Shopify AI Search Consulting: Build a Smarter Store Search

Shopify AI Search Consulting: How to Build a Smarter Store Search

Table of Contents

Explore the sections of this guide and jump directly to the topic you want to read.

  1. What Is Shopify AI Search Consulting?
  2. Why Does Shopify Search Need More Attention?
  3. Game 1: Are You Able to Figure Out the Buyer?
  4. Five Methods in Which Shopify AI Search Consulting Improves Your Store
  5. Where Does ExpertRec Fit?
  6. Improving Your Shopify AI Search Experience: A How-To
  7. Game 2: Find Out The Optimal Result
  8. 5 signs that imply the necessity to improve AI search at your Shopify store
  9. Shopify Search and Discovery versus ExpertRec
  10. Final Thoughts

Picture a scenario where a customer goes to your Shopify store looking for a ladies’ office bag that costs less than ₹2,000. She types in “office bag under 2000 available with laptop space”.

Your store has the required product, but the search results show only casual bags, purses, and even a designer bag of ₹4,500. The product is available. The customer is willing to purchase immediately. But the search experience has failed.

This is where Shopify AI search consulting comes into play. The consulting does not only consider search as a box where the customers have to put in the relevant words.

It analyzes what it is that the shoppers are looking for and what they expect, as well as in what areas the search experience fails.

What Is Shopify AI Search Consulting?

Shopify AI search consulting is the process of improving search capabilities using customer activity, search information, and AI tools.

This process is an amalgamation of three disciplines: Shopify insight, search understanding, and comprehension of customer behaviour.

An AI consultant will ask:

  • What are the search queries of the customers?
  • What is the search result for different queries?
  • What queries return zero or no results?
  • Are they using any different terms?
  • Which product should be suggested first?
  • Are people clicking or buying the products?

For example, the super product could be called:

‘Men’s Waterproof Running Shoes – Black,’ but the customer could be searching for:

‘black jogging shoes’

‘shoes for running in rains’

‘waterproof shoes for less than 3000 bucks’

There is a difference between a title and the customer’s description of their need.

Why Does Shopify Search Need More Attention?

Visualise the case when your store features 5,000 products.

Customers would not spend time looking at many different pages just to find a product. They already know what they want to search for.

When search is not working properly, they might simply quit.

The drawbacks of a poor search include:

  • The results provided are poorly matched
  • No results found
  • Product discovery becomes a challenge
  • Too many search results obtained
  • Sessions abandoned
  • Sales missed

Shopify offers its merchants Search & Discovery applications that can be helpful in applying filters, synonyms, customizing search results, and product recommendations. Even though it can be a good start for an ordinary shop, it is a matter of fact that if your catalog as well as the nature of searches become more sophisticated, you will need more advanced search technology and analytics.

Interactive Quiz

Game 1: Are You Able to Figure Out the Buyer?

A customer types in:

The customer writes:

“Purchase Women’s running shoes at a price of ₹3,500 for daily use.”

To a question like that, what will the search engine provide?

A. ₹3,299 women’s walking/running shoes
B. ₹5,999 men’s specialized running shoe
C. ₹2,499 women’s party sneakers
D. ₹3,800 unisex trail shoe
Correct answer: A

Because the customer has given a lot of details in this case;

what type of product: running shoes;
who is going to buy it: women;
how much money can they spend: ₹3,500;
what they need it for: everyday walking.

A good search engine will use the information that it gets to give more appropriate results.

Five Methods in Which Shopify AI Search Consulting Improves Your Store

1. Learn How Consumers Refer to Products

For the most part, consumers’ searches do not match the way the store categorizes its products.

Suppose a skincare outlet has Vitamin C serum in its product depth. The customer might instead use the terms below:

“Serum for glowing skin”

“Face serum for dull skin”

“Vitamin serum for everyday use”

In the above cases, the names of products differ but the intent remains the same.

AI-powered search helps fill that void.

2. Improve Your Search for Typos

Mistakes are inevitable. Customers might mistype:

“iphon case”
“watre bottle”
“wireless hedphones”

They are not looking for an explanation. They want to purchase the items they searched for. The use of features including typo tolerance, synonym search, autocomplete, and smart matching technology can assist customers in getting to the relevant items regardless of an error they made during their search.

With ExpertRec, the store owners can implement advanced AI search solutions that make it easier for customers to find the products that match their needs.

3. Prioritize Relevant Products

Imagine that a user types into the search box as follows:

“Bluetooth speaker below ₹5,000.”

Your website has 80 products relevant to this search.

It is not useful to show all these 80 products.

Factors affecting search ranking may include:

  • Relevance
  • Availability
  • Customer behavior
  • Popularity
  • Parameters of the product
  • Business priorities

The goal is clear and simple:

To display the most useful products at the top of the list.

4. Provide Beneficial Filters for Customers

Picture this scenario: You want to buy a laptop and are confronted with a range of 600 products.

Filters are important in enabling customers.

Some of the helpful filters to consider when buying laptops include:

Cost | Memory | Storage capacity | Name | Processor | Display size

For clothing, the filters include:

Size | Color | Name | Cost | Material

Helpful filters in searching for products can immensely speed up the process.

5. Transform Search into Product Discovery

Search does not mean searching only for one particular item. For example, a person searching for the term “coffee maker under ₹8,000” may be interested in items like coffee beans, filters, cleaning supplies, or measuring spoons.

Likewise, a person searching for “iPhone 16” might be in the market for a case, screen guard, charging cable, or something else. So, it is possible to merge the idea of searching products with the concept of discovering products.

ExpertRec AI Search Animation

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Where Does ExpertRec Fit?

ExpertRec is a helpful tool for Shopify sellers looking to improve their search feature. The application is equipped with several sophisticated tools such as:

AI search, semantic search, autocompletion, ability to tolerate typos, synonyms, and search analytics.

Let’s take an example of the following query:

“Wireless headphones for calls under ₹4,000”

The query has three elements:

Product: headphones
Purpose: calls
Price: ₹4,000

This is where modern search technology could significantly improve the quality of search results. Instead of relying on the phrase “wireless headphones”, an advanced search application should take into account all elements of the search inquiry to return useful and relevant results.

Improving Your Shopify AI Search Experience: A How-To

Avoid starting with:

“Which search application do we need?”

Instead, start with:

“What are the shortcomings of our current search solution?”

Step 1: Scrutinize the Search Analytics

Point out:

  • Which search value do customers use most often?
  • Which search values bring zero results?
  • Which search values bring no clicks?
  • Which search values are repeatedly used?
  • What was bought with the help of search?

Step 2: Analyze your Product Data

Look at:

The product titles, descriptions, categories, attributes, tags, variants, and collections you have?

If the product information of your store is weak, even the best search will not help.

Step 3: Test the Queries of Real Customers

Rather than testing with the ideal product names, try using:

“gift for dad within ₹1,500”

“office chair for ₹10,000”

“small speaker for bedroom”

“dress for office party for ₹2,000”

Because these queries can help you see if your search engine is able to decode customers’ intentions.

Step 4: Monitor the Results

Keep track of:

Searches → Clicks → Add to Cart → Sales

And discover if your search is actually able to improve sales

Interactive Quiz

Game 2: Find Out The Optimal Result

A buyer is looking for:

“birthday gift for a 12-year-old girl below ₹1,000”

Your shop offers her:

A. Colouring book for ₹799
B. Girls’ bracelet for ₹899
C. Handbag for ₹1,799
D. Wallet for men for ₹650
The best offer is B.

Why?

Because the query supplies the following:

Occasion: birthday
Target: 12-year-old girl
Budget: ₹1,000
Purpose: gift

The more details users provide, the better.

5 signs that imply the necessity to improve AI search at your Shopify store

The following are the reasons why you should evaluate how good your search experience is:

1. You are experiencing rapid growth in your inventory.-

The more products you have, the more likely you will face search issues.

2. Your customers prefer searching.-

This suggests the importance of offering good search quality to your customers.

3. Your customers often see “no results found.”-

This indicates that some issue has occurred.

4. Your customers use natural language while searching.-

For example, instead of searching for “jacket,” they might search for “men’s winter jacket under ₹3000.”

Your website visitors search and immediately leave the site. This indicates dissatisfaction with the store experience.

Shopify Search and Discovery versus ExpertRec

Shopify Search & Discovery offers important functionalities like filters, recommendations, synonyms, and search customisation. It can be a helpful tool for various merchants. (ExpertRec)

But merchants with larger catalogues or complicated search behaviours might require other search capabilities and analytics.

This is where ExpertRec is able to provide intelligent search capabilities with better product discovery.

The crucial thing is not asking:

“Should I adopt AI technology since so many are adapting it?”

Instead, ask:

“Will my customers be able to find what they want quickly?”

Final Thoughts

If you have brilliant products, competitive pricing, and excellent marketing for your product in your Shopify store, the products can be obscure.

The Shopify AI search consultant is meant to fill that gap by making it easier for clients to find what they are looking for.

That is all there is to it – Clients need to search logically, relevant products need to be retrieved, and filtered as fast as possible.

A better search experience doesn’t have to be too complicated for the customer.

The idea is simply to make the shopping experience easier.

With ExpertRec, you bring your Shopify product search to a whole new level and make it fast and convenient.

Check out ExpertRec for Shopify’s AI Search here: https://www.expertrec.com/

Ready to improve your Shopify search?

Help Customers Find What They Want Faster

Give your customers a smarter way to search, discover relevant products, and move from search to purchase with ExpertRec.

Start Free Trial →

AI Search • Semantic Search • Autocomplete • Typo Tolerance • Search Analytics

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