{"id":23,"date":"2017-01-06T11:03:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T11:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zombiesoftwares.com\/blog\/?p=23"},"modified":"2017-01-13T14:32:20","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T14:32:20","slug":"fashion-site-search-comparison-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zombiesoftwares.com\/blog\/fashion-site-search-comparison-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Fashion Site Search: Comparison Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not wishing to sound too astoundingly obvious right off the bat, but your on-site search tool<\/a> is a key way in which visitors look for products on your website, especially if you carry a huge range of items.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The surprising thing is how easy it is to get on-onsite search wrong: bad placement, lack of auto-suggest, poorly displayed search results, and so on.<\/p>\n

Here we\u2019ll be looking at three Fashion reatilers, using specific criteria to gauge the effectiveness of their on-site search tools.<\/p>\n

There is also a continuation\u00a0 of this post looking at Walmart, Costco and Target<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Search box design<\/h3>\n

The search box should be consistent across all pages of the site, avoiding significant usability problems and be positioned away from any other text-boxes.<\/em><\/p>\n

The John Lewis<\/strong>\u00a0search box is kept dead central at the top of the page and remains throughout. The top navigation is fairly minimalist, but it\u2019s not so subtle as to be lost.<\/p>\n

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M&S<\/strong> keeps its search tool on the left hand-side, which is a more typical place for it to appear.<\/p>\n

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Debenhams\u2019<\/strong> search bar is more obvious than M&S, and contrasting with its background<\/p>\n

The design perhaps feels a little dated, but a visitor would have no trouble finding it, which is the main thing.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Note :
\nThe biggest disadvantage<\/strong> encountered with all three of the site is that their\u00a0Search bar is not sticky<\/strong> . It didn\u2019t remain visible in their position, when user is scrolling down the webpage.<\/em>
\nThe Search bar position should be following the scroll. This practice has been applied wildly including on a few notable websites, such as Facebook , Example from Jabong.com<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2017-01-04-at-10-48-32-am\"<\/p>\n

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Auto-suggest<\/p>\n

Automatic suggestions should appear after a visitor types several letters into a search box based on commonly searched key-phrases including common misspellings and abbreviations.<\/em><\/p>\n

John Lewis provides me with automatic suggestions based on its most popular items, although the results displayed are only ones found that begin with the letters I type.<\/p>\n

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John Lewis also has an excellent \u2018recent searches\u2019 drop-down, which appears as soon as you click.<\/p>\n

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And although it doesn\u2019t provide automatic suggestions if I make a misspelling, if I hit \u2018search\u2019 I am still presented with results for the correct spelling of bedding.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a live \u201cdo you mean \u2018bedding\u2019?\u201d suggestion would help in reassuring searchers that it does indeed stock that item.<\/p>\n

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M&S also provides the same functionality as John Lewis (predictive text with lack of live misspelling options) but again it does provide the correct results when you click search on a misspelling.<\/p>\n

I would suggest the text is too small here.<\/p>\n

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Debenhams\u2019 search tool do provide suggestion in a more relevant and prominent due to its structured way\u00a0Another\u00a0positive here is that, again, misspellings are accounted for on the results page.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Note: The Problem that find is that, the auto-complete is relatively slow for M&S an John Lewis, and all three provides suggestion when you end up typing three character in the search bar<\/em><\/p>\n

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Mobile-friendly design<\/a><\/h3>\n

The search box should adapt to work on any mobile device and screen size, and remain easily accessible throughout the journey.<\/em><\/p>\n

None of the retailers have either a responsive or adaptive website. Instead each operates a separate mobile set.<\/p>\n

John Lewis shows its full search box on the home page, then places within the confines of a clearly labelled symbol on the top navigation elsewhere on the site.<\/p>\n

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M&S keeps its search tool hidden behind the magnifying glass. The mobile-web savvy of us wouldn\u2019t have a problem finding it.<\/p>\n

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Debenhams however keeps its search field visible throughout the entire mobile journey.<\/p>\n

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Effective synonym management<\/h3>\n

Search boxes should have the ability to manage alternate terms so that several different keyphrases can trigger the same set of search results (for instance: singular & plurals, earphones\/headphones).Stemmers are in place and they have optimized for synonyms as well<\/em><\/p>\n

All three retailers have no problem dealing with this. I\u2019m returned the same results for every pluralised or singular term entered in all three.<\/p>\n

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Presentation of search results<\/h3>\n

The total number of results are shown along with the search term and product images.<\/em><\/p>\n

Everything is present and correct, with nice clear product images neatly spaced out.<\/p>\n

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M&S has some fantastic large images in its results, and the search term and number of items are boldly highlighted.<\/p>\n

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Debenhams has a very neatly laid out results page, with everything expected present. Here you get to see actual models wearing the clothes.<\/p>\n

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This is helpful as it shows how they\u2019ll look in the real world, but it does mean the size of the product itself is reduced.<\/p>\n

Going back to the M&S example though, the retailer has come up with a good \u2018best of both worlds\u2019 solution, by changing the image when you hover your mouse over<\/a> it.<\/p>\n

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Off that we find with John Lewis is that it doesn\u2019t have Quick View<\/a> Option<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Filter search results<\/h3>\n

Search results can be sorted and filtered by category, product, price etc.<\/p>\n

John Lewis has plenty of options for refining by brand or category, and even has a tabbed section for most popular filters.<\/p>\n

\"Screen
New Version<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Older Version<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

M&S however wins this one with a wider array of filters, a neat colour chart and the ability to show only in-stock items.<\/p>\n

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Debenhams has effective filters too, which although not as detailed as M&S, I like the way the filter links are coloured differently from the header text.<\/p>\n

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Search effectiveness<\/h3>\n

All relevant products are shown in the search results along with any other relevant content or help pages.<\/p>\n

M&S delivers all possible results here, however it is John Lewis that goes above and beyond by also providing a link to additional content.<\/p>\n

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Which takes you directly to the bottom of the page where you can find the following articles.<\/p>\n

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Over at Debenhams it\u2019s a slightly different story. You have to be more specific than usual when searching for an item to be served a page of results. For instance \u2018red shoes\u2019 or \u2018black jumper\u2019.<\/p>\n

However when you search for \u2018jumpers\u2019 you\u2019re presented with a generic knitwear product page.<\/p>\n

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I then have to either click on a link on the left to access jumpers, or click one of the images to filter my results. It\u2019s not the worst hoop I\u2019ve had to jump through, as if I was presented with a straight results page I would still have to filter, but it feels like a barrier nonetheless.<\/p>\n

A solution to this would be if Debenhams provided me with the option to look at a specific subset of products or a landing page within the search tool. Unfortunately it doesn\u2019t provide automated suggestions, so it\u2019s an impossibility.<\/p>\n

In conclusion<\/h3>\n

John Lewis and M&S have excellent search results pages, although M&S pulls in front with its easier to use filter options. John Lewis on the other hand has a much better positioned search box, Debenhams has\u00a0slightly clearer automated suggestions.<\/p>\n

However Debenhams is lagging behind. It needs to add\u00a0much more dynamic images & refinements in otherwise fine results pages and perhaps ultimately a refresh of its whole design.<\/p>\n

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CATEGORY: SITE SEARCH<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
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POSTED ON<\/span>EDIT“THE IMPORTANCE OF SITE SEARCH FOR ECOMMERCE”<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

The Importance of Site Search for Ecommerce<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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Facebook<\/span><\/a>Twitter<\/span><\/a>Google+<\/span><\/a>Share<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Accurate and Effective site search functionality on a eCommerce website is an important functionality towards customer acquisition<\/strong><\/p>\n

With changing user behavior, organization now are keeping more focus on site search , as per studies site search contributes to 60-70 % of e-commerce shopping sites<\/a> revenue and user intent towards conversion is observed to be on the higher side.<\/p>\n

Search terms that consumers type into a site search box can provide huge insight into the users\u2019 behavior and provide many invaluable data to be learned from.<\/p>\n

Based on insights from industry, I will be summing up 4 major reasons<\/strong> to have dedicated support for site search.<\/p>\n