Modern Search Helps Nuts.com Navigate Rapid Growth While Boosting CX
Consumer behaviors are constantly changing, and marketers face immense challenges trying to figure out what shoppers need and want. Layer in the unprecedented consumer behavior that has occurred over the last two years and the task becomes even more daunting. However, retailers can’t ignore embracing technology that creates personalized online experiences. Those that don’t evolve to understand today’s consumers will be quickly replaced.
Nuts.com likely isn’t the first company you think of as an early adopter of the modern digital experience. However, this 92-year-old company that dates back to the Great Depression went all-in on e-commerce in 1999 when it launched NutsOnline, and more recently recognized the need to boost the way it serves relevant content about the products it sells in order to satisfy today’s savvy consumers.
Embracing Personalization During Rapid Growth
Nuts.com, an online store that sells snacks, gifts and sweets, has continued to grow in popularity. The company recognized that it would be challenging to scale for ongoing success without an effective way to categorize and deliver relevant results, especially as its catalog of products continues to grow. It was crucial that Nuts.com had a suitable solution to store product data — and one that would empower consumers to search for the things that matter most to them through both direct and curated intent. When the company discovered Algolia’s API-based approach to implementing modern search and discovery capabilities, the path forward was clear.
Modern Search for a Modern Consumer
Algolia was implemented into the Nuts.com site to power site search, all category pages, and product listing pages, with the goal of quickly directing shoppers that knew what products they wanted, while also helping undecided ones discover new personalized options. With Algolia, Nuts.com’s merchandisers are able to exercise more control over any listed products on the company’s website. Algolia is directly plugged into the customer experience, serving as an essential touchpoint that enhances both usability and discoverability. Relevant content is determined using artificial intelligence and delivered to consumers in milliseconds based on their behavior and intent.
Choosing to modernize site search to boost personalization is not only a necessity for scaling, but a way to differentiate from competition. According to a survey of 900 technical and business decision makers from omnichannel and digital retailers with global revenues of $100 million-plus, only 13 percent of retailers claim to offer shoppers an advanced search experience. The 87 percent of retailers with basic or intermediate search experiences also noted a higher propensity to lose shoppers through churn and poor engagement; four in five (79 percent) retailers noted that they have little or no personalization or recommendation functionality on their commerce site.
Discovering New Benefits
Since implementing Algolia, Nuts.com’s conversion rate with shoppers that use site search is three times higher compared to those who don’t use search. Among those same users, the average order value is 15 percent higher per session. The detailed analytics dashboard and reports that Nuts.com now has access to provides the insights it needs to make meaningful decisions when it comes to its products, how its users engage with them, and how demand for them evolves.
Modern search has also allowed Nuts.com to be more resilient to unexpected demand changes. During the high demand experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions, Algolia enabled Nuts.com to prioritize the visibility of popular products that were in stock, instead of frustrating visitors by displaying unavailable products. The net results of this enhanced control was an improved customer experience.
While many companies talk a big game when it comes to advanced personalization, it’s not as widespread as many may think. An API strategy to implement modern search can be the needed cornerstone for staying ahead of the industry and even outmaneuvering larger competition.
Jason McClelland is the chief marketing officer of Algolia, a search and discovery API for websites and mobile apps.
McClelland most recently served as CMO of enterprise MLOps platform Domino Data Lab, where he helped redefine their go-to-market and partner strategy, and reposition their brand to target the enterprise. Prior to that, he served as CMO of the AppDev PaaS platform Heroku (acquired by Salesforce), where he led marketing, inside sales, and business operations — establishing the company as one of Salesforce’s fastest-growing businesses, with his team delivering more than 70% of the $400 million ARR. He was previously at Adobe as head of commerce and inside sales for the Americas, and a number of product and developer roles.
