Sur La Table is hoping to convert its massive online and mobile traffic into actual sales through a new solution that helps users find the best product for their needs and makes product detail jargon more shopper friendly.

The retailer is hoping to see a more equal distribution of sales on its online Web sites compared to its bricks-and-mortar stores. The shopping site now includes a solution that helps drive sales through clearer descriptions, accurate data and categorization.

“Sur La Table has been working with us to cleanse and enrich the underlying product data that fuels discovery for their customers,” said Susanne Bowen, CEO of Edgecase. “With Edgecase’s help, Sur La Table is able to offer their customers a more detailed navigation, search and browsing experience by ensuring the most relevant and complete set of product options are presented to shoppers, helping them find exactly what they are looking for.”

Traffic and sales
The home goods retailer is hoping to turn the excessive online traffic it has into real sales through a new search and product categorization system that presents shoppers with items in a more accurate way that fits their behavior. Sur La Table is leveraging platform developer Edgecase’s Adaptive Navigation Solution to bring this to fruition.

While Sur La Table sees the majority of its sales from its bricks-and-mortar presence, the amount of traffic seen from mobile and desktop users is much greater than those shopping in stores. The retailer is hoping to hone in on that potential through greater product discovery.

The new solution is reevaluating the inventory’s product data and is eliminating complicated back-end jargon to the product description vocabulary so customers can better understand what they are shopping for. The new product descriptions will mimic the language used between customers and employees at store locations.

Filters within search results for those browsing online for Sur La Table for a specific type of product will now more accurately reflect how shoppers shop for items.

Discovering mobile success
Focusing on search and product discovery can make a big difference for retailers. For instance, BeddingStyle.com saw a nine percent increase in average order volume after making search on mobile much easier for customers, streamlining the technology capabilities for greater product viewability and relevant results (see more).

Similarly, CheapTickets enticed travelers to book trips through its mobile application by enabling them to take advantage of split ticketing, a feature that lets users browse for two one-way flights during any round trip search, typically yielding better deals (see more).

“Working together, we’ve helped to solve four key problem,” Ms. Bowen said. “Expanding and cleansing Sur La Table’s data to more accurately represent what is unique and compelling about each product, presenting a more shopper-friendly product vocabulary to the online customer; one that better aligns with how shoppers would speak about a product to a store associate, offering category level filters like Blade Material that leverage more humanized product data, making it easier for shoppers to find what they want, making product data and filter improvements simpler by using clear intelligence, showing which attributes most impact product discovery and sales.

“We’re looking forward to discovering how customers enjoy the new eCommerce experience and working with Sur La Table to continually offer a fantastic experience for shoppers,” she said.