Partial Match Search Results in Magento and Shopify eCommerce stores - Never say ‘No’ to your online visitors!

An online store should act no different from an offline store, within the purview of its capabilities.

Yes, when you step in at an offline store and ask for a ‘Black and white striped sleeveless dress’ and if it isn’t available, the salesperson will definitely suggest other closest matching dresses. This ability to suggest the closest alternatives is very important in eCommerce and is called a “Partial Match”.

As the user experience and customer expectations are increasing each day, online retailers cannot let go off the chances available for them. One such opportunity is to show products that closely match the search query if the search query does not exactly match products in the catalog.

What is a Partial Match?

Visitors with intent to purchase prefer to search onsite in eCommerce than browse on desktop or mobile. Visitors on mobile, have a higher inclination to search, as it reduces the time to discover products. Most search queries by these visitors are specific and might now always match the product catalog, Typically this would result in the dreaded “No results” page. On average, most retailers record 12% - 21% of “No results” across the total search volume. The percentage of “No results” also depends on the eCommerce vertical (Fashion, Home Decor, Jewellery, etc.,) served by the retailer.

(No results for “Red long sleeve dress”)

Image source: redcandy.co.uk

In the above image, the product catalog does not contain ‘pink cuckoo wall clocks’. Hence the system suggests other closest matching results such as

1. Green cuckoo wall clocks
2. Blue cuckoo wall clocks
3. Orange cuckoo wall clocks
4. Turquoise cuckoo wall clocks

These closest matching results are called as the ‘Partial Match Results’. Enabling Partial Match results can reduce the no results by around 30%.

How does ‘Partial Match’  improve conversion?

‘Partial Match’ reduces the percentage of No Results searches and increases the average number of products viewed per visitor online. Retailers who show partial match results instead of no results have recorded a Site Search conversion increase of over 27%.

At Tagalys, we are all about helping you get to the point where your Magento and Shopify eCommerce store becomes the preferred destination for your buyers. To know more about our solutions and their features, get in touch with us now.