Quality Bath Sees 70% Conversion Boost with Customized Site Search and Merchandising from SLI Systems

Online Bath and Kitchen Supplies Retailer Drives Higher Order Values from Site Search Users

SAN JOSE, CA – January 9, 2011 – SLI Systems today announced that Quality Bath, an online retailer of bath and kitchen supplies and hardware, has increased conversions and average order values after implementing full-service hosted site search from SLI. In addition, users of site search on the Quality Bath website view four times as many webpages per visit as visitors who don’t use site search.

Since adding SLI, site search users on the Quality Bath website have shown they spend more time on the site and are generating more revenue than non-site search users. Visitors who use site search browse the site seven times longer than people who don’t use site search; the conversion rate for site search users is almost 70% higher than the rate for non-site search users. In addition, the average order value for site search users is more than 10% higher than for visitors who don’t use search.

Quality Bath, based in Lakewood, N.J., offers bath, kitchen, hardware and lighting supplies – the company has been in business for 25 years, and has had an online storefront for 10 years. Quality Bath was using a site search solution built in-house, but it did not offer the ability to customize search and navigation options, or merchandise products via search. The online retailer initially chose a site search solution from another vendor, but following poor results, the company selected SLI site search.

“With 300,000 product SKUs, we need to continually optimize how visitors search our site, and how results are presented,” said Isaac Perlstein, e-commerce manager for Quality Bath. “SLI has given us the flexibility and customization capabilities that we never had with our in-house solution, or with the site search solution from the previous vendor.”

For instance, Perlstein, who is solely responsible for the company’s e-commerce site, noticed that site search users habitually clicked on the second or third refinement option when conducting a search and refining results. By working with his SLI customer service representative, Perlstein was able to quickly change how refinements are ordered so that the most popular selections appear first in the list, making it easier for visitors to apply commonly used search filters. “Normally something like this would take much longer to implement, particularly since it was during our busiest time of year,” said Perlstein. “SLI put the power in my hands and I was able to have the new refinement options active in just two days.

“As a small business with limited IT support, we rely heavily on SLI’s team for their advice on site search customization, their full-service approach, and their responsiveness to our needs,” he continued. “SLI has also made it easier for us to make other site search changes on our own. For example, using the console, we’ve created custom landing pages and merchandising banners in just a few easy steps.”

Learning Search is part of SLI Systems’ full-service, customized site search, navigation and merchandising offerings. The solutions help online retailers like Quality Bath meet customer expectations for relevant results and information, and also promote particular products and brands, all based on previous visitors’ search and click-through activity. The solutions are dynamic, so results change as customer buying trends and search terms shift. Additionally, SLI’s offerings are backed by the company’s team of search and navigation experts, who oversee deployment of Learning Search and provide ongoing management and support.

“Online retailers like Quality Bath, with large product inventories and limited IT staff, can gain more benefits from their investment in site search when they work with experienced consultants such as those at SLI,” said Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems. “With expert guidance, retailers can determine exactly how to respond to shifts in inventory and shopping trends with changes to the way products are promoted and displayed within search results – and they can see far better results.”

About SLI Systems
SLI Systems provides full-service, customized, on-demand solutions for site-search, navigation, merchandising, and user-generated SEO. SLI Systems’ solutions empower businesses to enhance customer satisfaction while increasing sales, reducing costs and increasing site conversions. Unlike traditional search and merchandising software, SLI Systems’ patented technology continuously “learns” from the behavior of visitors over time to deliver more relevant results. SLI Systems is a privately held company with offices in San Jose, California; London; New Zealand and Australia. For more information, visit www.sli-systems.com, or read the company’s blog at http://blog.sli-systems.com, watch the SLI YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/SLISiteSearch, follow SLI on Twitter at http://twitter.com/slisystems or listen to SLI hosted ecommerce podcasts at http://www.ecommercepodcast.com.