Each year, online sales take a bigger slice of the ‘total retail sales’ pie. This year, analyst firm Forrester expects e-commerce sales in the United States to reach $294 billion, a small 9% slice of all sales in the country. That means that 91% of retail sales still occur in brick-and-mortar stores. The question is: can e-commerce do better? Can e-commerce grab a larger slice of that pie by making simple changes? A recent large-scale study on e-commerce search by the Baymard Institute says YES.
“When e-commerce search works, it’s fast, convenient and efficient. It’s no wonder that so many users prefer searching over clicking categories. Unfortunately, our recent study finds that search often doesn’t work very well,” said Christian Holst, Baymard Institute co-founder.
The Baymard Institute found:
- 16% of e-commerce sites do not support searching by product name or model number
- 18% of sites provide no useful results if the product name was off by a single character
- 70% require users to search by the exact jargon for the product type that the site uses, failing to return relevant products for “blow dryer” if “hair dryer” is typed
- Searches with symbols and abbreviations are not supported by 60% of e-commerce sites
- Only 40% of sites have faceted search, despite it being essential to e-commerce search because it is the foundation of contextual filters
Consistent with Baymard Institute findings, our own SLI study conducted last year found that 57% of e-commerce brands were not using their site search data to enhance marketing campaigns. Only 25% of retailers integrated site search data into email marketing campaigns to better customize offers; 27% created SEO landing pages populated with site search results and custom banners; and only 13% took advantage of site search to power mobile search.
It’s also interesting to note that amid generally weak Q2 earnings, the retail giants that announced spikes in e-commerce sales ranked as having excellent site search in Baymard’s search study:
- #2 Wal-Mart global e-commerce grew 24%, heavily contributing to a $3.2 billion increase
- #4 Wayfair, multinational e-retailer, reported a 50% YOY increase to total $574 million
- #5 Sears, multinational department store chain, reported strongest sales came from e-commerce
- #11 Staples, the world’s largest office-supply chain, grew its web sales 8%
- #13 The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the U.S., increased its online sales 38% to $1 billion
The take-away? The e-commerce industry can do better than 9%. As more e-commerce sites optimize site search, online shopping experiences will improve and e-commerce will gain a greater share of the $1.7 trillion retail pie.
To see how small changes in your site can significantly impact revenue, schedule a demo with an SLI Systems sales director.
