Gloves and rainwear merchant Totes-Isotoner has more than doubled its conversion rate and revenue per visit after implementing SLI Systems’ full-service hosted site search last April. The merchant has also seen nearly twice the number of site visitors who use search, further adding to bottom-line benefits, and is also planning to deploy SLI site search on its mobile website.
“Site search usage was declining on our site, and that was impacting the overall customer experience, our brand reputation and ultimately our revenues from our site,” said Chris Reighley, vice president of ecommerce for Totes-Isotoner. “It was obvious that shoppers couldn’t find the products they needed because the site search was not user-friendly, nor was it delivering relevant results.”
Totes-Isotoner is in the process of adding social content such as Twitter feeds, Facebook posts and YouTube videos to its site search results, and the merchant says that could provide a richer, more engaging experience for website visitors.
The company is also using SLI’s Rich Auto Complete feature, which automatically offers keyword suggestions and product images as shoppers begin to type search terms. SLI Systems’ full-service approach makes it easy for online retailers to add new features and content to site search.
“We’re working on several ways to make it easier for our customers to make a purchase,” Reighley said. “For instance, we’re adding tabs to search results for reviews, Q&As, and other non-product information, which will bring all of our content under a single umbrella within site search.”
As a result of its work with SLI Systems, Totes-Isotoner is now seeing a larger number of visitors using the search box. While still a fraction of overall visitors to the site, people who use site search actually account for almost half the company’s total online revenue. The retailer is also adding SLI’s mobile site search to its m-commerce website and expects to see similar bottom line results.
“About 13% of our Black Friday 2011 sales came from mobile users, so we’re eager to make it easier for mobile shoppers to find and buy products,” Reighley said. “We’re also testing QR codes, which shoppers can find in search results and then access them when they are in stores. It helps us connect the online and in-person experiences.”
Since adding SLI Systems, Totes-Isotoner site search users are spending more time browsing the site. Shoppers using site search viewed nearly four times as many pages per visit than non-site search users, and spent about three times as long on the totes website, further helping drive more sales online.
“When more visitors are encouraged to use site search, they can have a healthy impact on revenue and conversions,” said Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems. “Online retailers should explore tools for building useful content into search results and fine-tuning navigation, all with the goal of increasing the adoption of site search.”