Study shows how leading site search tools perform
In a study of what Patricia Seybold Group figures to be the five leading site search tools—ATG Search, Endeca, FAST Impulse, Mercado and WebSideStory—senior vice president and analyst Susan Aldrich finds each has its own strengths.
The study, “PSGroup Bull’s-Eye: Product Search Solutions,” found each of the five search tools to offer two features that are becoming of critical importance to operators of retail web sites: a merchandiser’s console, designed to let merchandisers set rules about how to display products in search results; and built-in analytics that show how shoppers use the site feature, how often they convert to purchases, and how such data differs among groups coming from different Internet search engines.
“To be successful with site search, retailers must have these capabilities,” Aldrich says.
The study found that ATG Search was the strongest tool for use in a cross-channel environment that that also caters to strategies based on customer lifecycle experience. It found WebSideStory’s hosted site search the strongest for a web-only channel because of the extent of its data on online visitors; it also said WebSideStory was the top choice for low cost of ownership and speed of deployment.
The study cited Endeca, Mercado and FAST for offering the most flexible tools for managing merchandising in search results, though it noted that WebSideStory also offered strong support in merchandising.
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