totes ISOTONER Adds More to the Bottom Line with Full-Service Site Search from SLI Systems
Gloves and Rainwear Retailer Doubles Conversion Rate and Revenue Per Visit for Site Search Users, and Adds Site Search to its Mobile Site
SAN JOSE, CA – February 22, 2012 – SLI Systems(www.sli-systems.com) today announced that totes ISOTONER Corp. (www.totes-isotoner.com) has more than doubled its conversion rate and revenue per visit after implementing SLI Systems’ full-service hosted site search. The company has also seen nearly twice the number of site visitors who use search, further adding to bottom-line benefits, and is also planning to deploy SLI site search on its mobile website.
Prior to choosing Learning Search and Learning Navigation from SLI Systems, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based gloves and rainwear retailer – which sells online as well as through major retailers – was using the default site search on its e-commerce platform.
“Site search usage was declining on our site, and that was impacting the overall customer experience, our brand reputation and ultimately our revenues from our site,” said Chris Reighley, vice president of e-commerce for totes ISOTONER. “It was obvious that shoppers couldn’t find the products they needed because the site search was not user-friendly, nor was it delivering relevant results. On our part, we had no control over refinements – we couldn’t customize how shoppers narrowed down their searches. So we knew we needed something better.”
The company considered site search solutions from Adobe and FredHopper before selecting SLI. “We liked the fact that a partnership with SLI Systems would also help us improve our SEO efforts,” Reighley explained. “The service we’ve received from SLI is amazing – we can add new content or change refinements in a much faster timeframe than with our previous site search solution. It’s also easy for us to customize merchandising – if visitors come to one of our product pages from a search engine, we can add banners showcasing the top site search results for the keyword used.”
totes ISOTONER is in the process of adding social content such as Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, and YouTube videos to its site search results, providing a richer, more engaging experience for website visitors. The company is also using SLI’s Rich Auto Complete feature, which automatically offers keyword suggestions and product images as shoppers begin to type search terms. SLI Systems’ full-service approach makes it easy for online retailers to add new features and content to site search.
“We’re working on several ways to make it easier for our customers to make a purchase,” Reighley said. “For instance, we’re adding tabs to search results for reviews, Q&As, and other non-product information, which will bring all of our content under a single umbrella within site search.”
As a result of its work with SLI Systems, totes ISOTONER is now seeing a larger number of visitors using the search box. While still a fraction of overall visitors to the site, people who use site search actually account for almost half the company’s total online revenue. The retailer is also adding SLI’s mobile site search to its m-commerce website and expects to see similar bottom line results.
“About 13% of our Black Friday 2011 sales came from mobile users, so we’re eager to make it easier for mobile shoppers to find and buy products,” Reighley said. “We’re also testing QR codes, which shoppers can find in search results and then access them when they are in stores. It helps us connect the online and in-person experiences.”
Since adding SLI Systems, totes ISOTONER site search users are spending more time browsing the site. Shoppers using site search viewed nearly four times as many pages per visit than non-site search users, and spent about three times as long on the totes website, further helping drive more sales online.
“When more visitors are encouraged to use site search, they can have a healthy impact on revenue and conversions,” said Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems. “Online retailers should explore tools for building useful content into search results and fine-tuning navigation, all with the goal of increasing the adoption of site search.”
Learning Search and Learning Navigation are part of SLI Systems’ full-service, customized site search, navigation and merchandising offerings. The solutions help online retailers like totes ISOTONER meet customer expectations for relevant results and information, and also promote particular products and brands, all based on previous visitors’ search and click-through activity. The solutions are dynamic, so results change as customer buying trends and search terms shift. Additionally, SLI’s offerings are backed by the company’s team of search and navigation experts, who oversee deployment of Learning Search and provide ongoing management and support.
About SLI Systems
SLI Systems provides full-service, customized, on-demand solutions for site-search, navigation, merchandising, and user-generated SEO. SLI Systems’ solutions empower businesses to enhance customer satisfaction while increasing sales, reducing costs and increasing site conversions. Unlike traditional search and merchandising software, SLI Systems’ patented technology continuously “learns” from the behavior of visitors over time to deliver more relevant results. SLI Systems is a privately held company with offices in San Jose, California; London; New Zealand and Australia. For more information, visit www.sli-systems.com , or read the company’s blog at http://blog.sli-systems.com/, watch the SLI YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/SLISiteSearch, follow SLI on Twitter at http://twitter.com/slisystems or listen to SLI hosted ecommerce podcasts at http://www.ecommercepodcast.com/.