Tower Records hikes conversion rates 50% with modified site search

Realizing its site search wasn’t producing results that would convert visitors into purchasers, Tower Records deployed a new search and navigation tool last fall from Mercado Software. Search-to-sales conversion rates rose 50% and customer satisfaction ratings “went through the roof,” Kevin Ertelll, vice president of e-commerce, tells InternetRetailer.com.

Tower Records, No. 127 in Internet Retailer’s Top 300 Guide to online retailers, deployed Mercado’s Commerce Search & Navigation tool last November. By using it to analyze the search routes customers followed, it was able to improve both subsequent search results and site navigation to increase customer site satisfaction and boost sales, Ertell says, adding Tower also uses Fireclick data reporting tools. Customer surveys performed with ForeSee Results showed a sharp increase in satisfaction in shoppers’ ability to find what they were looking for, he adds.

Tower, for example, would tweak its search mechanism to show results of complementary products proven to be popular in prior searches and to highlight similar products offered in special promotions.

But it also used the search and navigation tool to increase and better organize customer navigation options. For instance, a search for Beatles recordings would produce along with its results an option to click a link to browse for all live concert recordings, while a search for classical music would offer a link to browse by the names of composers. “It’s a pretty powerful tool,” Ertell says.