Precise Search with AI – The Shortcut to the Right Products

Maxbo is one of Norway's largest retailers for building supplies. In an industry that's highly competitive both online and offline, delivering an effective search experience that guides customers to the most relevant products is crucial. With a varied inventory of over 20,000 items, this is no simple feat.

The previous search function was a source of frustration, making it hard to find right and relevant products through the internal search. Our goal was to create a search solution that could deliver better product recommendations while requiring minimal upkeep

In order to meet their goal of improving their website’s internal search, Maxbo chose to use Google Vertex AI Search for Commerce. This advanced search technology goes far beyond traditional search features. By integrating product catalogue data combined with real-time user data, it can deliver relevant and personalized search results tailored to each customer.

The Vertex AI Search for Commerce technology understands search intent, even when search words don’t perfectly match product descriptions. This helps create a more intuitive shopping experience. The AI system also optimises the product catalogue by analysing price and relevance against the user’s search. Additionally, Vertex AI uses historical data to build user profiles, ensuring searches that are precise and relevant to each user.

Knowit worked closely with Maxbo's own backend- and data feed-teams, offering advice and help with strategic implementation throughout the project. Our data engineers worked alongside Maxbo's team to ensure smooth and structured data flow, making sure the product data was adapted to meet technical requirements.

Throughout the project, we improved how products were catalogued by refining product attributes and ensuring all variants were clearly defined and searchable. Recommendation models were implemented to tailor product suggestions based on the customers' previous interactions and search history.

With Vertex AI Search for Commerce, Maxbo gained access to tools that fine-tune search results in line with their specific business objectives. These tools include boost/bury controls, deny/allow lists, filtering, and term replacements, offering the flexibility needed to keep improving the search experience.

By combining our strategic expertise with Maxbo's insight and experience, we developed a process that keeps the data foundation accurate, updated, and ready for use. The close collaboration was crucial in creating a solid solution tailored to Maxbo's needs.

The solution has delivered tangible benefits for Maxbo and their customers. Products are now easier to find, resulting in increased order value and improved customer satisfaction among users who use the internal search.

The implementation of Vertex AI Search for Commerce has delivered impressive results:

• 40% increase in order value: Personalised product recommendations allow users to discover relevant options easily, boosting the average order value.
• 15% rise in items per order: Customers add more items to their baskets, thanks to precise recommendations matching their preferences.
• 70% increase in click-through rate: Customers engage more with their search results, indicating that the search results are more relevant than before.
• 30% fewer zero-results searches: Customers experience less frustration as they find suitable products with ease.
• 40% fewer searches per customer: Customers find what they need faster, spending less time searching for products.

These results prove that Vertex AI Search for Commerce is more than just a search engine - it’s a solution that puts the customers first, strengthens the brand and paves the way for future growth.

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