There are two primary ways that people find products when shopping online.
- Search – typing something in the search-box
- Navigation – clicking through the category taxonomy
Search is used 80% of the time, which makes it critical to have this feature. And all visits involve some navigation (even if just to refine the search) before arriving at a purchase decision. So how do you ensure a successful search & navigation experience? You have to have the proper tools. This includes showing the shopper where they are (e.g. breadcrumb trail) and showing them where they can go. The best method for doing this is using faceted navigation, i.e. allowing the user to refine their search using attributes.
We recently worked on an Industrial Supply site where a search for “pipe nipples” returned 1,700 products. They had the ability to refine search, but the options listed (Brand, Type, and Size) did not provide enough information to navigate to the desired products. They wanted their visitors to be able to refine their selection on any attribute of the product, so in this case we produced 8 variables: Size, Shape, Reducing (Y/N), Material, End Type, Class, Finish, Series.
With this structured metadata, searches become more accurate, shoppers can see the attributes of the product that are likely to drive their decision, and they can customize their own path to purchase. Attributes allow the visitors to design their own shopping experience and not be forced to either scroll through a list of products or drill down through a predetermined, and possibly confusing, category hierarchy. Even expert shoppers have different needs, and don’t shop the same way.
Our customers see structured data in the form of custom attributes as critical to the success of their Site Search & Navigation. What is your experience with custom attributes and their affect on Site Search, Navigation, and general Findability of your site?