One of the most important aspects of a webshop, is making it effortless for customers to find what they need. Clerks Search function does just that.
Search is everything you expect from a great modern search function, built specifically for eCommerce. It handles spelling mistakes, allows for full phrase searches and presents results in the order that are most likely to convert.
Layouts #
Clerk comes with 3 types of layouts that are used for different use-cases.
Instant Search #
A dropdown that is shown while a visitor is typing. This is optimised for speed as visitors expect to find results fast.
By default, an Instant Search gives a broad insight into the catalogue by showing both products, categories and pages for any given search.
Search Page & Facets #
Used to show every single match, the full Search Page let’s visitors easily navigate large result sets. This is optimised for browsing, by also including Facets that let’s visitors narrow down results in just a few clicks.
Omnisearch #
Combines the best of both the Instant Search and Search Page into a single overlay that shows results while the visitor is typing. It contains products, facets, categories and pages, giving visitors a deep insight into the catalogue from one place.
Analytics #
Get deep insights into how your visitors are searching, to identify improvements that makes it even better. Maybe visitors search for a synonym you don’t yet have in any product texts, or they are looking for color variations you should stock up on.
Customising Results #
Search has several ways of influencing results:
- Synonyms let’s you connect similar words and phrases to show results even when you have no direct text matches
- Customisation rules let’s you control the exact results shown for specific queries
- Merchandising let’s you create campaigns that boost, bury or remove products to match your marketing strategies.
Ranking #
Clerks AI excels at identifying both which products are the most likely matches based on text, but also which ones are most likely to sell. This is why it excels for eCommerce businesses.
Attributes #
Search can find results based on any attribute available for your products, categories and pages.
If a user searches for “green sleeping bags for hiking”, products from the categories “Sleeping Bags” and “Hiking” with the name “Treklife Trip”, in the color “green” will be shown. As long as the text is available in any attribute, it can be used.
You can configure the attributes Search is allowed to use for showing results.
Text vs Sales #
In simple terms, each product gets a list of words that are relevant for it, with a score defining how important each word is.
This score is generally based on two factors:
- How important the word is for this product compared to others.
- How likely to sell the product is, based on order data for itself and similar items.
E.g. if a visitor searches for “redken spray wax”, products with “spray” and “wax” in their name, and the brand “Redken” will have higher text relevance than products with “spray the wax-like residue” in their description.
Sales relevance is then taken into account when ordering results. E.g. if the 150ml bottle has only sold 5 times in a year, and the 250ml bottle sells 10 times per week, the latter is shown first.
Semantic Search Beta #
Only available for beta customers. Can be activated by Clerk employees in Settings > Features > Semantic Fallback
A gamechanger in showing relevant results, Semantic Search understands what your customers mean, not what they write.
If a customer searches less specifically, using natural language, our Semantic Search feature takes over and analyses what they mean.
Searches like “something to wash clothes with” will show washing machines and “I need to cool down food” will show refrigerators.
Semantic Search is a crucial step towards always showing the most highly converting result, regardless of how we mash buttons when browsing webshops.
Installation #
At it’s core, Search uses Clerks API to take requests and send back results.
It’s also possible, and recommended, to use our Clerk.js solution to install Search using hosted designs combined with simple embeddable snippets:
Designs #
Search can be styled in any way you want using one of two methods:
- A visual design editor (Instant Search, Search Page)
- With code using HTML, CSS and Liquid (Instant Search, Search Page, Omnisearch)
We continue to expand on our library of default designs that makes it easy for you to get started.
Content #
These are configurable snippets holding the layout and design you want to use, allowing you embed a snippet into your website for showing Search results.