Blog

Natural language is a term that is used in many different ways depending on the software sector or industry. In the e-commerce search world, there is only one true meaning to natural language:

Allowing a visitor to perform a search like they are communicating with another human being and getting precise and accurate results.

By way of example, it allows a visitor to ask in detail for what they want and they get back exactly those products.  If someone asks for “men’s polo shirts in size medium under $100”, then a true natural language will return EXACTLY that set of products.

It takes an extremely intelligence site search engine to have this type of “conversation” with a visitor. While some e-commerce search vendors say the have “smarter search”, if they cannot support natural language, then how smart are they really?

Most e-commerce search engines are still keyword based.  Those engines would not understand the price constraint or the size specification and would return a very large set of products that are not related to what the visitor was looking for (in fact, if the site carried Polo cologne, they might also see that!).

Supporting natural language search requires a sophisticated engine.  It has to do two things: (a) properly interpret the search phrase (visitor intent), and (b) have a deep understanding of the product catalog (site content).

To explain this, we created a new video, natural language search explained, which shows you how a natural language e-commerce search engine works and what makes it different.

With search accounting for anywhere from 40 to 80% of your sales, a natural language search engine can have a huge impact on your online revenue.  Knowing how natural language works and how it makes a difference can make you the e-commerce hero at your company.

 

The mobile commerce market is growing rapidly and playing an increasingly important role in any e-comemrce strategy.  The numbers are staggering.  The U.S. Retail Mobile Commerce market growing 70% last year to $42 billion, and forecasted to more than triple to $133 billion by 2018.  By 2018, mobile commerce will be 27% of all U.S. e-commerce sales.

Every e-retailer is taking a hard look at their mobile commerce strategy seeking ways to grow their share of the pie and differentiate in an increasingly crowded market.

Studies have shown that search plays a very strong role in the customer experience in mobile commerce.  The limited screen size and user interfaces on mobile devices push consumers to go directly to the search box to find the products they want on every mobile commerce site.

Voice-enabled mobile search is a tremendous way to differentiate from competitors through an engaging customer experience that will convert more customers and drive more revenue.

Please take a moment to watch our compelling voice-enabled mobile search video that can provide your mobile commerce site with the differentiation you need.