“When choosing Searchspring our priority was to get the customers to convert faster, at a better rate, and with a higher cart value. We needed the ability to accommodate their powerful, high-intent searches with merchandising campaigns that support our business goals. We didn’t just want another search partner, we wanted a partner that could implement the specific functionality we were looking for to meet our business requirement and Searchspring was, and still is, the best on the market.”
Sofia Giussani
Director of Digital Marketing, BHFO
The Brand
Today, BHFO is one of the largest designer-brand outlets in the world, but the brand has humble beginnings. In 2003, Jon and Stacie Stefton started selling clothing on Ebay from the basement of their home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
After receiving almost 3-million positive feedback, Jon and Stacie put their business backgrounds to work and built their vision based on their passion for helping people. Their entrepreneurial spirit helped guide them in their journey to create one of the most successful and trusted names in discounted clothing, shoes, and accessories.
BHFO works directly with some of the largest brands and retailers in the world to bring shoppers name brands that are famous for their quality and style. Partnering with these well-known brands meant rapid growth for the online retailer. Over the last 20 years they have gone from their basement, to various office spaces, until finally calling a 240,000 square foot facility in Cedar Rapids home.
The Challenges
Having a large selection of products is a good thing, but with so many items, the merchandising process was incredibly time consuming and it was overwhelming for shoppers to find what they were looking for. BHFO needed a solution that would streamline the merchandising process and get relevant products in front of shoppers quickly. They were also seeking a solution that could give them more control over their site by providing the ability to create their own product filters and ways to communicate with shoppers across their site.
The Solutions
BHFO discovered that with Searchspring, they wouldn’t need multiple tools or plugins to address their issues as Searchspring had everything they needed in one package. In addition to returning more relevant search results, Searchspring gives BHFO the freedom to create and schedule landing pages and global merchandising campaigns, set rules, and test strategies.
Searchspring’s reporting features help BHFO make data-driven decisions, which not only helps the marketing and merchandising teams, it streamlines communication across the entire company and enables them to optimize inventory and convert more based on what shoppers are looking for. “We utilize the zero results report a lot. Not only does it give us great insight of products and brands that we do not sell and should, but it also allows us to create ad hoc landing pages where we feature and present similar products that perhaps customers are not aware are on our website for sale. I always share it with our buyers, and ask them to take into account what customers want”, said Giussani.
The Results
In 2022, BHFO shoppers who used search were 6.4 times more likely to make a purchase than shoppers who didn’t use search. They were also much more likely to spend more, with shoppers who used search spending an of $3.52 more per visit, making them 7.6 times more valuable than shoppers who didn’t search.
Since implementing Searchspring, BHFO has taken their merchandising to a whole new level without the need for additional resources. They are now doing more than ever before thanks to Searchspring’s ease-of-use and abundance of features. They are excited to have complete control over their online store with the ability to schedule campaigns, set rules, recommend products, and communicate with shoppers across their site. Giussani notes that BHFO uses global merchandising rules to promote products based on a number of factors, “Our merchandising campaigns run 10-15 rules deep, and we boost results based on a combination of criteria. If we are running a sale or a promotion, we might link shoppers to a PLP where the applicable products are boosted alongside custom banners that we implement through Searchspring.”
They have also successfully minimized zero-results searches by setting up synonyms and strategizing with their Customer Support Manager. For example, BHFO doesn’t have rights to sell a specific shoe brand online, but they receive a significant number of searches for it. With a little bit of teamwork and creative thinking between BFHO and Searchspring, they set up a merchandising campaign to showcase alternative, but similar, items to the product originally searched for. This has kept shoppers from bouncing and engaged on their site, leading to higher conversion rates.
