It may be obvious statement, but over the last 15 years the internet has completely transformed the retail industry. The once flourishing high-street is declining, as more and more consumers are swapping the shopping experience for the convenience and added choice that online retail offers. Mobile technology means more people are purchasing products via apps while on-the-go, rather than popping out on a Saturday morning to browse the isles and rails in-store.
The digital retail space has seen a huge number of disruptive innovations over the years, from artificial intelligence (AI) offering tailored recommendations to smart chatbots transforming and streamlining customer service and the new additions of drone deliveries and augmented reality – it’s an exciting time. Despite these leaps, most search technologies still used by modern retailers and brands are lagging behind. It’s these search engines that are the next element of the retail sphere set to have an innovation makeover.
Search engines today
When it comes to current search engines there are some big issues with accuracy. A Spoon Guru scan of the food search landscape revealed that the majority of leading supermarkets around the globe – including Walmart in America, Sainsbury’s in the UK and Carrefour in France – fail to return accurate search results for common dietary search terms, such as gluten free, low sugar or vegan. These needs seem simple, so imagine the difficulty of finding the right food if you have more complex requirements or multiple preferences.
Similarly, Google – the biggest search engine on the planet – came up short when looking for specific requirements. An analysis of the first page of results on a Google shopping search for vegan sausages found a staggering 19 of the 40 products are not