In any e-commerce search system, analytics and insights are essential for driving continuous improvement. Historically, while SearchInsights has focused on analyzing search paths, we have placed too much emphasis on the final stage of the funnel—conversion. However, our data highlights the importance of focusing on the preceding step: add-to-basket.
Add-to-basket data provides a powerful signal of user intent, revealing which products resonate most with shoppers after being discovered through search. By analyzing this data, we can uncover behavioral patterns, prioritize high-performing products, and enhance the relevance of future search results. Furthermore, comparing add-to-basket rates with checkout rates offers valuable insights into whether issues in the final stage of the funnel require attention, even if they are not directly tied to search performance. This approach ensures a more holistic understanding of the customer journey and identifies opportunities for optimization at every stage.
Ranking also plays a pivotal role in determining the order in which products are displayed, balancing factors like relevance, popularity, and business objectives such as inventory clearance or promoting high-margin items. Significant effort is invested in improving ranking performance in search. However, many commonly used metrics for evaluating ranking quality in e-commerce search, such as MRR and NDCG, are heavily rooted in traditional web search use cases and may not fully capture the unique needs of e-commerce.
To address this gap, we set out to provide our customers with a clearer, user-focused perspective on their ranking quality—ultimately judged by their shoppers. This led to the introduction of EngagementRank. EngagementRank measures how far your current ranking deviates from the optimal ranking, while accounting for biases such as position and presentation effects. A score of 100% represents a perfect ranking, while lower values highlight areas for improvement. This metric ensures a more accurate and actionable evaluation of ranking performance tailored to the e-commerce context.
