Searchandise Commerce � the Google of Retail Search?

By combining paid search marketing with bricks-and-mortar merchandising techniques, Searchandise Commerce — a new e-commerce service — is on a mission to become the Google of on-site retail search.

For manufacturers looking to get better placement for their wares on retail sites and the shopping comparison engines, the service promises to deliver better rankings and/or visibility on target sites — the e-commerce equivalent of end-cap and other product displays in the bricks-and-mortar retail world. As for online retailers, Searchandise Commerce claims it provides an easy, non-invasive means of generating additional revenue at no cost.

Filling the Google Void

So how is Searchandise Commerce different from Google? "Google charges advertisers to get a better position in search results," said John Federman, president and CEO of Searchandise Commerce. "So if someone was doing a search for a [digital camera], for example, there would be various suppliers who would be bidding to show up at the top of that search."

While that's all fine and good for consumers and Google, Federman said he believes retailers and manufacturers were not getting their online due — and searched for a way to better serve them. Enter Searchandise Commerce.

"Retailers don't tend to use Google site-side search," he said. "They tend to use an e-commerce platform like Endeca or ATG or FAST. So what we do is we integrate into the search results that you're already getting. We become one more weighting factor, one more thing that you, the retailer, might evaluate, along with things like the popularity of a product, consumer reviews, margin and inventory."

The retailer still decides which items consumers sees first, second, third and so on, but if they were using Searchandise Commerce, the Sony digital camera, for example, now may show up in the second spot of a search for digital cameras, or as a Sponsored Link or Listing (if the retailer prefers to go that route). Before it might have shown up in the fourth or fifth spot or even lower in an on-site search. And if the consumer clicks on that Sony-sponsored link, the retailer gets a piece of the action (as does Searchandise Commerce).

More Clicks Without Ad Clutter

Retailers of any size can take advantage of Searchandise Commerce, Federman said. While designed for larger retailers, "it's really good for small businesses," he said, "because they can quickly and easily integrate an incremental line of revenue with no investment, no diversion from their core business, which is selling product, and they don't create a consumer experience that feels overrun with ad space."

That's because Searchandise Commerce makes a point of being transparent to the consumer. That is, shoppers don't know that that Sony digital camera would have been ranked fourth instead of second without Searchandise Commerce, because the search listings look the same. So retailers don't have to worry about scaring off shoppers with pages filled with ads, but can still get valuable ad-related revenue. (Note: Searchandise Commerce can also create nontransparent overt results, too, in the form a Sponsored Link or a Sponsored Listing at the top or to the side of a page. It's up to the retailer as to how sponsored links show up in searches.)

The only catch: Your e-commerce platform or on-site search solution needs to support Searchandise Commerce. And right now, Searchandise Commerce partners with only certain e-comerce platforms, such as ATG, and retail search providers such as Endeca, Mercado (now Omniture) and FAST.

However, if you are using an e-commerce platform or search tool that Searchandise Commerce does integrate with, you can take advantage of the service for free. It costs retailers nothing to use and start generating some incremental revenue. That's because with Searchandise Commerce, clicks are bid on and paid for by manufacturers, and retailers get a share of the revenue for every click that was a result of a Searchandise Commerce-sponsored link on their site.

Bringing Merchandising to E-Commerce

"We see ourselves as an important piece of the e-commerce puzzle," Federman said, "in that we are bringing the power of in-store merchandising to the Web."

Since consumers are doing more of their shopping online, manufacturers need to increase their online presence and advertising, but they need to be smart about how they do this, he said. By adapting successful bricks-and-mortar merchandising techniques to online stores, Searchandise Commerce is helping manufacturers get their products in front of consumers wherever it is they are shopping or thinking of shopping (which is why Searchandise Commerce is also integrated into several leading shopping comparison sites). And the company is rewarding retailers that allow it to place those sponsored products in their on-site search results with a share of click revenue.

"The reality is it's a brand-new thing for the marketplace, a brand-new business model," and a brand-new way for manufacturers and retailers to sell online, said Federman. For retailers, using Searchandise Commerce is a no-risk proposition, and one that "you should take advantage of," he continued. Retailers need to recognize the power of their brand, "and the fact that position matters on your site to those who sell on your site," he said. "Understanding your value as a retailer and a brand — and then finding a way to monetize it — is a tremendous opportunity."

Jennifer Lonoff Schiff is a regular contributor to Ecommerce-Guide.com and runs a blog for and about small businesses.

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