Data from site searches helped sex toy retailer Lovehoney develop a new product range around the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon.
The company developed its official and exclusive 50 Shades range after detecting the growing number of searches on its site for items in the best-selling erotic trilogy through its regular monitoring of keywords on its SLI Systems site search software. The 50 Shades range is now a key driver of growth at Lovehoney.
“Were it not for the powerful performance of our site search and the goldmine of data provided in our site search reports, we might have missed out on a significant business opportunity,” said Matthew Curry, head of ecommerce for Lovehoney . “With an advanced site search solution like SLI’s Learning Search in place, combined with the detailed reports it provides and the full-service team of experts working alongside us, we were able to recognise a new category of search terms we hadn’t seen before, which helped us get ahead of the 50 Shades of Grey trend far in advance of our competitors.”
Lovehoney ran A/B tests to compare SLI Learning Search to its previous homegrown search solution and found a 15% higher conversion rate for those who used the SLI solution. Today the conversion rate for those using site search is four times higher than for those who do not, and average revenue per visit is 16.3% higher for site search users.
The business insights hidden in site search data can transform e-commerce businesses like Lovehoney,” said Shaun Ryan, chief executive of SLI Systems. “From simple changes such as adding synonyms and misspellings, to uncovering new market opportunities, search data from solutions like Learning Search becomes a strategic business tool.”
• SLI and Lovehoney recently teamed up for an Internet Retailing webinar. Find out more by viewing the webinar here.
