Custom e-commerce search software development
Appfront builds custom search software for webshops and B2B portals: autocomplete that anticipates what shoppers want, facets that adapt to your range, handling of synonyms, typos and article numbers, and control over what appears at the top. Plus insight into what visitors search for without finding anything. Designed for shops where the platform's built-in search falls short once the range becomes large or technically complex.
What is e-commerce search software?
E-commerce search software is the search functionality in your webshop or portal: the search box, the suggestions as you type, the results page with facets and filters, and the logic that determines which product appears first. For visitors who know what they are looking for, it is the quickest route to a product and, in practice, the route most likely to lead to an order. That is precisely why a weak search function carries more weight than most other shortcomings in a webshop.
The search function built into a standard webshop platform works well with a straightforward range. It starts to struggle when customers search by article number, by brand names spelt slightly differently, or by technical terms that do not appear in your product copy. Typos, plurals and compound words are also a common cause of empty results pages. A visitor who finds nothing usually concludes that you do not stock the product and moves on to someone else.
This page is about search itself. If the issue concerns the product data being searched, that belongs to a PIM portal, and feeding that data in from other systems falls under e-commerce data integration. If you are looking for a complete business ordering environment, see B2B e-commerce portal.
Search the way customers search
By article number, brand name, technical term or description, even when the spelling differs from your product copy.
Facets that make sense
Filters that adapt to your range and never show combinations that lead to zero results.
Visibility into what goes wrong
An overview of searches that return no results shows which words your customers use that you do not.
How we build your e-commerce search software
We start with your actual search behaviour: what people search for, what returns nothing and which terms customers use that you do not. That determines what needs building. Your e-commerce manager and someone who knows the range sit at the table from the discovery stage onwards.
We review the searches from your current shop: which return nothing, which rarely lead to a click and which terms differ from your product copy. This usually produces a list of quick wins straight away.
We determine which fields are searched and how heavily each is weighted, which facets are introduced and how the order of results is determined. We also document how you can steer the results yourself without needing a developer.
We build in short iterations and test with real searches from your own logs. A search function that scores well on imagined examples but falters on the actual top hundred queries is of little value.
A controlled go-live, where possible running alongside the existing search first, followed by management and further improvement based on what visitors actually type.
What e-commerce search software does in practice
Which components weigh the most depends on your range and your customers. Below is what we most often deliver.
Autocomplete
Suggestions as you type, with products, categories and brands side by side. This is often where the order in fact already begins.
Facets and filters
Filters built up from each set of results, with counts shown and without combinations that lead to an empty page.
Synonyms and typos
Handling alternative spellings, plurals, compound words and technical terms, so a search doesn't fail over a single letter.
Relevance tuning
Deciding for yourself what appears at the top for important search terms, for example a promotion or your own brand, without disrupting the rest.
Searching by item number
Direct matches on article, EAN or manufacturer numbers, including variants with or without hyphens and spaces. Essential in B2B.
Insight into search behaviour
Which terms are searched often, which return nothing and where visitors drop off. This turns management into continuous improvement.
Who we build e-commerce search software for
How much search matters varies by type of range. For each of these we build a search function that suits how people search in that setting.
Wholesalers and B2B
Where customers search by item number, repeat their order lists and the range runs to tens of thousands of lines.
Technical and spare parts shops
Where a product can only be found through specifications, size or compatibility, and a single wrong filter leads to the wrong order.
Shops with a broad range
Where categories alone are no longer enough and search has become the main way of navigating.
Marketplaces and portals
Where offerings from multiple suppliers come together and the quality of product descriptions varies widely.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
We build with a modern, maintainable web stack and a search engine suited to the size of your range. We take product data from the source you use: your webshop platform, a PIM or directly from the ERP. It is important that changes to price, stock and range flow through to the search index quickly, because a match on a product that is no longer available costs more trust than no match at all.
Why choose Appfront for your e-commerce search software?
We build custom software with our own team, without vendor lock-in. You remain the owner of your software and your data.
Our own team
Design and build happen in-house. You speak with the people who actually make your software.
No vendor lock-in
The code and the data belong to you. No search service that charges per query and that you can't get out of.
Tested on real search queries
We measure against your own query log rather than invented examples, because that is where the difference lies.
Manageable by your own team
Your team adjusts synonyms and ranking without needing a developer.
Security and privacy in e-commerce search software
Search may seem harmless, but a search log becomes personal data as soon as it can be linked to an account or session. B2B portals add a further complication: what a logged-in customer may see in terms of range and pricing often differs by contract, and search results have to reflect that too.
We therefore configure the search index so that restricted range and customer-specific prices are visible only to those entitled to see them, including in autocomplete and facet counts. We record search queries in a way that is useful for improvement without being unnecessarily traceable to an individual, with a retention period you set. Data is stored in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the EU.
Frequently asked questions about e-commerce search software
Answers to the questions we are asked most often about search in webshops.
E-commerce search software is the search function in your webshop or portal: the input field, the suggestions as you type, the results page with facets and filters, and the logic that determines which product appears at the top. In a custom build, that logic is tailored to your range and to how your customers search, for example by article number, trade term or specification.
With a focused range, it often does the job. It starts to struggle when customers search by article number, by brand names spelt differently, or by trade terms that don't appear in your product text. Standard search functions usually match literally against the product title and description, so a typo or a synonym returns zero results. That can be fixed, but not without adjusting the search logic itself.
Look at the searches that return nothing. Almost every shop has a list of products it stocks but that are searched for under a different term. Also look at searches that return many results but generate few click-throughs: that points to the wrong order. As standard, we start an engagement with that analysis, and sometimes it delivers enough on its own without anything needing to be rebuilt.
Yes, and for most shops that is a requirement. For important search terms, your team can specify which products or categories take priority, for example during a promotion or for an in-house brand. You also manage synonyms yourself. We build this in as an admin feature, so no developer is needed to add a word.
Yes, and the search index must take this into account explicitly. What a logged-in customer may see in terms of range and price often differs by contract, and that has to be correct in the results, in the autocomplete and in the facet counts. We configure the index so that restricted range is not visible to anyone not entitled to it, including indirectly through a result count.
We build custom solutions. The way your customers search depends on your range, your product data and your sector, and that combination determines which search logic works. After an intake meeting and an analysis of your search log, we agree together where the greatest gains lie and in what order we build.
Ready to build your search functionality?
Tell us what your customers search for and where the current search falls short. In an advisory conversation, we'll look together at your search log and where the greatest gains lie.