Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
43% of users on retail websites go immediately to the search bar
68% of shoppers would not return to a site that provided a poor search experience
80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences
Site search users convert at 4.63% compared to the 2.77% average
Visitors who use site search generate 30-60% of all revenue on ecommerce sites
Searchers are 2.4 times more likely to buy than non-searchers involved in the same session
27% of the global online population uses voice search on mobile
62% of smart speaker owners have bought something via voice search
Voice shopping is estimated to reach $40 billion in the US
70% of ecommerce sites do not support synonyms for search queries
61% of sites require users to search by the exact same product type jargon the site uses
Intelligent autocomplete can increase search usage by 25%
42% of ecommerce companies don't track site search usage effectively
15% of all site searches end with zero results
72% of sites completely fail search expectations when it comes to long-tail keywords
Challenges & Optimization Gaps
- 142% of ecommerce companies don't track site search usage effectively
- 215% of all site searches end with zero results
- 372% of sites completely fail search expectations when it comes to long-tail keywords
- 435% of merchants do not have a dedicated team or person managing site search
- 5Only 7% of companies cite "site search" as a top optimization priority
- 684% of companies do not optimize their internal search engine for "typo tolerance"
- 731% of sites return "no results" for a simple misspelling of a product name
- 836% of ecommerce professionals say their current site search technology is not delivering accurate results
- 9Only 15% of companies are using site search data to inform their marketing campaigns
- 1092% of websites do not use breadcrumbs to help users navigating back from search results
- 1170% of desktop ecommerce search engines are unable to handle special characters
- 1250% of retailers admit they do not have the data needed to understand why customers leave their site search
- 1325% of site searches are for exact model numbers, yet 40% of sites fail to return the specific item at the top
- 14Only 16% of ecommerce sites allow users to limit the scope of their search (e.g. search only within 'Shoes')
- 1565% of onsite search queries are two words or more, creating complexity for basic search engines
- 1680% of online retailers do not effectively use "synonym management" causing lost sales
- 1720% of users who encounter a "no results" page will immediately leave the site
- 18Only 5% of companies continually test and tune their onsite search algorithms
- 1949% of sites fail to retain the user's search query in the search box on the results page
- 2060% of organizations lack a defined strategy for site search optimization
Interpretation
Taken together, these stats show retailers treat onsite search like an unloved store clerk, ignored, undertrained and blamed for customers who walk out, which is as funny as it is disastrous because typos, long-tail queries and exact model numbers too often return no results, bury the right items and waste valuable marketing data.
Conversion & Revenue Impact
- 1Site search users convert at 4.63% compared to the 2.77% average
- 2Visitors who use site search generate 30-60% of all revenue on ecommerce sites
- 3Searchers are 2.4 times more likely to buy than non-searchers involved in the same session
- 415% of users use site search, but they account for 45% of ecommerce revenue
- 5Retailers implementing semantic search see a 2% decrease in cart abandonment rate
- 6Conversion rates for site search can be up to 50% higher than average
- 7Improving site search can increase conversion rates by 43%
- 8Average order value (AOV) is roughly 15% higher for users who engage with search
- 9Optimizing search relevance can boost revenue by up to 10%
- 10Sites with advanced search reporting see a 19% higher conversion rate
- 1140% of sales are lost resulting from businesses not optimizing their search experience
- 12Users utilizing "facets" or filters during search convert at a 20% higher rate
- 1330% of ecommerce visitors will use the site search, serving as a high-intent segment
- 14US retailers lose an estimated $333 billion annually due to bad search capabilities causing abandonment
- 15Sessions with search result views have a 2x higher average session duration
- 16Customers who search spend 3x more per transaction on average than those who do not
- 17Predictive search implementation is linked to a 25% increase in conversion rates
- 18Personalized search recommendations account for 26% of revenue
- 19Reducing "zero results" pages via search optimization can increase sales by 3%
- 20Brands that redesign their websites with search first can see conversion lifts of 50-100%
Interpretation
Think of site search as your hidden top salesperson: only about 15 to 30 percent of visitors use it yet those shoppers generate roughly 30 to 60 percent of revenue, convert two to three times more often and spend significantly more per order, so investing in better relevance, semantics, predictive and personalized features can slash abandonment and lift conversion, AOV and overall revenue while ignoring it is how retailers end up losing billions.
Mobile & Voice & Visual Search
- 127% of the global online population uses voice search on mobile
- 262% of smart speaker owners have bought something via voice search
- 3Voice shopping is estimated to reach $40 billion in the US
- 462% of millennials want visual search capabilities more than any other new technology
- 5Pinterest Lens visual searches hit 600 million interactions per month
- 636% of consumers have used visual search to shop for clothing or furniture
- 7Websites with voice search optimization see a 30% increase in digital commerce revenue
- 850% of all searches became image or voice searches by 2020
- 971% of consumers prefer to use voice search to search for a product rather than typing
- 10Mobile searchers are 45% more likely to perform a local-intent search
- 11The average voice search result loads in 4.6 seconds, which is 52% faster than the average page
- 1259% of smartphone users have used an augmented reality app for shopping
- 1320% of all mobile queries are voice searches
- 14Visual search creates 2x as many touchpoints during a shopping journey
- 1558% of consumers have used voice search to find local business information
- 16Ecommerce sites with visual search see a 48% higher view rate of products
- 1740% of millennials use voice assist prior to making a purchase online
- 1890% of visual searches are transactional in nature
- 19By 2024, visual search marketing is expected to drive 9% of total ecommerce sales
- 2089% of retailers plan to invest in voice visuals or search technology soon
Interpretation
Voice and visual search have turned shopping into a speak or snap experience, already delivering faster results, higher engagement, and real purchases (a $40 billion U.S. voice market, 90% of visual searches being transactional, voice-optimized sites seeing 30% revenue lifts and products viewed 48% more), so retailers who ignore these channels risk losing mobile and millennial customers who increasingly prefer talking, snapping and pointing to typing.
Search Technology & UX Features
- 170% of ecommerce sites do not support synonyms for search queries
- 261% of sites require users to search by the exact same product type jargon the site uses
- 3Intelligent autocomplete can increase search usage by 25%
- 446% of ecommerce sites do not support thematic search queries (e.g. "spring jacket")
- 5AI-powered site search can reduce bounce rates by 1-5%
- 618% of ecommerce sites don’t have any form of query-completion features (autocomplete)
- 7Only 34% of sites allow users to search meaningfully by product compatibility (e.g. "lens for nikon d500")
- 8Vector search technology allows for 15% better relevance matching than keyword matching alone
- 927% of sites do not allow users to filter search results by "Category"
- 1060% of top ecommerce sites do not support symbols or abbreviations in search
- 11Companies investing in AI for search see a 15% revenue lift
- 1245% of sites do not support non-product search queries (e.g. "returns" or "shipping")
- 13Federated search allows indexing of content across 5+ different data sources simultaneously
- 14Only 40% of sites utilize "Natural Language Processing" (NLP) to decipher user intent
- 1551% of sites offer "Quick Views" directly in the search results drop-down
- 16Implementing "Did you mean?" suggestions captures 15% more lost traffic
- 1777% of brands plan to implement AI-based personalization in search within 2 years
- 18Only 32% of websites support "feature search" queries (searching by a specific attribute)
- 19Dynamic re-ranking of search results based on behavior increases CTR by 12%
- 2082% of top-performing ecommerce sites offer faceted search navigation
Interpretation
Most ecommerce searches today behave like a stubborn shopkeeper who ignores synonyms, symbols, compatibility, thematic and natural language queries and lacks autocomplete, filters, faceted navigation or feature search, yet the data shows that adding AI, NLP, vector matching, intelligent autocomplete, federated indexing, dynamic re-ranking, quick views and "Did you mean" can measurably cut bounces, capture lost traffic and lift revenue, so retailers who tolerate keyword-only search are leaving conversions on the table.
User Behavior & Expectations
- 143% of users on retail websites go immediately to the search bar
- 268% of shoppers would not return to a site that provided a poor search experience
- 380% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences
- 412% of users will bounce to a competitor's site after a poor search experience
- 530% of global consumers say the greatest challenge with online shopping is finding what they are looking for
- 655% of users will abandon a site if they cannot find a product within 15 seconds
- 774% of consumers have seen text-irrelevant search results on retail sites
- 831% of users expect the site search to anticipate their needs and offer relevant suggestions
- 987% of shoppers begin their product search on digital channels
- 1048% of users will spend more with a brand that offers a seamless search experience
- 113 out of 4 consumers will leave a website if the search results aren't relevant
- 1262% of online buyers say they are more likely to search for a product than browse by category lists
- 1352% of consumers say that convenient search functionality is a top factor in their online experience
- 1439% of purchasers are influenced by relevant search results
- 1522% of users refine their search query if the first result is not what they wanted
- 1679% of customers who are dissatisfied with site performance (including search speed) are less likely to buy again
- 1793% of online experiences begin with a search engine (on or off-site)
- 18Users who search are 50% more likely to buy than those who browse
- 1964% of people use search to address an "I want to buy" moment
- 2069% of consumers want retailers to personalize search results based on their purchase history
Interpretation
Onsite search is your store's make or break clerk: 43% of shoppers head straight to it, up to 74% see irrelevant results and three out of four will leave for that reason, while 68% won't return after a poor search, so if it's not fast, relevant and personalized you'll watch conversions, loyalty and revenue walk straight to a competitor.
