30+ On-Site Search & Discovery Statistics

The on-site search function, crucial to guiding customers towards products and achieving conversion, is often overlooked. The following list, however, begs to differ. You will find that it highlights the role search plays in a customer’s journey and how consumers feel about poor search experiences. Let’s begin.

On-Site Search: Where Everything Begins

• 87% of consumers start their product searches online.

• When asked where they typically start their journeys, 56% of customers cited more than one answer between Amazon, a search engine, and a brand’s site.

• 43% of retail customers head directly to the search bar on a website.

• On average, a third of visitors will perform an on-site search.

• On-site search is used more frequently than the navigation menu (49%), filter feature (37%), and homepage recommendations (30%), with 78%.

• 34% of customers try to search for non-product content, such as “returns” or “order tracking”, and 39% of websites don’t support these non-product search queries.

Customers Demand Personalisation, Despite Privacy Concerns

• 75% of consumers want brands to make in-store and online navigation easy for them, while 67% want brands to make relevant product/service recommendations.

• According to McKinsey, 78% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases from companies that can provide personalisation.

• Despite 59% agreeing they are concerned about data privacy, 51% confirmed they would still be more likely to share personal data with a brand they trust.

Poor On-Site Search Experiences Will Cost You Customers

• 42% of all sites perform below acceptable on-site search UX performance across the eight eCommerce search query types. The most important eCommerce search query types in question are:
  • “Exact” search queries: Product’s title or model number
  • “Product Type” or “Category” search queries
  • “Symptom” search queries: Problem to solve
  • “Non-product” search queries: Return policy or shipping information)
  • “Feature” search queries: Product attributes such as colour, price, brand, and size
  • “Thematic” search queries: Holidays, special occasions, or “on sale”
  • “Compatibility” search queries: Product accessory or replacement
  • “Slang, Abbreviation, and Symbol” search queries

• As many as 68% of customers would not return to a site with a poor search experience.

• In the US, $300 billion is lost each year due to bad online search experiences.

• 71% of websites require users to search by the exact same wording the site uses, meaning that they fail to return relevant search results. For example, if the customer searches for “blow dryer” but the website only uses “hair dryer”, no results will come up, resulting in a lost sale and a lower conversion rate.

• 36% of websites do not offer thematic search options, such as “office chair”.

• Only 1 in 10 consumers say they find precisely what they’re searching for every time using the search function.

• 78%  of consumers say the on-site search function on retail websites sometimes provides irrelevant items.

• 52% of consumers abandon their entire cart and go elsewhere if they cannot find one item.

On-Site “Search & Discovery” Solutions Will Do Wonders for Conversions

• On-site search users who successfully found what they were looking for led to nearly doubled conversion rates.

• Amazon’s conversion rate increases sixfold when visitors do a search.

• Retailers with advanced search capabilities see 50% higher desktop conversion rates than those without.

• Search autocomplete can boost sales by 24%.

Consumers are Wary of Voice Search

• 40% of US consumers are using voice search features.

• 91% of brands are investing in voice tech.

• 57% of voice assistant owners use voice commands at least once daily.

• 68% of consumers said a voice assistant allows for multi-tasking and accomplishing tasks hands-free, and 59% say that chat assistants keep improving personalisation over time. 

• 27% of mobile searches use the voice search feature.

• 52% of consumers have privacy concerns about voice assistants.

Optimising the UX for Mobile Search is Critical

• Mobile searches make up 63% of organic search visits. 

• Google Chrome has the biggest share in the mobile search market, 61.1%.

• Nearly 60% of all online searches are done on a mobile device, with some industries like food and beverage reaching 72%.  

• Mobile users want information they can use right away. “Best” and “right now” queries have increased by over 125%.

Are Social Media Platforms the New Google?

•  75% of internet users use social media platforms to research products.

• Google and Youtube may be the most popular search engines, respectively. However, we’re seeing a shift in consumer behaviour. Nearly 40% of young people are heading to TikTok or Instagram for search and discovery purposes.

• Almost 50% of shoppers think social media is a great place for product discovery, while only 12% think it’s a great place to buy.

• Pinterest users have the highest search intent (50%) compared to other social media platforms.

• 15% of all adults and 36% of Gen Z have made purchases based on TikTok.

Further Reading: How to Optimise On-Site Search

Seeing that we’ve already established the importance of having an on-site search and discovery solution, it is now time to learn how to optimise a website’s search function. Learn how to optimise on-site search and create a better search experience.