Shopify Predictive Search: Everything You Need To Know

Ellie Ho

Jun 7, 2024

•

3 min read

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The eCommerce search bar is a crucial element of any successful Shopify store. By leveraging Shopify Predictive Search or search autocomplete functionality, your conversions can increase by 24%.

A relevant search can significantly influence online shoppers. In fact, 39% of shoppers are swayed by a good search experience. This is why incorporating AI and machine learning into your search function is so important. By predicting user intent and providing suitable search suggestions, you can significantly improve your customers' search experience. This, in turn, can enhance your sales and customer retention.

In this article, we'll cover the fundamentals and advanced aspects of Shopify Predictive Search, showing you how to harness AI to maximize its impact on your store.

What is Shopify Predictive Search?

Shopify Predictive Search is a site search feature that anticipates your customers' needs by showing suggested results as they type.

This eliminates the need for them to be redirected to a search results page, allowing them to quickly explore your store by seeing top results for suggested search terms, products, collections, and more.

Search autocomplete or Shopify Predictive Search powered by Boost AI Search & Discovery on Sparkle in Pink.

There is a wide range of technologies behind the predictive search function. The most basic one is the keyword matching algorithms. This means the search engine will curate any items that share the similar term with the input keywords.

Advanced systems like Boost AI Search & Discovery use AI algorithms to anticipate what your customers are looking for as they type in the search bar. It provides real-a suggestions based on their partial input, making the search process faster, more efficient, and ultimately more satisfying.

Key Components of Predictive Search Technology

Predictive search relies on a combination of sophisticated technologies to deliver accurate and relevant results. Here are some key components:

Autocomplete Suggestions: As shoppers type in the search bar, a dropdown of relevant suggestions appears based on their input. Predictive search results can include text suggestions, popular terms, product names with images, and relevant collections or pages. This feature helps customers quickly narrow down their search and find what they need faster.
Behavioral Analysis: Predictive search systems analyze historical data, including previous search queries and past interactions, to understand user behavior and predict their intent. For example, if a shopper frequently searches for "sneakers", the system may prioritize sneaker-related results as soon as they start typing.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): Advanced predictive search technologies like Boost AI leverage NLP to understand the context and intent behind a query, even when the input is incomplete or contains errors. This allows the system to suggest relevant results based on synonyms, related terms, or even automatically correct typos.

Real-Time Processing: Responsiveness is a big advantage of predictive search. As it operates in real-time, it can process and display suggestions instantaneously as the customer types. This requires efficient algorithms and sometimes cloud-based infrastructure to handle data processing speed and volume.
Relevance Optimization: The success of a search depends on relevance. Predictive systems continuously learn from user interactions, refining their accuracy by adjusting results based on factors like click-through rates, purchase history, or seasonal trends.

How Predictive Search Works Within the Shopify Platform

In fact, Shopify does offer predictive search functionality within a native app called Shopify Search & Discovery. However, this app has a lot of limitations in terms of customization.

For example, it doesn't allow you to change the look and feel of the search bar. The predictive search of the Shopify site search app uses basic algorithms like keyword matching, making it challenging to optimize search accuracy.

If you are tech-savvy, you can take advantage of the Predictive Search API to make your search work as you want on the storefront. Unfortunately, that's not the case for most of us, regular Shopify merchants.

A far better way to squeeze the benefits of Shopify Predictive Search is through a third party app like Boost AI Search & Discovery. Many third-party apps offer advanced search features, including predictive search with AI powers. Boost AI is a market leader with more than five years of experience and over 1,800 five-star reviews on Shopify App Store. It provides a robust and customizable solution for enhancing your store's search functionality.

"Boost AI Search & Discovery has been an integral part of our strategy for over four years. It seamlessly integrates with our website and mobile app, providing a consistent and efficient user experience across all devices. Boost's advanced search algorithms and customization options have greatly improved customers' shopping experience, helping them to find products quickly and efficiently." said Taimoor Ashiq, Head of Full Stack Development from Rainy City.

The collaboration between Rainy City agency and Boost app helped Sparkle in Pink achieve excellent results with eCommerce search.

Key Benefits of Predictive Search

Implementing auto-complete search or search-as-you-type on your Shopify store offers numerous benefits. It’s an effective method of search bar optimization that transforms how your customers interact with your store, ultimately leading to a more positive and profitable experience.

Enhanced User Experience

Speed and Convenience: By offering relevant suggestions as shoppers type, intelligent predictive search reduces the need to scroll through search result pages, making product discovery faster and more convenient.
Error Tolerance: Intelligent search system can handle misspellings and incomplete queries, ensuring users can find what they need even if they make mistakes.

Increased Conversions

Driving Sales: Predictive search can significantly increase conversion rates by providing relevant suggestions and helping users find products quickly.
Cross-selling and Upselling Opportunities: AI-powered search systems can suggest related products based on user behavior, leading to increased sales and average order value.

Improved Customer Retention

Personalization: Advanced search can go without personalization. Intelligent search engines curate search results based on user behavior, creating a more tailored and engaging shopping experience.

Reduced Frustration: Happy customers grow with successful search. Predictive improve overall customer satisfaction by providing accurate and relevant suggestions in their real-time search.

How to Implement Predictive Search in Shopify

There are two main ways to implement predictive search on your Shopify store: using Shopify native app and using a third-party app.

Using Shopify Search & Discovery app

Step 1: Installation

To highlight the importance of eCommerce site search, Shopify automatically installs this search app for all newly created stores. If your store doesn't have it, simply search for Shopify Search & Discovery in the app store and click Install. The Shopify Predictive Search feature normally activates immediately after successful installation.

Step 2: Optimization

You can go the the app to add synonyms or create a “Boost" strategy to make selected products more visible for specific search terms. There are a few settings to configure the Search relevance.

As this is a very basic app, most of the growing Shopify stores usually get rid of it and replace with a more advanced option. If this is also your case, you can turn off the native Shopify Predictive Search by uninstalling the app.

Find the three dots in the top right-hand corner. After clicking, you will see the Uninstall button.

Using Boost AI Search & Discovery

Boost is a much more advanced alternative to implementing Shopify Predictive Search.

Install the app: Go to Boost AI Search & Discovery on the Shopify App Store and click Install.
(Optional) Go through the Onboarding steps: You can skim through the onbroading flow to get a good grip on the Boost app.
Enable Predictive Search:

Navigate to the top right-hand menu, click Integration > Shopify integration.

Choose a theme you want to use Boost's predictive search on and click the cogwheel icon next to it.

Locate the Instant search widget in the widget list and click the Enable button next to it. You can also access the detailed guide by clicking the book icon.

And that's all set.

To customize the look and feel of the Instant search widget, go to Search > Standard Search and choose the Instant search widget in the left-hand sidebar menu.

You can also add synonyms, stop words, and redirects to make the site search experience smoother.

Best Practices for Optimizing Predictive Search

Maximizing the effectiveness of predictive search on your Shopify store is no mystery. Numerous studies have identified practical best practices to achieve optimal results.

Optimizing Website Speed

Ensure Fast Loading Times: Predictive search relies on real-time processing, so ensuring your website loads quickly is crucial to avoid delays and user frustration. Check out 11 Tips to optimize page speed for Shopify stores for more details.
Optimize Images and Code: Compress images, remove redundant code, and uninstall unused apps to improve website performance.

Configuring Search Settings

Set Up Synonyms: Create a list of synonyms for your product names and categories to ensure the system understands variations in user search terms. With Boost AI, you can utilize the AI Synonyms feature, which analyzes your store data to suggest words with similar meanings automatically.
Adjust Relevance Settings: Configure the search weight for searchable properties such as description, product name, vendor, tag, metafield to ensure the most relevant sources are prioritized.
Define Merchandising Strategies: Organize the product order in the results for upselling opportunities. For example, you can set a merchandising rule to boost bestselling products and another rule to lower the ranking of the out-of-stock.

Design Considerations

Integrate Seamlessly: Ensure the predictive search suggestions integrate seamlessly with your store's design for a cohesive user experience.
Clear and Concise Suggestions: Use clear and concise language, avoid industry jargons in the product names or suggestions to avoid confusing users.

More tips:

Experts' Guides To Improve Site Search On E-commerce Stores

How To Build Exceptional Site Search Experience: Top Tips for Search UI/UX

4 Merchandising Strategies To Fully Unlock The Power Of Shopify Site Search With Boost

A Few Last Words

Shopify Predictive Search is a powerful tool that can significantly improve your Shopify store's search functionality, leading to a better search experience, increased conversions, and improved customer retention.

By implementing intelligent auto-complete search and optimizing its settings with a third-party app like Boost, you can create a more efficient and enjoyable shopping experience for your customers, ultimately driving more sales and growing your business.

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Ellie Ho

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Content Marketing Specialist

September 5, 2024

•

5 min read

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Shopify Predictive Search: Everything You Need To Know

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