotions, to create a seamless and consistent experience that reflects the very essence of the brand. This is also where the importance of investing in a specialist solution lies: to be able to animate the site according to its commercial strategy, to insert banners representing the commercial policy, disseminate reassuring content or advice to enhance visitors' trust. Each visual element, each interaction, then becomes a powerful lever that helps to shape the brand's identity and differentiate it from its competitors. Investing in e-commerce site optimization isn't just about improving commercial performance; it's also a way to strengthen the brand's presence and perception in the minds of consumers, a crucial factor in a highly competitive market.

3 - Understanding consumer behavior while complying with GDPR

In the digital age, empowering your e-merchandising teams to decipher consumer behavior is an imperative for brands that want to stay relevant and competitive. By empowering business teams with solutions fueled by purchase behavior data, companies can empower themselves to effectively manage journeys, meet consumer expectations, and ensure their own success. By providing clear and aggregated visualization at the business action level, dashboards become valuable tools to guide the strategic decisions of e-merchandising teams.

You now have three key arguments to present your project to invest in your internal search engine optimization and get everyone on board!

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