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Urban streetwear brand, SikSilk, has seen a 25% increase in ecommerce purchases from on-site search and a 36% fall in site exits from its search pages since implementing new AI-powered site search technology<\/strong><\/p>\n The new solution from Nosto has improved on-site search performance by enabling SikSilk to merchandise the products that appear in search results in line with inventory levels, while also increasing relevancy and preventing \u2018dead-end\u2019 searches (in which no products or an incomplete list of products are shown).<\/p>\n SilkSilk\u2019s native search technology didn\u2019t provide the capability to sort products listed in search results based on availability, meaning products were being pushed that might only have had one available size in stock, for example. This could leave shoppers frustrated and meant SikSilk was vulnerable to losing potential sales.<\/p>\n Inventory<\/p>\n With Nosto\u2019s Search, however, SikSilk has been able to create a global merchandising rule to ensure that all search results boost products with greater inventory and more SKU availability across size, color and style.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to adjust our search results in relation to these ranking rules on a global level was key for us in optimising our search,\u201d said Chris Longshaw, Ecommerce Manager at SikSilk.<\/p>\n Relevance<\/p>\n Another issue that had been impacting SikSilk\u2019s on-site search performance was the fact that certain search queries weren\u2019t retrieving all relevant products, restricting the choice of items shown to shoppers and impacting possible conversions.<\/p>\n \u201cQueries containing words such as colors, for example, were particularly problematic,\u201d said Chris Longshaw.<\/p>\n Because Nosto\u2019s search technology uses self-learning algorithms that learn from shopper behaviour, those queries that were returning incomplete results (such as around color), were quickly solved without needing manual effort from SikSilk.<\/p>\n Some search queries had previously been leading to no results pages\u2014either because shoppers were using a synonym for a product that the previous search technology couldn\u2019t detect, or because SikSilk didn\u2019t stock the exact type of product being queried, and didn\u2019t have alternative suggestions in place to show.<\/p>\n SikSilk was able to use Nosto to tackle this issue by configuring appropriate synonyms for the terms shoppers enter in search queries. For instance, it grouped \u2018Jackets\u2019 along with \u2018Coats\u2019, knowing that shoppers used these terms interchangeably. And because Nosto\u2019s technology identified that queries for \u2018boots\u2019 were returning no results, SikSilk set up synonyms so that products from \u2018footwear\u2019, \u2018trainers\u2019 and \u2018shoes\u2019 categories would be listed for these searches.<\/p>\n Algorithms<\/p>\n In general, the predictive algorithms within Nosto\u2019s Search can automatically identify and recommend relevant synonyms using behavioral data, eliminating guesswork and manual effort. The system also allows retailers to specify alternative or related products if a specific product is not available to encourage shoppers to continue browsing rather than exit the site.<\/p>\n SikSilk has noticed improvements around zero results pages since implementing Nosto, as Chris Longshaw explained:<\/p>\n \u201cWith Nosto, everything we expect to appear for given queries, appears. There are definitely positives there.<\/p>\n \u201cAdditionally, Nosto\u2019s analytics give some good insights around no results queries that we didn\u2019t have access to before. It\u2019s helpful to see what queries are being regularly made that retrieve no results\u2014not just for us to consider how synonyms can mitigate these, but also to highlight opportunities for the likes of our buying teams.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n