E-Commerce Search Query Data Annotation and Benefits

Did you know that there are over 12mn online stores currently? The onset of AI in e-commerce has simplified the setting up and running of online shopping businesses. This means your e-commerce platform competes not only with prominent market giants we assumed but with an online store operating from a remote town in the foothills of the Himalayas as well.

Besides e-commerce apps 12mn online stores, there are social media channels and messenger groups that moonlight as product aggregators as well. So, with such cut-throat competition, it all boils down to who gets to the customer fast.

But more importantly, who gets to the customer fast and right?

This is where search query optimization through data annotation comes in. Sounds too complex? Well, it isn’t and this is what we’ll decode.

Let’s get started.

What Is Search Query Annotation?

Contextual and relevant search results are what would convert visitors into sales. Statistics reveal that over 43% of the users directly access a platform’s search bar to look for their preferred products. This compels algorithms at the backend to retrieve accurate results that visitors are most likely to buy.

However, if your e-commerce platform fetches irrelevant results, your visitors wouldn’t bother coming back. And we have statistics to back both the claims:

• 78% of the consumers share that the on-site search options often fetch irrelevant results
• 68% of the users wouldn’t return to a brand or a platform after enduring such poor experiences

E-commerce annotation fixes this exact concern.

This is a simple process of adding additional relevant information or attributes to search queries. This inclusion of new insights allows functioning algorithms to better understand the intent, purpose, and relevance of products in the catalog and fetch the most precise results for visitors.

The annotations could be:

• Tags about the parts of speech such as adjectives, verbs, nouns, plurals, and more
• Semantic roles such as date or location could add further context to search phrases
• Named entity recognition that acknowledges places, brands, businesses, or people to identify specific entities

Search query annotation implemented for an e-commerce platform helps algorithms distinguish between vinyl records and vinyl stickers, assisting visitors to reach their preferences swiftly and complete checkout.

Benefits Of E-commerce Search Query Annotation

Owners of online shopping portals generally opt for sponsored ads to quickly reach customers. Most owners are not aware of the role and impact of AI in e-commerce, making them completely overlook a powerful secret sauce called e-commerce annotation.

When done right, it can fetch incredible results. Let’s explore what they are.

Effective Personalization

Customers are looking not just for products on the internet today. They are looking for experiences and exemplary buying journeys. They want their shopping experiences to be premium, exciting, and personalized.

This is why e-commerce annotation is a tremendous value addition to your business as it allows you to deliver the most personal and valuable experience to your visitors.

This process lets algorithms understand the nuances in search terms and use additional information from the visitor such as location, time, demographics, and historical data to deliver a superior shopping experience.

This personalization aspect could be concerning:

• The pricing of a product, where it is sold at a previously purchased cost or comes with free shipping
• Search results that show products from home-grown brands or businesses that are closer to their ethnicities
• Shortest delivery timing for products that demand urgency and more

With such personalizations, businesses can increase their conversion rates as well. Reports reveal that site search optimization can increase conversion rates by over 50%.

Simplify Site Navigation

Your e-commerce platform shouldn’t be a maze that makes visitors run around looking for their preferred products. Even for a visitor who is vaguely aware of what they want, search results should be contextualized and relevant. E-commerce search annotation helps with better designing of user interface and website navigation techniques so visitors can quickly click on what they want.

With this technique, you can improve the user-friendliness of your platform across devices and ensure a streamlined navigation technique devoid of access to options like filter and sort. Such minute differences save time, helping you capitalize on the impulse of visitors.

Annotation For Diverse Search Options

Today, online shopping is not just restricted to smartphones alone. We have virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, voice search options on smart TVs, visual searches from images on social media channels, and more.

So, an e-commerce business needs to have a 360-degree purview of customer reach-out mechanisms and implement strategies accordingly. Data annotation allows business owners and search specialists to sharpen their cataloging efforts and sharpen their algorithms for both visual and voice-powered searches.

For instance, images for fashion brands have multiple elements in them such as shades, shoes, trousers, shirts, pendants, and more. Such images can be precisely labeled, helping in airtight categorization. This leads to contextual retrieval of products.

Seamless Conflict Resolutions

E-commerce solutions are not just for shopping. They involve pre and post-sales experiences as well. When you deploy chatbots for customer support, your business encounters different kinds of people – anxious ones, frustrated users, non-native English speakers, and more.

Your chatbots should be trained to handle queries from diverse users and search query annotation will help you accomplish that. Consider the following query: Replace my 43” Samsung television tomorrow.

With proper data annotation, chatbots can understand that the sentence is an order with replacement as a command, my as an item from the previous purchase order, 43” as the product specification, Samsung television as the brand, and tomorrow as the time. This extensive annotation enables chatbots to deliver swift and precise responses in real time to customers, further ensuring seamless interaction with the brand.

When optimized right, the best response for the query would be: Certainly, what time do we schedule a pickup?

Leverage Search Query Annotation Services From Sharp

While the process sounds promising and fascinating, it is loaded with complexities. It requires a bespoke and meticulous approach based on specific business requirements. That’s why we encourage you to explore e-commerce annotation services from Shaip.

Our labeling services ensure your algorithms are trained with the most precise datasets for a seamless search experience. With airtight quality and validation protocols, we deploy humans in an ecosystem that is designed to make AI better.

Besides, we also deliver language-agnostic annotation services that allow you to add insights on products and search terms in multiple languages to target and reach global audiences.

Explore our offerings today and gain a competitive edge in your e-commerce market.