The Value Of Attractiveness In Ecommerce Search

In a rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive e-commerce landscape, retailers must continually refine their search and discovery experiences to meet consumer expectations when they’re shopping. A March 2025 study by Constructor, “Beyond Relevance: The Data-Backed Case for Attractiveness as the New Standard for Ecommerce Search Performance,” highlights the transformative role of attractive search experiences in driving revenue, conversions, and customer satisfaction.

The Power of Ecommerce Searchers

Constructor’s study analyzed 609 million online shopper searches across 113 global retail sites, responsible for an impressive $9.8 billion in retail revenue. The findings underscore the outsized impact of shoppers who use on-site search functions:

• 44% of ecommerce revenue originates from just 24% of shoppers – those who engage with a retailer’s search bar.
• These numbers vary by industry, with searchers driving 57% of revenue in health and beauty and 61% in general merchandise.
• Searchers account for 45% of add-to-cart activity and 42% of conversions.
• They convert at 2.5 times the rate of non-searchers.
• Their add-to-cart rate stands at 33%, compared to just 19% for non-searchers.

As Eli Finkelshteyn, Constructor’s CEO and co-founder, explains, “Shoppers who use search are on a mission. They always have at least a vague idea of what they want, and often they know exactly what they want. Either way, by searching, they’re showing strong indicators of intent and greater likelihood to buy. Our data reinforces this.”

Moving Beyond Keyword Relevance to Attractiveness

While relevance has traditionally been the core focus of search algorithms, Constructor’s study reveals that attractiveness is a more powerful driver of engagement and conversion. Search results that factor in individual shopper preferences – such as brand affinity, size, fit, price range, and past purchase history – yield double the clickthrough rate of less personalized results.

Finkelshteyn elaborates on the importance of this shift: “Traditionally, search success has been measured by technical relevance, and most ecommerce search engines still operate this way. But ‘relevant’ results really aren’t enough.

A relevant result is something that simply matches the basic meaning of a query. For example, consider a shopper who searches for “shirts” on an apparel website. A traditional search engine would focus on showing items that are shirts and call that success. The challenge is that the website likely sells countless shirts, and the user won’t wade through all of them. A retailer really only has the first and second page (and often not even that) to convince the user it has something they want. If a shopper sees shirts, but in colors and patterns the shopper doesn’t like, she’ll think, “Well, I found the kinds of shirts you have, these results are relevant to my query, but they’re not the fashion I want to buy.” And then she’s likely to leave.

By prioritizing attractiveness over simple keyword relevance, retailers can ensure that customers are seeing products they actually want to buy, which significantly improves conversion rates and overall shopping experiences.

Shopper Frustrations with Current Search Experiences

Despite the immense revenue potential of optimized search, many retailers still fall short in delivering attractive, shopper-centric search experiences. A separate Constructor study of U.S. and U.K. consumers highlights key pain points:

• 68% of shoppers believe online search functions need an upgrade.
• 21% spend at least 8 minutes filtering through search results to find what they need.
• Only 24% describe finding products online as “quick.”
• 42% find search results technically relevant but not appealing or useful.
• 44% feel their favorite retailer’s site fails to recognize their preferences and past purchases.

As Finkelshteyn notes, “It’s a mix. For some, the issue is an older keyword-based engine that just has some AI features duct-taped on. These engines aren’t built to handle modern commerce. For other newer engines, they might even be based on AI, but they weren’t built for commerce, and they solve for relevance rather than attractiveness. They wind up giving users generic results that technically match their query but are not things they actually want to buy.”

Constructor’s AI-Powered Approach to Ecommerce Search

Constructor is leading the charge in redefining ecommerce search and product discovery through advanced AI-driven personalization. Unlike conventional search engines, Constructor’s platform is built from the ground up with AI for commerce, leveraging petabytes of commerce-specific data to predict and surface the most attractive products for each shopper.

The company’s technology integrates multiple data streams to optimize search and discovery in real-time. It analyzes shoppers’ clickstream data – including browsing behavior, time spent on products, add-to-cart actions, and purchase history – alongside retailer-defined business objectives like inventory balancing and high-margin product prioritization.

Finkelshteyn emphasizes the importance of making search experiences intuitive and personalized: “Retailers can and should capitalize on searchers’ high-intent behavior. But it’s important to realize that not all search experiences are created equal. Just having a search bar doesn’t guarantee conversions.

To drive the best results, he says, it’s important to make search experiences good ones. That means making them intuitive, prominent (without being interruptive) and, above all, useful to shoppers.

This approach is already being implemented by leading retailers. Tony Gabriele, Vice President of Digital Strategy at Petco, explains: “At Petco, we’re focused on matching our digital experiences to our customers’ needs and preferences. If a dog parent browses for dog food and dog toys on petco.com, and then searches for ‘collars,’ our site understands they want dog collars and prioritizes those in the search results displayed. This saves shoppers time and offers a more helpful digital experience that reflects our commitment to helping them find everything they need to keep their pets happy and healthy.”

Similarly, IPSY is leveraging AI to enhance personalization in beauty product discovery. Sree Sreedhararaj, CTO of IPSY, shares: “Makeup and other beauty products, of course, are deeply personal, so our customer experiences should be too. It’s important for us to have a personalized approach that carries through all aspects of our customers’ online journeys: when they take our beauty quiz, when they view search results, when they browse, and so on.”

SwimOutlet, an online retailer of swimwear and swim gear, has also benefitted from making search results and other digital experiences more attractive and personalized to shoppers – increasing revenue per visitor by 4%. “The relevance vs. attractiveness debate wasn’t just theoretical for us. Being on the right side of it meant millions of dollars in additional revenue,” said SwimOutlet CMO Alexander Sienkiewicz.

A Future Built on AI-Driven Personalization

As ecommerce continues to evolve, AI-driven search and product discovery will become the standard for delivering highly relevant and attractive shopping experiences. IPSY, for example, is integrating its beauty quiz data with Constructor’s AI platform to further personalize its customers’ experiences, ensuring shoppers see the right shades, styles, and trending products that best suit their preferences.

The shift from relevance to attractiveness is more than a technological upgrade; it’s a fundamental transformation in how retailers connect with their customers. Those who embrace this shift will not only reduce friction and drive greater ecommerce success for shoppers, but cultivate lasting customer relationships in an increasingly expensive

digital marketplace.