The eCommerce market continues to grow rapidly. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, people's interest in online shopping has not faded. According to statistics, over 2 billion people make purchases on the internet, and there are currently more than 124 million eCommerce sites. Therefore, it is very important for owners of an online business to use all the tools at their disposal to keep customers' attention and push them to buy. One of the most critical elements of a successful online store is eCommerce site search.

More than 70 percent of eCommerce sites cannot meet the search expectations of customers. You can be among those who manage to provide a reliable and simple search, bypass competitors, and convert users from potential to permanent customers.

This article is devoted to the main eCommerce search trends of 2022. Adapting to emerging patterns is critical to maintaining a competitive edge.

Trend 1: Immersion Search

As experts note, in 2022 about 70 percent of leading companies will start testing immersion technologies. That is, customers will be able to visually try on the product by using elements of augmented reality and filters to put an item in their home before deciding to purchase. This approach is completely new and exciting, which means it will attract curious customers.

Many brands have already implemented a similar experience. For example, a well-known shoe brand offers customers the ability to virtually try on sneakers.

Trend 2: Voice Search

The top eCommerce search best practices include the introduction of voice search. The need for voice search is associated with the active introduction of voice assistants (e.g., Siri) into daily life. People see the convenience and simplicity of making voice purchases, so they are starting to use voice assistants more often to solve their questions.

Brands that want to optimize their business need to implement voice technologies on their websites in order to increase sales.

Two main reasons to implement voice search include:

1. Voice search makes online search accessible to many people, such as busy drivers, people with poor eyesight, and elderly users.
2. Voice search allows you to skip the worry of spelling words correctly.

Trend 3: Personalization

According to research, about 80 percent of consumers want more personalization from eCommerce business owners. What's the best way to provide it? One possibility is to study your eCommerce site search history in order to understand customer requests and offer products that they'e interested in or may be interested in.

Two different buyers can enter the same type of query into an eCommerce site search engine, but that doesn't mean they expect the same results. If you switch to personalized service, you will be able to impact results and provide users with the products they want to see.

A personalized experience is the key to the “heart" of the buyer and a stronger guarantee of being able to meet their needs. If you help a person quickly and easily find what they're looking for, then they'll be more likely to return in the future to buy more on your site.

Personalization is necessary not just for the consumer but also for you. According to research, almost 50 percent of customers spend more if their own experience is personalized. The fact is that an effective search system helps to meet the expectations of customers, which in turn affects your conversion rate and level of user engagement. As a result, people will spend more time on the site and come back for repeat purchases, which means they're continuing invest their money in your business.

Trend 4: Visual Search

This trend is at an early level of development, but it has huge potential that simply cannot be ignored. Visual search is similar to image search, which often greatly simplifies the selection of products.

Imagine that a potential customer likes a friend's jacket and wants to find the same one on your website. However, they don't know the specific model. In order to avoid scrolling through dozens of pages, they can simply take a picture of the jacket and upload the photo to the search field. If the visual search function is configured on the site, then you will not have to wait long for the results. This approach will appeal to customers, increasing the likelihood that they'll remain loyal to your brand.

Advantages of visual search include the following:

1. Saves even more time on product search
2. Improves sales statistics by shortening the waiting time for search results
3. Combines the experience of online and offline shopping

Trend 5: Mobile Experience

According to forecasts, sales through mobile commerce will double by 2025. This means that every business that wants to be ahead needs to improve the user experience for smartphone and tablet owners. Thanks to a reliable experience, customers will be more likely return to your eCommerce site and make purchases.

How can you accomplish this? One solution is to implement an eCommerce site search engine and then adapt it to the mobile version of your site.

Relevant and integrated mobile search is a measure of retention and interaction with customers, which stimulates sales and increases your conversion rate.

Trend 6: Helping customers search

It's convenient to shop online, but due to the large number of available sites, people often get lost while choosing where to visit first. They don't always know the best place to make a purchase for a particular product. Therefore, it's imperative for sellers to make sure that people are able to easily navigate to the site and find the right information when they arrive. To do this, the site must have a smart eCommerce site search and search suggestions that show efficiency.

Internet users don't always know how to properly describe the product they're looking for. Many people make mistakes or use synonyms. If you want your search resource in 2022 to fully understand users and not miss out on potential customers, integrate an eCommerce site search engine with the following features:

• Autofill: When you reduce the search time and complete a phrase for a customer, you increase the chances of making a sale. The customer can quickly click on the appropriate search suggestion and place an order.

• Product recommendations: Introduce new things for customers that they might not have known about. Even if the product that the person is looking for is not on the site, you can easily keep their attention with the help of product offers. There is a chance that the user will be interested in the product and make a purchase, even if they did not plan to spend extra money.

• Understanding synonyms, typos, transliteration: People frequently make mistakes or write similar product names—this should not be intimidating to your search. An effective eCommerce site search engine must be able to interpret a customer's request, even if several words are misspelled.

Trend 7: No complex functions

Customers get used to simple and adaptive search interfaces. In this regard, advanced search boxes are beginning to fade into the background. People don't like it when you need to specify several specific pieces of mandatory data to search for the right product. For many users, this serves as a signal to leave. Therefore, the simpler your eCommerce site search engine is, the more likely it is to please potential customers. But don't confuse advanced search with optional tools to sort and clarify queries. There should be still be filters so that users can narrow the focus of their search on their own. However, this function should be unobtrusive.

Why is it so important to pay attention to eCommerce site search?

For eCommerce, search is not just a small bar where people can enter their queries. This is an indispensable mechanism for the company to highlight its products, determine users' interests, and study customer behavior.

A proper search engine saves brands large amounts of money by helping users conveniently search for what they need.

Always remember that people expect to get a high-quality user experience. If you can't meet their needs, then the competitors that can will get all the profit.

If you are aiming to increase your conversion rate in 2022, consider our tool for eCommerce site search: Evinent Search. This is a smart search engine that allows you to increase sales by up to 30 percent with the help of comprehensive tools and competent search analytics. Try the demo version of our superior site search and start providing your customers with an enhanced search experience.