Searchspring Q&A: 5874 Interviews Jen Kalant, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships @ Searchspring

With peak trading very much upon us, we know that ecommerce businesses are looking for ways to drive conversions, boost sales and ensure customer satisfaction. Our tech partnerships play a pivotal role in helping our clients to achieve this.

As proud Searchspring partners, we decided to sit down with Jen Kalant, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships from Searchspring to see how they can help ecommerce businesses maximise their success this Black Friday and beyond. 

Q: How does your enhanced site search provide a better shopping experience?

A: Online shoppers hate visiting a site and not being able to find what they want. They won’t convert, they’ll jump to a competitor, and never come back. In fact, a recent Google Cloud study found that 85% of global online consumers view a brand differently after experiencing search difficulties.

Searchspring’s enhanced site search utilises advanced algorithms and AI to provide accurate and relevant search results, ensuring that customers find exactly what they are looking for quickly and easily. This includes solutions for word semantics and nuanced language in order to create relevant search results based on previous shopper behaviour.

Site search also includes advanced filtering options that empower shoppers to refine their search results by various attributes like price, brand, size, colour, and more–enabling them to easily discover products that best match their specific needs.

Q: How important are personalised recommendations?

A: Personalized product recommendations are one of the most effective ways to boost conversions. They attract first-time buyers and encourage repeat customers. Shoppers that click on recommendations are 4.5x more likely to complete their purchase. What’s more, purchases with a recommendation clicked have a 10% higher order value. 54% of retailers report recommendations as a key driver of AOV. 

With a personalization solution like Searchspring, your site collects information about products and pages a shopper is interested in, and makes intelligent suggestions customized to a shopper based on that data. Delivering personalized suggestions like cross-sell recommendations, similar recommendations, and best-selling products, ultimately keeps shoppers engaged throughout the entire customer journey. 

Q: How can businesses use visual merchandising to convert customers?

A: Visual merchandising is all about improving the shopper experience and increasing conversions by strategically displaying products on your ecommerce site. But beyond that, visual merchandising helps merchandisers connect a physical store experience or brand’s personality, with the online experience. 

There are a number of tactics to leverage in visual merchandising, from website theme and layout to the imagery and content on product pages–each component reflects the brand experience and drives consumers into further engagement with the products. 

In an effort to convert customers, ecommerce merchants should ensure that their web experience is on-brand, runs smoothly regardless of device, and offers streamlined navigation that easily guides shoppers to rich content and product categories. 

Q: How do you properly implement promotions for peak periods like Black Friday, January sales etc?

A: When it comes to peak shopping periods like Black Friday, the strategies to drive sales and keep shoppers returning are endless. But the most important strategy to reach your Cyber Weekend goals, is to prep long before the holidays approach.

Start by placing yourself in the customer’s shoes and follow the shopper journey from start to finish, including the checkout process. Assess your site speed, check for broken links, and remove any roadblocks in the path to purchase. 

Once you’re satisfied with the end-to-end experience, make sure your promotions are easy to understand, clearly visible throughout the site, and are consistent across all channels. Use engaging banners to highlight limited-time offers, shipping deadlines, and relevant messaging. You can also encourage greater brand loyalty by offering deeper discounts or special offers to your loyalty members and high-value shoppers.

Q: What are the benefits of leveraging real-time analytics?

A: Real-time analytics allow merchants to understand shopper intent on-site, and make decisions based on that shopper behaviour. From understanding what are the most popular search queries, to whether shoppers are experiencing zero search results, merchants can adjust search parameters and create category pages to ensure shoppers are served up relevant products and pages every time they visit the site.

With real-time analytics, merchants have immediate visibility into which products and categories are performing better or worse depending on page views, bounce rates, interactions, and exit rates. These metrics can help merchandisers take quick action on under-performing areas and align product merchandising strategies to boost some quick wins in the shopper experience.

Q: How can ecommerce sites be optimised for mobile? 

A: Optimising ecommerce sites for mobile is crucial, considering the increasing number of users who prefer to shop on their mobile devices. Merchants should first focus on site design by leveraging a responsive design to support different devices, creating a simplified site experience with intuitive and user-friendly navigation, as well as, using mobile-friendly imagery and content.

Another important consideration for mobile optimised ecommerce sites is the search experience. Merchants can enhance the search functionality by implementing predictive text, auto-complete, and voice search features that enable users to find products quickly and easily, while enhancing the overall experience and increasing the likelihood of successful conversions. 

Q: How can businesses maintain ecommerce growth post-peak and avoid hitting a slump in January?

A: Post-holiday season, it’s important for ecommerce businesses to have a strong retargeting strategy that turns seasonal shoppers into repeat customers. Re-engage shoppers who visited your site but didn’t complete a purchase or who abandoned their shopping cart with personalised email follow-ups. Include relevant product suggestions or an incentive to return–and ultimately, convert quickly.

Focus on customer retention by offering loyalty programs, referral incentives, or by extending holiday promotions to an exclusive group of your most loyal shoppers.

Content marketing is also a valuable asset for post-Black Friday success. Create blog posts, try-on videos, and engaging social media content that resonates with your audience and works for your omni-channel strategy. Share holiday-related content, gift guides, and product spotlights. High-quality, engaging content can drive organic traffic and help you connect with potential customers.

Q: Finally, what’s your top ecommerce tip that all businesses should know?

A: One top tip that all brands and retailers should know is the significance of prioritising the customer experience. By delivering seamless, intuitive and personalised shopping experiences, ecommerce businesses can build a loyal customer base, enhance their brand reputation, increase conversions, and establish a strong competitive advantage in the market. Having a customer-centric approach serves as a foundation for long-term success and sustainable growth in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

It’s important to ensure your ecommerce site is optimised year-round, but the stakes are especially high during huge shopping events like Black Friday. With increased traffic comes the possibility for a massive boost in conversions and revenue, so make sure your site is reaping the benefits by implementing platforms like Searchspring.

To conclude

Getting insight from our partners is something we value very highly at 5874 Commerce. Whether you’re gearing up for peak trading or trying to drive ecommerce success year-round, implementing Searchspring’s expert advice and tools into your strategy could unlock your business’ potential. 

Just one example of a business utilising a Searchspring integration is our client Furniture Box. Furniture Box is one of the fastest growing furniture companies in the UK, and they came to 5874 looking to upgrade their ecommerce site. As part of the project, our developers implemented Searchspring to improve Furniture Box’s Product Listing Pages and Site Search. This integration was used to enhance the customer experience and overall journey through the site, while also allowing Furniture Box to access a wealth of customer data. Just days after the relaunch of their website, Furniture Box reported a 20-25% uplift in daily revenue, with the expectation of this continuing to rise as a result of the Searchspring integration as well as the work done by our team of experienced developers.

In order to take advantage of everything Searchspring has to offer, contact 5874 here to see how our partnership can level-up your ecommerce site.