Search Trends To Look For In B2C Ecommerce In 2019

Advancements in ecommerce are occurring more rapidly than in any other industry and these efforts will continue to gain steam in 2019. In order to compete and win online, ecommerce merchants will need to pay particular attention to certain trends in the new year. Here are some key areas that online sellers will want to keep in mind, not only to keep up with the competition, but to stay ahead of it.

Increasing Personalization

B2C shoppers have become increasingly accustomed to extremely relevant and personalized search results and their appetite for such experiences will only continue to grow. Online sellers of all types state that they can see a direct connection between personalization and shopper loyalty. The competition to grab buyers’ attention is at an all-time high and it is more important than ever to avoid dissatisfaction, even once, when visitors are interacting with your website. 2019 will set the bar even higher for search personalization expectations and it will serve ecommerce sellers well to proactively stay in front of the demand, instead of trying to catch up or reclaim lost ground.

Increasing Reliance On Machine Learning

Machine learning has been one of the many great benefits to stem from the field of artificial intelligence. This technology gives advanced search engines, such as HawkSearch, the ability to capture and analyze an extremely large amount of data regarding the behaviors and patterns of site shoppers. From this evaluation, predictions can be made about what will most appeal to buyers, which can greatly contribute to a personalized search experience. Machine learning empowers search results to become more meaningful, which can play a huge role in increasing the chance of a conversion taking place.

Avoiding A Rut - Try New Things

There’s an old adage that if you want to limit your success, be convinced that you know everything. Ecommerce is an ever changing, dynamic marketplace and it’s important to avoid the temptation of becoming stagnant in your marketing and merchandising strategies. Modern search and insight engines have powerful tools that can help stir up the pot when it comes to experimenting with fresh ideas on how to best shape search results for site visitors.

HawkSearch features such as boost & bury, pinning, banners and relevancy tuning allow merchandisers to change up the way that products are displayed in search results and landing pages. In addition, HawkSearch can custom configure landing pages to be based on a multitude of categories, which can breathe new life into products that may not be performing well.

Voice Assisted Search

The new year will also see additional developments in voice assisted search. Everyone has used voice to interact with their smart phones and products such as Echo and Alexa are flying off the shelves. Search via voice gives ecommerce customers a new freedom, by offering an alternative way to shop without having to sit in front of a keyboard. While traditional ways of engaging an onsite search tool still remain the most popular, ecommerce sellers need to be aware that voice search will evolve and become more mainstream. Once this happens, online shoppers will still expect the same level of personalization and search relevance that they currently enjoy from a keyboard.  

Federated Search

2019 will see an expanded utilization of federated search. Most ecommerce sites today process and store a vast volume of information, which often lives on various platforms. When a shopper conducts an inquiry from an onsite search tool, it’s very important that the results come from the data of the entire website, not just portions of it. Federated search ensures that site visitors are gaining the benefit of everything that you have to offer. As online retailers continue to add to their offerings, a federated search strategy will play a big role in providing both satisfying and fruitful search experiences.