How do you choose a Shopify collection filter app for your store? There are many factors to consider when deciding on a product search app, especially for medium and big online businesses.
To pick the right Shopify product search app, you need to have in mind a clear picture of your product specifications, your industry’s best practices, how customers might perform searches on your online store, and so on. Then, you’ll be able to clearly understand what you are looking for in a Shopify filter app.
The following five key points we’re going to discuss will be at the forefront of all decisions when looking for an app that will fit into your Shopify store’s needs.
What is a Shopify collection filter app?
Shopify collection filter app, or, a product search app helps improve your store’s search engine results by providing a selection of relevant products to the customer. It can be used for showcasing new collections, highlighting featured products, or simply providing access to the entire inventory that you have available in a personalized and/or strategic way.
5 Important Criteria to Choose a Product Search App in Shopify
Optimal Search Functions
You need to look at the breadth and depth of search functions that your potential app offers along with its ease of use. Like the search suggestion, which provides relevant results to the customer. In addition, it should be able to incorporate your store’s individual needs. For example, if you are selling bath products, then the app should have an additional filter for products related to bathing and showering such as towels and washcloths.
Customers have grown up with customization options and functions, which is why a collection search app for your Shopify store should be equipped with autocomplete features in its search results. This will help users come up with a relevant search for the required item without having to think too much and be able to carry out the task at hand without accidentally searching for another item than what they meant to type.
Typo tolerance is also another important advantage that should be offered to users in options like a misspelling or incorrect alphabet. This will help them search for the right product quickly and accurately without wasting time re-entering their keywords or leaving your store due to the “No results found” message resulting from a mistyped search.
Fuzzy search capabilities are also a factor to consider in a powerful product search on your Shopify online store. Because there are usually other similar items or products that fall into the same category as your intended search terms. This will help you find a balance between the product results so that you can prepare the right selection for your customers.
Fast Search-Result Load Speed
As a business owner, you want the best online experience for your customers. Customers will only wait so long before they move on and look for another site that doesn’t take forever to load or abruptly shut down.
To avoid these setbacks, you need a Shopify search app that is fast and reliable. What time is considered reasonable in loading the search results onto your website?
Your Shopify store should provide product results in less than a second. Providing faster results would greatly improve the customer experience and loyalty of your store. A good Shopify collection filter will let you do simple searches or complex ones, while at the same time delivering an accommodating speed.
Crawling and syncing in real-time is also an important factor to consider, especially when your website has a large quantity of inventory in store. This will ensure that small changes in the page or the product data on your site will be reflected immediately, improving the loading speed of the search results.
Mobile Optimized
It is important to ensure that your customers can easily find what they need via the device they prefer.
The main features of a mobile-friendly Shopify search app include a search box that is easy to use with the fingertips. You should select a Shopify collection filter app with search and filter widgets that can seamlessly respond to the overall website’s mobile interfaces.
A mobile-friendly Shopify search bar should also have virtual keyboards optimized for mobile so that customers will not have to struggle with typing a search with the alphabet on their screen.
Integrated with Smart Merchandising
A powerful Shopify search bar should have pre-built merchandising features. Merchandising is a marketing technique that involves the arrangement of products so that you can attract the right target buyers instead of allowing the products to blend in with everything else.
It can be a powerful tool to improve the visibility of your items on your website. Properly merchandised search results (searchandise) help you highlight trending and seasonal products easily and therefore, drive higher sales.
Optimized for Personalization
A Shopify collection filter app with a personalized experience is the most ideal Shopify search app because it will allow customers to feel like they are in control of their own browsing experience. When choosing a Shopify search app, pay attention to filter results by price, color, brand, tags, or any other field that you have created as searchable criteria.
It’s also important to look at the options for sorting the products on the site. Whether by name, price, date added, or any other field. When customers have a product search bar on your Shopify store, then they can use it to find the exact items that they are looking for.
Opt for a search app that provides insightful analytics into customers’ search behaviors such as most clicked filters, and most searched terms – like Shopify Product Filter and Search by Boost. And also, remember to actively look for customers’ purchase history, customer demographics, etc. to optimize your Shopify search bar.
Choose PFS by Boost to Deliver an Effortless Product Search Experience
PFS by Boost is currently the #1 Shopify search app that equips your online store with advanced features for collection filtering, search bar optimization, merchandising, and behavior analytics so you can deliver the smoothest product search experience to your customers while being able to close much higher sales.
This tool is proven to be easier to use and more practical than the standard Shopify Search bar and is trusted by over 13,000 Shopify businesses worldwide.
To Sum Up
When you consider the importance of choosing a Shopify collection filter app for your business, you will likely have a treasure trove of considerations. These are five important criteria that should be taken into account when choosing a Shopify search app.
