Radically improve the search experience for online customers.

Woolworths New Zealand (Countdown) is a dynamic supermarket retailer in New Zealand, widely recognized for its significant market share and strong presence. Embracing the shift towards online shopping, the company proactively sought to enhance its core product search system, responding to the evolving needs and preferences of its customers.

In this transformative journey, Search Pioneer played a pivotal role, elevating the search experience for users through a comprehensive and collaborative approach. This involved engaging discussions, targeted training, and effective implementation across various key areas:

• Advanced Elasticsearch querying, including the integration of painless scripting.
• Strategic advice on indexing to optimize data for more efficient search results.
• Innovative techniques to identify and resolve data-related issues.
• Integration of signals into boosting strategies for more relevant search outcomes.
• Personalizing search results to cater to individual user preferences.
• Refining scoring methods and optimizing sorting of results, particularly around pricing.
• Implementing vectorization and the incorporation of cutting-edge machine learning models.
• Providing expert assistance in system upgrades.

This collaborative effort resulted in a significant upskilling of the in-house search team, empowering them to implement positive, impactful changes to the system.

The outcome of this partnership was remarkable, with a 10% increase in user satisfaction as indicated by the online feedback system.

The enhanced search system now delivers faster, more accurate results, leading to an increase in products added to shoppers' baskets. This success story exemplifies Woolworths New Zealand's commitment to continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.