# Adding a search bar to the site: +9% conversion rate

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Filters, sorting & site search
- Test run by: [Blend Commerce](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/blend-commerce/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://blendcommerce.com/blogs/ab-tests-shopify/implement-a-search-bar
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/jacksons-add-search-bar/

Adding a search bar to a site that had none lifted conversion rate by 9% for Jackson's. Blend Commerce ran this two-week A/B test. Returning visitors gained the most, with a 28% rise in conversion rate.

## Result

**+9% conversion rate**

- Conversion rate overall: +9%.
- Returning visitors: +28% conversion rate, the biggest gain in the test.
- New visitors: +5% conversion rate, a smaller but still positive change.

## Control

The site had no search bar. Shoppers had to browse collection and product pages to find what they wanted.

## Variant

A search bar was added, powered by the Boost app, with advanced search and typo correction.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Returning shoppers often want to rebuy something they already know. Search gets them there without browsing.
- With no search at all, every product hunt depended on menus and collections. Search removed that detour.
- Typo correction means misspelled queries still return results, so fewer searches end in a dead end.

## Caveats

The test ran for two weeks. Sample size and significance were not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add a visible search bar with typo correction, then conversion will rise because shoppers who know what they want can find it faster.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate, split by new and returning visitors
- Guardrail: Searches with no results
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Search exit rate
- Who should test it: Stores with a broad catalogue or a lot of repeat buyers, and any store that has no search today. A store with a handful of products may see little change, since browsing already works.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/jacksons-add-search-bar/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.