How will you go about designing search for an e-commerce app?

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How will you go about designing search for an e-commerce app?

Asked at Amazon over a year ago

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neeraj gather · Answer 1 · 2020-05-15T15:40:50+0000

Feature Description - Search feature in e-commerce app is used by the users when they have clarity on what they are looking for and they quickly want to get to it instead of navigating through the catalogue.

E-commerce App high level goal - No. of complete transactions -> Revenue -> Profitability

Clarifying Questions & Assumptions -

What is the primary goal of search feature? - To help users find what they are looking for quickly
1. Metrics - No. of searches per user, % of searches resulting in sales/complete transactions
It is for web or mobile app? - Mobile
Do we need to design this search from scratch or should improve any already existing one?
Let's improve an existing one as we already know its a global player and already has a working app
Do we need to focus on any particular user segment?
Let's define user segments - Teens, Adults, Aged People. (Teens may not have a vocabulary issues, Aged people may not have clear vision)
Let's focus on Adults and capable Adults and Teens who are comfortable with using mobile apps
Do we need to focus on a specific geography? (People may have different languages, Slangs, search patterns)
Let's assume it's a global brand and has presence in many countries/geographies
Do we need to focus on a Search type? (Text, Audio, Vision)
Let's weigh the use case and decide accordingly
Do we need to focus on Search support features? (Auto completion, Search trends, search relevant suggestions)
Let's weigh the use case and decide accordingly

User:

Anyone who is capable enough to use mobile apps

User Journey: (same for all user groups)

User has an idea of what he wants to buy/order
User opens the app to search for it - (List Pain Points)
User filters through the results (price, promotions, details)
User finds the item he/she was looking for

Next Steps:

Category	Pain Points	Solutions	Prioritization Rating	Impact	Cost
App Portfolio, Code	User knows enough item details to conduct a search, but doesn't get the relevant results	Expand product portfolio with commonly searched missing items Fix code issues	NA	Hardly the case with global player	NA
App Performance	Search take long time to show results	Enhance search algorithm	NA	Hardly the case with global player	NA
Search Type	User knows enough item details but doesn't want to type	Audio based search Photo based search	NA	People can survive with text search in case of emergency	NA
Search Type	User knows enough item details but doesn't know spelling, pronunciation	Audio based search for spelling issue Photo based search for spelling and pronunciation issue	5	Important, A common problem with Non-English speaking population	High (Technology performance challenges)
Search Support	User only knows local language, doesn't know English language	Local language translation of the entire app	NA	E-commerce users are usually expected to know basic English	NA
Search Support	User doesn't know the English name, only knows the local language name but can pronounce/type it in English	Local language name tagging (for ex. Towel should be tagged with Toliya as well)	4	Important, A common problem with non-English speaking population	High (New Regional Language based tagging)
Search Support	User doesn't remember the item name clearly but has some idea about the category, brand, similar products etc.	Search suggestions	3	Important, A common problem throughout globe	High (Linking the Metadata in the system)
Search Support	User takes too much time to initiate a search but is actually looking for commonly searched items	Show Trending searches on clicking search box	1 (Easy win)	Least priority because company can survive with delay in search as long as sale (primary goal) is getting met	Low (Easy to Analyze based on search data)
Search Support	User gets results from other category for the searched item	Choose category and Search	2 (Easy win)	Less priority because this case shouldn't be occurring too often	Low (Easy to add category as already category based navigation is present)

Final Recommendation: First implement trending searches and search by category features as it is easier to implement, then focus on other three suggestions based on priorities shown.

Please feel free to suggests improvements.

Aslan · Answer 2 · 2022-02-23T07:27:15+0000

Clarify:

Is this a grocery ecommerce , or clothing or something else?

Will this ecommerce be used in the US? yes

Goal: provide the best user journey to the customer from decision making to finalizing the purchase( conversion) and increase the revenue and customer satisfaction from this experience.

Ecommerce is a type of a tech product where the retailers sell the products through the mobile/web applications.

Customer Journey:

Customer to sign in/guest userà search the product and apply the filtersà put the product to the cartà enter the delivery address/ pickup locationà finalize the purchase transaction

Search experience is the first action for the customer’s journey, therefore it should not be distracting and should be easy to filter what is needed.

%60 of the items added to the cart left without completing the purchase

User persona:

- Picky shoppers

- Window/undedicated shoppers

- Special event shoppers (occasional)

- To buy a product for someone else( birthday gift etc)

I am going to design a search experience for the window shoppers since I think their retention rate is higher than the others and occasional even shoppers, picky shoppers can be more product oriented therefore I think they already know what to search/buy. Product for someone else shoppers are not the high volume compared to the others therefore I will select Window shoppers

Pain points of window shoppers:

- I don’t know what to search

- Since I am cost sensitive I need to see the cheap options

- I want the app to show me what I need

Solutions for the window shoppers:

- Create couple of questions before showing the search results i.e “ this week is rainy, would like to see out new rain boots? “

- Search can show me the results according to what I search most i.e. providing the similar items or “complete the look” options

- App to show the cheaper similar options to the window shopper to encourage them for the conversion.

Prioritization/ MVP:

	Impact to the goal	Effort
1	M	L
2	H	H
3	M	L

MVP: I would start with the Low effort items even if their impact would be medium. The second item needs updated algorithm therefore it would not be so easy to implement. Second item would be the next step after we launch the MVP.

1,3

Metrics:

Main goal is to increase the conversion of the customers and would like to see the impact of the search design. Therefore:

- # questions answered by the window shopper segment

- %of the search converted to purchase

- % of the bounce rate from the search

- Increase in time spent on the app.

- Increase in the revenue?

- Feedback from the window shoppers.