Smart product filter & search is an impactful alternative to the traditional filter experience, which is riddled with difficulties for both shoppers and eCommerces alike. The traditional filter experience falls short in meeting shopper expectations, and leaves shoppers frustrated, wanting more from their filtering experience.

Traditional filters fail to meet shopper needs because it is:

1. Difficult to find specific products: Whether looking for exact products or particular features, traditional filters often don’t show the details that shoppers want to see.
2. A time-consuming search process: Traditional search filters require more clicking to find products, leading to frustration.
3. Text-heavy: Long lists of product filters that are nearly impossible to read (and with repeated categories) are often the norm
4. Inaccurate: Search results don’t match shopper search intentions

If the goal of product filters is to provide a high quality user experience and make product discovery easy for both shoppers and retailers, then there is a gap. Smart product filter & search is the answer to traditional product filters that aren’t meeting anyone’s needs. By utilizing fashion artificial intelligence, we can build search filters that are innovative, and meet the needs of retailers and shoppers.

The Retailer Benefits of Smart Product Filter & Search

Traditional filters are also holding back retailers because:

1. Retailers lack the resources to keep the design updated, resulting in low-quality, outdated filter design.
2. The lack of product tagging data to add to filters means that filters aren’t showing full product catalogs, and are inaccurate.
3. The amount of time required to map new tagging data into product filters, when there are thousands of product updates
4. The lack of time and resources to focus only on product filters– when there are other burning issues, retailers can’t dedicate time and money to focus on building filters.

Shoppers are becoming more and more sophisticated, and with their newfound sophistication, they have less patience to stay on websites with a poor filtering experience. 

The key to providing a superior filtering experience is through smart product filters–using fashion AI to build more robust filters that engage shoppers, convert sales, and provide a high quality user experience. 

The 3 benefits of smart product filter & search for retailers are:

1- More accurate search results: Shoppers are matched with products they want to see
2- Customizable: It’s easy to change filters based on a shopper's unique preference. For example, filters can be updated to show specific occasions.
3- Fast and updated filters: With AI product tagging, filters are automatically updated and accurate with product attributes, saving time and resources. 

When eCommerce retailers spend time customizing and innovating product filters, it’s inefficient and a poor use of resources. By partnering with a solution provider that tests and is at the fore-front of cutting edge technology, like YesPlz AI, eCommerce retailers can maximize their resources and provide a good search experience.

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Here are four examples of smart product filter & search, powered by AI:

Virtual Mannequin Filter: A Visual-First Smart Product Filter

The Virtual Mannequin Filter is an AI-powered, patent-pending smart product filter that taps into the visual nature of shopping. Shoppers quickly filter based on silhouette and their preferred product attributes, like neckline, waist fit, length, jean wash, and pattern/color type.

Powered by fashion tagging, shoppers now have access to filter by the full product attributes of a retailer’s catalog. 

As an intuitive, visual-focused smart product filter, the Virtual Mannequin Filter makes shopping easy and engaging throughout the product discovery journey, eliminating the need to sort inaccurate search results.

UX-friendly, the Virtual Mannequin Filter shows visual representations of silhouettes and attributes, making it easier for shoppers to search.

Search by Pattern & Color: Giving Shoppers What They Want

YesPlz research shows that shoppers value filtering by pattern and color, which is an inherently visual function. When thinking of the word “blue” shoppers prefer to see a color swatch to confirm, versus text. So, why are shoppers still seeing long lists of text filters?

YesPlz smart product filters for pattern and color use chips to show shoppers their options, making filtering intuitive–there’s no confusion over the difference between wine red and maroon. And, behind the scenes, YesPlz automatically tags products based on color and pattern, so there’s no manual work required from retailers to add colors or patterns.

Dynamic Search Filters: Smart Product Filter & Search That Makes Search Engaging

Dynamic search filters are smart product filters that make search engaging by allowing shoppers to quickly filter through the products they want.

For example, if a shopper selects a certain brand, she will automatically see grey-outs for unavailable product attributes, so she can search more effectively.

And, dynamic filters change as selections are made–so when a shopper selects one filter, she can continue to dynamically filter down based on her selection without wasting any extra time or clicks. 

Advanced & Faceted Search

Faceted search navigation is one of the most important elements in product filtering. When a shopper selects “boat neck” and “striped pattern,” she wants to see search results that include multiple product attributes. 

Without faceted search, a shopper can only see results of either a boat neckline or a stripped pattern at one time, but not both. Shoppers can select multiple filters to build search results that accurately reflect her preferences. 

YesPlz smart product filters also offer advanced search features, like search by occasion/vibe. With automated product tagging based on occasion and vibe, it's easier than ever for retailers to include search by occasion. YesPlz’s fashion-trained AI can identify unique vibes and occasions, like night out, work, vacation, and more. 

Smart product filter & search is changing the filtering experience for the better for both retailers and shoppers. Are you ready for the future of search?

Contact us to learn more about AI product filters