Salesforce’s Einstein boosts search in its Commerce Cloud

The new features make it easier for online retailers to tailor site search to their visitors.

Bit by bit, Salesforce is bringing its Einstein AI layer to all parts of its clouds.

Today, the company is launching Einstein Search for Commerce in its Commerce Cloud so that stores using its e-commerce platform can make it easier for visitors to find stuff on their websites. The company says its platform is used by 2,400 sites in about 50 countries, handling over 350 million online shoppers monthly.

In May, Einstein-powered enhancements were made to Commerce Cloud’s Predictive Sort, Order Management and other features. The company built its Commerce Cloud around its purchase last year of Demandware. Last month, Salesforce’s Sales Cloud got several new Einsteined features.

Internal site search, of course, is essential to a commerce site. In a post announcing the new features, VP of Product Marketing Gordon Evans noted that 9 percent of shoppers on Commerce Cloud-powered sites account for almost a quarter of all sales.

The new features:

• Einstein Search Dictionaries. A site visitor might search for “trousers,” but the product could be listed as “pants” by the retailer. The new Search Dictionaries will recommend that “trousers” be added as a synonym for that product, compared to the previous process where retailers would have to sift through search data to find synonyms. Einstein also understands about word relationships, so that failed attempts by users to find “mauve sweater” would generate a recommendation that “mauve” be added as a synonym to “pink” and “purple.”
• Einstein Search Recommendations. This provides personalized type-ahead suggestions instead of default ones, based on the user’s behavior, similar past searches, location, trending products, the purchase history if the user is identified and other factors. Previously, typing the letter “s” might show every user an auto-complete suggestion of “sneakers,” for instance. But now, an East Coast anonymous user in chilly February might see “sweater” as the first suggested completion.
• Keyword Search Sorting Rules. This allows retailers to override standard sorting of search results, so they are instead sorted by best sellers, items on sale or other categories. Previously, there was a default sorting rule, but now the retailer can make sure that, for instance, different brands of “sandals” are sorted by the ones that have most recently been added to inventory.