Creating seamless customer experiences is equally as important as getting higher conversions. Speed, accuracy, and convenience have become the standard when shopping online. But with global eCommerce sales projected to surpass $8 trillion USD by 2027, businesses can’t afford to rely on outdated inventory and search systems. 

Poor inventory management costs businesses $1.1 trillion globally each year, creating challenges like stockouts, high carrying costs, and reduced customer trust. To succeed, optimizing your commerce search—also referred to as site search, product discovery, or search functionality—with accurate inventory data is crucial. 

1. Prioritize In-Stock Items

When customers search for products, they want real-time visibility into what’s available. Displaying out-of-stock items in search results can frustrate shoppers, leading to a disappointing shopping experience and lost sales. 

• The Problem: Up to 70% of online shoppers abandon their carts due to stock availability issues. Additionally, 80% of shoppers are likely to leave your site if they can’t find what they need. 

• The Solution: Ensure that your search functionality automatically filters and prioritizes in-stock items. An inventory management system can integrate real-time inventory updates to display only available products in search results. This not only improves user experience but also increases conversions. 

Example: Someone searching for “white sneakers” only sees items available for immediate shipping or same-day store pickup. Ensuring you have accurate inventory data then allows you to offer the visibility needed for customers to make their buying decisions.

2. Highlight Locally Available Stock

Convenience is king and geo-filtering can be a game-changer for customers searching for inventory that is nearby. 

• The Problem: Without localized inventory visibility, customers have a higher chance of abandoning their purchase if delivery is delayed.
• The Solution: Allow customers to filter search results by location or postal code. Highlighting products that are available at nearby stores for same-day pickup or fast delivery improves the customer experience while reducing the burden on central warehouses.

Example: Someone who is searching for “office supplies” can use a “local availability” filter to see which items are in stock at a store just 5 miles away, which improves the person’s likelihood of completing their purchase. 

3. Promote Overstocked Items

Having too much inventory can become an issue if it doesn’t move quickly. Optimizing your commerce search to display these products can help reduce storage costs. 

• The Problem: Overstock ties up warehouse space and drives up inventory carrying costs, which can reach 41% of the value of a product. 

• The Solution: Use an order management system to promote overstocked items by featuring them higher in search results. Showing these items can prompt customers to buy them sooner, cutting markdowns and saving costs. 

Example: If your warehouse is overloaded with winter coats in March, a search for “jackets” should return these overstocked items at the top of the results page. 

4. Focus on High-Profit Margin Products

Strategic search optimization is not necessarily about selling more but selling the right products. Promoting more profitable products in search results can majorly impact profitability. 

• The Problem: Simple search algorithms used by most eCommerce websites don’t take profitability into account. 

• The Solution: Leverage sales and fulfillment data to rank higher-margin products at the top of search results. This can maximize the revenue made per order while increasing basket sizes. 

Example: A person who is searching for “laptops” is shown models with higher margins before less profitable ones, even if they’re similarly priced. 

Why Accurate Inventory Data Matters 

Accurate inventory data is the backbone of effective commerce search. Without it, you risk: 

• Disappointing customers with incorrect stock availability. 

• Losing revenue due to stockouts or overstocking. 

• Creating operational inefficiencies that hurt your bottom line. 

Optimizing your commerce search is about creating a frictionless shopping experience that keeps customers coming back. With SalesWarp’s inventory management, you can access live inventory availability across multiple locations to ensure products are available where they need to be and streamline operations for faster fulfillment. 

Speak to an Expert Today and learn how SalesWarp can help your business!