In the article from searchenginewatch.com below they study how well top e-commerce brands are handling site search and come up with several suggestions:
- Help customers to place an order by supporting search by product name or model number
- Provide useful results if the product name just a bit off
- Support variations of a keyword, symbols or abbreviations
- Do autocomplete feature properly
- Allow shoppers to iterate on their query by pre-filling it in the search field on the results page
- Use filters for product attributes that apply only to a part of the search results.
Check complete article here: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2361275/Lost-and-Found-How-Top-E-Commerce-Brands-Stack-Up-With-Site-Search
Most of the above features you can easily get with “CloudSearch” and “Refine Filters” modules in X-cart and “Search Autocomplete and Suggest” or “Search Pro” and “EM Filter Products Widget” extension in Magento.
Let us know if you need help to implement any of the above in your e-commerce store.
Your FinestShops Team
Finestshops.com : Managed Hosting, Support and Development for Medium and Large Stores based on Magento or X-Cart Shopping Carts
