PetSmart is the leading omni-channel pet retailer in North America providing pet parents with all the products and services they need to care for their pet in one convenient location.

With nearly 1,700 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, PetSmart offers many ways to shop including in-store, online or through the mobile app – with same day delivery, in-store pickup, Autoship and standard shipping options. PetSmart also offers a broad range of services including grooming salons in every store, pet training, more than 200 in-store dog and cat boarding facilities, and access to over 700 in-store veterinary hospitals.

“We are unique in that the passion of our associates is the same passion of our customers – a love of pets. This bond and shared desire to care for all pets as if they were our own makes us an even more trusted partner in pet care." —  Cherise Ordlock, Senior Vice President, Digital at PetSmart

The challenge

A challenge with search relevance

As the company continued to transform its digital capabilities and adopt a headless commerce approach to more easily adopt best-of-breed solutions to support its omnichannel goals, PetSmart recognized that among its needed performance improvements was search.The company’s existing search solution was not providing the relevance needed to help customers quickly find the right product. To serve their customers, they needed a fast search engine that delivered the results pet parents were looking for.

They selected Algolia for its headless capabilities, seamless integration, and performance optimization. For PetSmart, Algolia offered a significant benefit: being able to provide search capabilities across channels (website, mobile app, in-store, etc.).

“Prior to partnering with Algolia, our search was failing to deliver the hyper-relevant results we know customers expect from their search and shopping experience. But after implementing Algolia, we were immediately impressed by how its AI-powered search improved both speed and relevance. Not only did search revenue increase, but browse revenue also saw a lift. Most importantly, our pet parents could now easily find exactly what they were looking for, improving their overall shopping experience.” — Shana Seubert, Vice President, Digital Customer Strategy & User Experience, PetSmart

The company adopted Algolia as part of its new headless digital re-platform. The Algolia customer success team worked with PetSmart’s team to optimize performance on their new platform and today, Algolia powers search and browsing across all of PetSmart's digital channels.

The solution

Supporting buy online, pick up in store

During the transition, the scale and scope of PetSmart’s in-store inventory availability proved challenging to host on its new commerce platform. Working together, PetSmart and Algolia developed a unique case in which Algolia improved PetSmart’s “Shop-by-Store” capabilities allowing customers to see in-store inventory and enhancing its Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) experience. Through Algolia, PetSmart is serving up inventory-aware search capabilities to its customers.

“Algolia helped us accelerate our implementation in a unique way, improving our Shop-by-Store capability so that customers can see live inventory when shopping by store. This capability has not only improved the customer experience but also strengthened our omnichannel strategy, ensuring customers have accurate, real-time product availability across all shopping channels.” — Ljubo Cvetkovic, Vice President, Technology E-Commerce, PetSmart.

Collaboration and partnership

Throughout PetSmart's digital re-platforming journey, they worked closely with the Algolia team on implementation.

Algolia’s involvement has gone beyond providing search functionality by acting as a strategic business partner, supporting PetSmart through technical solutions and collaborative work with internal and external teams. Camaraderie has formed between the teams over the years as well, especially among its pet lovers.

“Algolia’s support goes way beyond just search—they’ve become a true partner in helping us scale, innovate, and level up with cutting-edge technology. Together, we’re constantly fine-tuning our platform and building the foundation for even bigger things ahead!" —  Ljubo Cvetkovic, Vice President, Technology E-Commerce, PetSmart

PetSmart has taken a phased, “MVP approach” to Algolia implementation, focusing on testing, iteration, and gradually adopting advanced features like Dynamic Re-ranking and Personalization. 

The result

Increased conversions and revenue

Since adopting Algolia, PetSmart has seen excellent results. The implementation of basic Algolia Search delivered the following results and more:

• Product view rates increased by 700 basis points post-Algolia launch.

• Revenue per session grew for search for browse.

•  Web conversion rates saw a lift of 5-7% with Algolia implemented vs. the previous search provider.

• In A/B testing of Dynamic Re-ranking on its mobile app platforms, the company saw an uptick of 2% in cart additions. 

“Algolia has been a game-changer for us! Since going live, product views have jumped by 700 basis points, and web conversion has increased by 5-7%. Algolia's speed and relevance have completely transformed the customer experience.” – Shana Seubert, Vice President, Digital Customer Strategy & User Experience, PetSmart