Do search redirects to matching collection pages lift conversion?

Shoppers who searched for a common term landed on a general search results page. We tested sending the most common searches straight to the matching collection page. Over 22 days, conversion moved 3.4% lower, short of our confidence bar.

Not significant Responsive 22 days Not called

SURFACE

Collection page

DEVICE

Responsive

VERTICAL

Ecommerce (B2C)

PRIMARY METRIC

Conversion rate

VARIATIONS

1

The hypothesis

By sending common searches straight to the best matching collection page, we will shorten the path for high-intent shoppers, resulting in a higher conversion rate.

Shoppers who search for a specific product type have higher intent to buy. A general results page makes them sort through mixed results before they reach the products they want.

A small set of product-type terms made up about 50% of all searches, and each had a clear matching collection page.

What we changed

Common search terms redirected to the best matching collection page

We matched the most common search terms, about 50% of all searches, to the collection page that best fit each term. Shoppers who searched for one of those terms skipped the results page and landed on that collection. All other searches worked as before.

VAR A: REDIRECT

Top search terms redirect to a collection page
Terms cover about 50% of all searches
Other searches show the results page as before

The result

Conversion moved 3.4% lower, short of our confidence bar

CONVERSION RATE

-3.4%

PAGES PER SESSION

+6.2%

REVENUE PER VISITOR

-3.1%

Over 22 days, shoppers who were redirected converted 3.4% worse than those who saw the results page, and revenue per visitor was 3.1% lower. Neither gap reached our confidence bar, and the results flipped direction during the test. Redirected shoppers viewed 6.2% more pages per session, a gap that did clear our bar. The test only reached shoppers who searched certain terms, so traffic was low.

What we would do next

Keep the results page and test better ways to guide searchers

Redirected shoppers browsed more pages but did not buy more, so the collection pages may have been broader than what they searched for. We kept the test paused. A next round could keep the results page and improve how it shows the best matches, or redirect only the most specific terms.