# Product suggestions on empty search results: +30.7% conversion

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Other (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Filters, sorting & site search
- Test run by: [Visually](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/visually/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://visually.io/public/case-studies/laura-geller
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/laura-geller-empty-search-product-suggestions/

Showing relevant products when a site search returned no matches lifted conversion rate by 30.7% for Laura Geller Beauty. Visually ran this test on its platform with the Laura Geller team and published it as a Visually case study. The lift was most likely measured on shoppers who hit an empty search, not on all visitors.

## Result

**+30.7% conversion**

- Conversion rate: +30.7%.
- The case study doesn't say which visitors were counted. It is probably shoppers who reached an empty search, so expect a smaller effect on the site-wide rate.

## Control

When a search found no matches, shoppers saw an empty results page with nowhere obvious to go next.

## Variant

The no-results page showed relevant products, turning a dead end into a chance to browse.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A blank page gives a shopper with buying intent no next step, so many leave.
- Shoppers who search are often ready to buy, so even a near match can save the sale.
- Suggestions also hint at what the store does stock, which helps people rephrase or pick an alternative.

## Caveats

This is a vendor case study, and sample size, duration and significance were not shared. The audience the 30.7% applies to was not stated.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show relevant products on no-results search pages, then more searchers will buy because they get a next step instead of a dead end.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate of visitors who hit a no-results search
- Guardrail: Exit rate from the search results page
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Search refinement rate
- Who should test it: Stores with a decent volume of site search, especially where shoppers use shade names, slang or competitor terms. If few searches return nothing, the overall gain will be small.

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Credit: Visually ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/laura-geller-empty-search-product-suggestions/).
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.