Enhance Catalog Search Experience by Redesigning Apache Solr-based System

Read how GSPANN helped a US-based Fortune 500 departmental store chain with over $20B annual sales and more than 1000 stores in improving their Solr search experience. We added new features in the search platform and rearchitected the external configuration system that controls the search behavior. 

Key highlights:

• There was an overall improvement in search platform performance – indexing time improved by 30%, time required to reflect products added to the product MDM decreased from 4.5 to 3 hours, and the throughput per second (TPS) per virtual machine was enhanced from 25 to 35.
• The rearchitected external configuration system allowed various search configurations to be uploaded and modified through a web module. They refresh automatically on the website without any manual intervention.
• The new search configurations can switch on/off any particular feature or workflow in the search or indexing pipeline without re-building the whole application.

This case study emphasizes the importance of improving catalog search experience to increase the conversion rate and offer a better experience to the visitors. The speed and relevance of search results are crucial factors for the success of any e-commerce business. Augmenting search with features like auto-correction, typeahead, suggestions, etc. encourages visitors to search for more keywords and, hence, increases business opportunities.