Search functionality has evolved from being merely a utility to a mechanism for converting site visitors into sales opportunities. People expect to receive valuable, intelligent recommendations while on the Shopify store by simply entering their search keywords in the text box. This is accomplished through Predictive Search in Shopify Liquid.

In this blog post, we will discuss the following topics:

• Definition of Predictive Search and its significance
• How Predictive Search operates in Shopify utilizing Liquid
• Limitations when creating your own solution
• Reasons for using the Expertrec Shopify Search App as an excellent alternative/complementary solution

What Is Predictive Search?

Real time suggestions shown to users as they type in their search bar are what is called “predictive search” or “autocomplete search.” The suggestions they see when they perform predictive search typically include things like Products, Collections, Pages, or Popular Queries. This type of search eliminates the need to type a full query for a product, then click enter before browsing for results, ultimately allowing users to have a much quicker & easier time finding relevant products that interest them.

Why it matters

• Faster Discovery of Products
• Lower Bounce Rates
• Higher Conversion Rates
• Improved Overall Experience for Users

Stores that sell large quantities of multiple items very regularly will see an increased difference with this type of feature due to it allowing them to offer different types of products at one time, which in turn can create a sense of urgency amongst consumers to purchase these products.

Predictive Search in Shopify Using Liquid

Liquid is used to integrate Shopify’s Predictive Search API into your theme as an example of how to implement searching based on user interaction. You can build a JavaScript-based search application to utilize AJAX to communicate with Shopify’s Predictive Search API using the following process:

• A user types something into the search input area
• The JavaScript notifies Shopify that the user has entered something into that input area
• Shopify will reply with a collection of Product(s), Collection(s), Page(s), and/or Search Term(s) that match the query
• Liquid snippets are used to display the results on the front end.

You will need the following components to implement this as:

• Your Liquid templates used to control how the suggestions are displayed
• The Shopify Predictive Search API (predictive_search.json) which provides the information that you need to create the suggestions
• JavaScript used to listen for input events and send through AJAX calls
• Stylistic and layout customizations for your theme.

Examples of how you might use this type of search functionality:

• Display the top products as a user types
• Display a list of ‘popular searches’ underneath the search input area
• Quickly direct customers to best-selling products.

The native predictive search functionality provided by Shopify works well for basic use cases, primarily with smaller to medium-sized product catalogs.

Limitations of the Native Shopify Predictive Search

Despite being a working model on the Shopify platform, the Shopify Predictive Search solution also has a number of disadvantages. For example:

• You cannot fine-tune how items are ranked or boost particular products with this solution. This means that any advanced merchandising rules cannot be applied.
• The Native Search application struggles when it comes to handling synonyms, misspellings, or semantic intent (i.e. “running shoes” vs “jogging sneakers”).
• Performance issues arise with larger catalogs due to having to deal with more data and higher search traffic, which can cause the relevance of searches, as well as speed, to decrease.
• There are relatively few analytics provided by the Native Search application. For example, you will see very little information about zero-result searches, how well search queries convert, or the most frequently searched terms for which you have extremely few results.

This is why many merchants have started using third-party search applications.

Using Expertrec Shopify Search App as an Extra or Better Option

Using the Expertrec Shopify Search Application as an Add-on or Improvement to the Native Shopify Predictive Search App

If the Native Shopify Predictive Search application does not provide enough functionality, you may want to consider using the Expertrec Shopify Search application. It is a great option.

🔗 To view the application, please visit the following link:

Search & Product Discovery AI – Search & discovery with search bar and filters, AI-powered | Shopify App

Why Expertrec Stands Out

Advanced Predictive Search

StoreExpertrec provides the same type of predictive search as Google (Autocomplete), however, it includes:

• Error-tolerance (ability to tolerate spelling errors)
• Synonyms
• Intent-based recommendations

Customers are able to find their desired products even if they do not use a search query that is 100% perfect.

No Need For Liquid Or Javascript Heavy Lifting

With Expertrec’s Search Service, there’s no need to create API calls and HTML templates, you simply install the app. You will have the ability to:

• Install the app
• Configure your search behavior from a simple dashboard
• Launch immediately

This feature will be especially helpful for people who do not want to worry about creating and maintaining custom Liquid logic.

Improved Relevance Of Search Results

With the use of AI-driven (Artificial Intelligence) Ranking, Expertrec is able to:

• Rank products higher that are selling well or that have the highest level of profitability.
• Lower-ranking products out of stock.
• Adjust search results based on customer usage and behavior.

Search Analytics That Are Superior

To be able to fully understand how customers search:

• Determine the most frequently used keywords or queries.
• Identify what key phrases or searches result in zero results being returned.
• Determine conversion rates from customers using searches.

These data points are very difficult to obtain if you only use native Shopify predictive search.

Shopify Liquid Predictive Search vs Expertrec: Quick Comparison

When Should You Use Each?

There are several considerations while deciding between which one to use – Shopify Liquid Predictive Search or Expertrec Search App.

When to Use Shopify Liquid Predictive Search – If you have a small catalog, you want lightweight native functionality, and if you are confident in writing and maintaining your own Liquid and JavaScript.

When to Use Expertrec (or Add It On) – If you have a medium to large catalog, revenue is greatly affected by search, you would like better relevance, analytics, and speed, you would like to take advantage of a no-code or a low-code solution.

Many Shopify merchants start with native predictive search and later upgrade to Expertrec as their business grows.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, predictive search is now a necessity; even though Shopify Liquid has good functionality for use with predictive search, it is not as effective for relevance, scalability, or providing insight as Expertrec will.

If you want to have additional options or upgrade to a product that will help you develop smarter autocomplete results, while providing superior results and usable actionable insights without the burden of creating a specialized application, the Expertrec Shopify Search App will be your best option.

Choosing the best solution for your store, depending on the size and the Technical Resources and goals for your store’s growth, is important, however, most of the time, investing in better search is worth the expense.