Product Update – Searchandising Rules and In-stock Filter
Our team is excited to unveil two new features to make your website search and navigation better.
Now you can control search merchandising rules from the admin panel.
Previously, you needed to ask our support to fix some of the searchandising rules. With the recent upgrade to the admin panel, you now can manage how the search works when users type in particular queries. You can change the information in a special spreadsheet inside the resource tab.
You can use three types of actions: redirect, show banner, and replace query.
How does it work?
There two types of queries: product and information queries. People use product queries when they want to find items you sell, and information queries when they need extra knowledge about your store.
Redirects let you lead customers to a specific page (collection page, delivery information page, etc.) if they type an information query. For instance, when the user types “shipping” inside the search box, he or she will be redirected to the page with shipping information.
The Show Banner action allows you to promote products that are currently on sale or a part of an advertising campaign. For example, if the user types “engagement ring,” a banner with “wedding rings collection offer” pops up.
Replace Query helps when you don’t have the exact product that customers are looking for, but you can offer them very similar ones. If a customer searches for a specific Xiaomi smartphone that you don’t sell, he or she will be shown smartphones of another brand with similar characteristics.
In-stock Filter
This is a single-selection filter that acts by customers’ intent. There are two modes - customers either see all products on the results page or just the in-stock ones. If the shopper starts navigating through your website from the search box, he will see all products in the search results and the in-stock ones will be placed first. This works because the user’s intent is already clear – the shopper knows what he wants to buy. If the customer starts browsing from categories, the “in-stock only” filter will be on. In that case, the user’s intent is not to buy something, but to find out what’s available on the market.
This filter can be practical when users have already found your products through external sources and then want to find them on your website. They will be notified that the product is out-of-stock, but still can see it in the search results.