Full-service search helps maps and travel retailer deliver relevant results and improve merchandising, boosting conversion and visit value rates

Full-service search helps maps and travel retailer deliver relevant results and improve merchandising, boosting conversion and visit value rates

Stanfords is seeing a conversion rate for site search users that is 3.5 times the rate for non-site search users after implementing Learning Search from SLI Systems.

Per-visit value for visitors who use site search is also three times higher than per-visit values for visitors who do not use the search facility.

Adding flexible e-merchandising capabilities

The UK specialist retailer of maps, travel books, and travel accessories chose the full-service site search technology to provide more relevant results, keyword synonyms and flexible merchandising banners within search results.

SLI’s customisable refinements and learning-based approach replaced the site search built into its e-commerce platform from Exact Abacus.

“As we’ve expanded our product range to include travel-related products as well as maps and atlases, we could see that site search needed to be more relevant, and provide us with more opportunities to promote products in search results,” said Joanna Lawton, e-commerce manager for Stanfords."

Strong results with intuitive tools

Lawton added: “SLI’s Learning Search has given us the strong results performance and intuitive user tools we needed. It’s easy to create banner promotions any time we have a sale on our Ordnance Survey maps or our travel books about Thailand, for example.”

“E-commerce retailers need tools that allow them to react quickly to opportunities to promote sales and other special offers – and search results are a high-profile place for merchandising,” commented Shaun Ryan, SLI Systems chief executive. “With easy tools for adding banners to search results, retailers can influence shoppers at the same time they begin to consider which products they’ll buy.”