July 22, 2015

Chemist Direct

SLI Systems explain how they made it easy for Chemist Direct customers to find relevant products quickly and easily

Chemist Direct is the UK’s leading pure-play healthcare and pharmacy store. In January 2014, the company enthusiastically relaunched its site after a rebranding exercise proved a great opportunity to drive innovation and optimise usability.

Its previous site was underperforming and not achieving the desired conversion rates from on-site search customers. With an impressive, wide-ranging 20,000 product range including major household brands such as Nurofen, Alli, XLS Medical, Regaine and Nicorette, Chemist Direct wanted to improve the search functionality of the website and put the right products in front of the right customers as quickly as possible. With a search product already in place that was falling short of expectations, Chemist Direct decided to take a new strategic approach to its online search function.

Improving search was a key factor for success with such a wide range of products, so Chemist Direct focussed attention on finding a tailored off-the-shelf solution. After researching the market, Chemist Direct enlisted search specialists SLI Systems and found its comprehensive search technology the answer to aid its ambitious growth plans.

Search solution with built-in consultancy

SLI Systems undertook an in-depth audit of Chemist Direct’s website, including identifying which of its innovative products were best suited to addressing current poor conversion rates. In response to the underperforming search functionality of the website, SLI’s Learning Search and Rich Auto Complete products were chosen.

Integrating SLI’s Learning Search technology is now vital to Chemist Direct users being able to find the products they are looking for on the website. The effective technology was able to learn from past site search activity on the website by tracking visitors’ aggregate search queries and click-throughs to deliver relevant products to Chemist Direct’s customers. Chemist Direct worked closely with SLI’s dedicated customer success manager to ensure that the technology was implemented quickly to ensure fast results.

To enhance customers’ search experience, SLI’s Rich Auto Complete was also integrated into the website. This tailored technology continues to improve the search function of the website, allowing customers to see results while typing in the search box.

Improving conversions and customer experience

Chemist Direct saw an immediate sales impact with conversion rates improving dramatically (175 per cent). As well as conversion rates soaring, Chemist Direct also reports that a search customer’s average order value is 196 per cent more than the average customer, with the website now attributing 43 per cent of its site revenue to search customers.

By making search more of a feature in its redesign, search customers on the Chemist Direct site now have a ten times lower bounce rate, meaning customers are finding the products they want, quicker, before purchasing and leaving the site.

Receiving a search service with consultation built in, Chemist Direct are continuing to work with SLI to ensure that they are always in touch with hints and suggestions of opportunities, to ensure they are maximising the technology.

Search customers convert to sale 175 per cent more than non-search

Forty-three per cent of site revenue attributed to search customers

Search customer’s order value 196 per cent more

“With an online catalogue of over 20,000 products and between 70 and 80,000 transactions processed each month, putting the most relevant products in front of customers as quickly as possible is a constant challenge and intelligent search is key,” says Stephen Lovell, Chief Information Officer at Chemist Direct. “SLI’s SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solution allows us to integrate quickly and the smart analytics behind the system help us to control merchandising, understand what customers are looking for and shows immediate results from new products we launch – all key to our growth strategy.”