Case study
Ecommerce search bar case study: desktop order completion up 71.9%
This ecommerce search bar case study tested one change on a luxury goods store: a visible search bar on the homepage, the collection pages and the blog. Convertica A/B tested it against the original site, which had no search bar on those pages, on desktop and mobile.
Ecommerce search bar case study at a glance
| Client | An online store in the luxury goods niche (name not published) |
|---|---|
| Vertical | eCommerce |
| Goal | Help visitors find products faster, and sell more |
| Pages tested | Homepage, collection pages and blog pages |
| Change tested | A visible search bar on those pages |
| Test | A/B test on desktop and mobile, traffic divided at random |
| Test length | Not published in the original case study |
| Desktop order completion rate | +71.9% |
|---|---|
| Desktop revenue per visitor | +67.8% |
| Desktop confidence | 98% |
| Mobile | No significant change |
| Test length | Not published |
Who was the client?
The client was an online store in the luxury goods niche. Its visitors arrive on the homepage, on collection pages and on blog posts, and from each of those pages they need to find a specific product. The original case study does not name the store, and this page does not either.
What was the problem?
On the homepage, the collection pages and the blog, visitors had no search bar to type into. To find a product, they had to browse: open a menu, pick a collection, scan the tiles. For a visitor who already knows what they want, browsing is slow, and every extra click is a chance to give up.
That matters most on a blog. A reader who arrives on an article and decides to buy has to leave the article and work out where the product lives in the store. A search bar lets them type what they just read about and go straight to it.
What was the hypothesis?
The hypothesis was that if customers could quickly and easily find the products or information they were looking for, more of them would make a purchase. A visible search bar on the pages where visitors start would shorten the path from intent to product, and so raise the order completion rate and revenue per visitor.
What changed?
The test version added a search bar to three kinds of page: the homepage, the collection pages and the blog pages. Everything else stayed the same. The design differed by device:
- Desktop. Search sat in the header bar, between the currency selector and the account links, with a magnifying glass icon and the word "Search".
- Mobile. Search got its own full-width row directly under the header, so it was visible without opening the menu.
How was the search bar tested?
The ecommerce search bar test was an A/B test. Convertica divided the store's traffic at random into two groups: one saw the new search bar on the homepage, collection pages and blog pages, the other saw the original site without it. The team tracked the order completion rate and revenue per visitor for each group, on desktop and mobile separately.
| Test type | A/B test, traffic divided at random into two groups |
|---|---|
| Control | The original site, no search bar on the tested pages |
| Test version | Search bar on the homepage, collection pages and blog pages |
| Devices | Desktop and mobile, reported separately |
| Measures | Order completion rate and revenue per visitor |
| Confidence reached | 98% on desktop |
| Test length and sample size | Not published in the original case study |
Does adding a search bar increase ecommerce conversions?
In this ecommerce search bar test it did, on desktop. Adding the search bar raised the desktop order completion rate by 71.9% and desktop revenue per visitor by 67.8%, and the desktop result reached a 98% confidence level. On mobile, neither the order completion rate nor revenue per visitor changed significantly.
The original case study does not say how long the test ran. These figures are reported as the test's final desktop result, without a stated duration.
Why did the search bar not help on mobile?
The original case study's explanation is that the smaller screen may have made it harder for customers to use the search bar well. That is a reasonable guess, but the test did not check it. Other explanations are possible: mobile visitors may browse more and search less, or the mobile menu may already have served them well enough.
What the result does show is that a change can win on one device and do nothing on the other. Convertica recommended further testing and optimization of the search experience for mobile users, rather than treating the neutral result as the final word.
Why did it work on desktop?
The search bar most likely worked on desktop because it shortened the path for visitors who already knew what they wanted. Instead of browsing collections, they could type a product name and land on it. On a blog page in particular, it turned a reader's interest into a direct route to the product.
A luxury goods catalog may also suit search: buyers often arrive looking for a specific brand, model or item, and a search box serves that intent better than a grid of tiles.
How do you test a search bar on your own store?
You can test an ecommerce search bar on your own store in six steps: check how visitors find products today, make search visible on the pages where they start, design it separately for desktop and mobile, and measure orders and revenue per visitor rather than searches.
- Check your analytics first. If you already have site search, see how many visitors use it and how they convert. If you do not, look at how many pages visitors open before they find a product.
- Make search visible, not hidden. An icon in a corner is easy to miss. This test used a labeled search link on desktop and a full-width bar on mobile.
- Put it where visitors start. Here that meant the homepage, collection pages and blog pages, not only the header of the store pages.
- Make the results good. A search bar that returns nothing useful for common misspellings or product names can do more harm than none. Search works alongside the menu; see ecommerce navigation best practices.
- Measure the outcome that pays. Searches are a signal. Order completion and revenue per visitor are the result.
- Read desktop and mobile separately. In this test only desktop won. A combined figure would have hidden that.
Search also matters for a newer kind of visitor. An AI shopping agent may look for a product the same way a person does, through your site search, or by reading your product pages directly. If your search only works through a script-driven box, an agent may not be able to use it. Agent readiness is one of the eight checks in Convertica's free CRO audit.
To plan a test that reaches significance on each device, the A/B test sample size calculator shows how much traffic you need, and the statistical significance calculator checks a result. For another test that won on desktop only, read the product page redesign case study.
Ecommerce search bar case study FAQ
What did the ecommerce search bar case study test?
It tested adding a search bar to a luxury goods store's homepage, collection pages and blog pages. Traffic was divided at random: one group saw the new search bar, the other saw the original site without it. Convertica tracked the order completion rate and revenue per visitor on desktop and mobile.
Does adding a search bar increase ecommerce conversions?
It did on desktop in this test. The desktop order completion rate rose 71.9% and desktop revenue per visitor rose 67.8%, at a 98% confidence level. On mobile there was no significant change. Results depend on the store, its catalog and its visitors, so test a search bar rather than assume it will help.
How long did the search bar test run?
The original case study does not say how long the test ran or how many visitors it included. It reports the desktop result at a 98% confidence level. Because the duration is not published, this page shows the figures in tables and text rather than as headline result figures.
Why did the search bar not help on mobile?
The original case study suggests the smaller screen may have made the search bar harder to use well on mobile, but it did not test that explanation. Convertica recommended further testing and optimization of mobile search, rather than treating the neutral mobile result as final.
Where should the search bar go on an ecommerce site?
Where visitors can see it without looking for it. In this test, the desktop version placed search in the header beside the currency and account links, and the mobile version gave search its own full-width row under the header. Test the position and size on your own store, device by device.
Can Convertica run this kind of test on my store?
Convertica starts with the free CRO audit, an app that checks your page for people and for AI agents while you watch. After it, if you want the fixes built for you, the one page rebuild covers one page and the full site rebuild covers your whole site: Convertica's team builds every fix the audit found.
