Is Your Site's Search Experience Working Against You?

An abandoned cart in B2B doesn’t just mean you’ve lost one order; it means you’ve most likely lost multiple orders from what could've been a loyal customer.

The reality is that your B2B eCommerce store is not living up to the hype you (and your customers) were sold on. And while that could be for a cocktail of reasons, the real culprit is often simple:

🔴 Customers just can't find what they need 🔴

In B2B, you're dealing with massive catalogs, and search algorithms need to do a lot of heavy lifting. They need to understand not only what a customer typed, but the context surrounding their need, and how to interpret this intent across thousands of SKUs👇🏻

When you search for a “globe”, does your system know you meant “glove”? And does it know you are looking for single-use surgical gloves, as past activity would suggest, and not gardening gloves? AI-driven semantics and analytics modules can help here, understanding user intent and adapting to behavior, keeping things relevant.

Without this inherent understanding, a more specific search like “wood screw” can still lead to a whole new kind of doomscrolling as you look for that 1 1/4” zinc-plated flat head wood screw amongst results featuring a hundred variations. Great faceted search helps you cut through all that noise.

So now you know why you’re seeing so many abandoned carts 🛒

Time is money, and your customers aren't casual browsers looking for a dopamine fix. They're on your platform sourcing tools, parts and materials for their business. They are more often than not clients you've already identified and prospected, ready for business, and they’re asking themselves if your platform is going to streamline the process or throw a wrench in the works.

So what about a GREAT search experience?

You could expect:

👉 Faster conversions: Because with faceted navigation your customers are cutting through thousands of SKUs in seconds. Experiences end in sales, instead of calls to your support line or giving up halfway.

👉 Higher order values: Smart suggestions, synonym management and compatibility filters mean your customers are discovering related parts, upgrades, and offers based on their searches. More relevant results = increased lines per order.

👉 Customer loyalty: A seamless search experience builds trust in your platform. The once-weary shopper fast becomes a loyal customer because your platform saves them time (and the headache).

👉 Scalability: As your catalog grows, a powerful search tool keeps everything on hand for your customers.

In B2B, search isn’t just a feature. It’s your all-in-one sales rep, customer service agent, and retention strategy.

Need some help figuring it all out? Whether you’re future-ready or taking your first steps into B2B eCommerce, book a discovery call with us to see how you can make sure your customers are rolling their carts all the way to checkout!