Addressing poor search resultsA CX Manager's Blueprint to Commerce Studio
Improving search performance involves identifying and addressing issues that result in poor search experiences for customers. This article outlines strategies Customer Experience Managers can use in Commerce Studio to refine search results and ensure they meet customer expectations.
Customer Experience Managers can analyze feedback and search data to identify irrelevant or underperforming products appearing in results. Techniques such as blocking irrelevant products or demoting and burying poorly performing or less relevant items can improve the quality of search results, aligning them more closely with user intent.
By systematically addressing poor search results, Customer Experience Managers can create a more reliable and satisfying search experience, driving engagement and improving overall site performance to enhance sales.
Block irrelevant or underperforming products
When a customer searches on specific terms and results are not relevant or not returned at all, the customer can abandon the search and the potential sale is lost. To avoid poor customer search experience, you may want to prevent products from appearing in the search results. For example, create block rules if you have off-season merchandise or out-of-stock items in your inventory. Blocking irrelevant or unavailable items can help improve search relevance for users.
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In the Visual Editor, select the checkboxes for the items to block, and then click Add Rule > Block to create an unpublished rule.
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Go to the Ranking Rules page to publish it.
Test and make sure the blocked items don’t appear in the search results. If too many products are blocked, refine the blocking rules to ensure customers still see enough variety. Alternatively, implement dynamic blocking rules that only trigger under certain conditions, such as dates or queries.
Bury less relevant products
To provide more relevant search results for customers, you create rules to bury irrelevant or low-relevance products in the search results.
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In the Visual Editor, select the checkboxes for the items to bury, click Add Rule, and select Bury to create an unpublished rule.
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Go to the Ranking Rules page to publish it.