The challenge

EyeBuyDirect’s legacy search platform was a missed opportunity to convert heavy online traffic

A web redesign and relaunch in 2015 laid the groundwork for EyeBuyDirect’s rapid growth over the next 5 years. It was successful in creating a well-designed and intuitive shopping experience, and quickly became a major player in the eyewear retail industry. 

But as EyeBuyDirect attracted more and more traffic, it was clear that it was outgrowing the third-party javascript search platform and in-house logic it had been leaning on. Front-end developers didn’t have the flexibility they needed to create a more relevant search experience for their customers.

Director of User Experience Alexey Alekseev always knew that EyeBuyDirect needed a solution that was smart and based in AI. With Algolia, they realized EyeBuyDirect could integrate product search with personalized merchandising “beyond the search magnifying glass.

The solution

Personalized search experience powered by Algolia’s Search-as-a-Service platform with world-class customer support

Algolia’s optimized search and discovery experience allowed EyeBuyDirect to target every touchpoint of the consumer experience. The search-as-a-service platform does more than just enhance EyeBuyDirect’s traditional search—it powers the entire site experience so that customers see the products they want to see as they browse and navigate the site. With the help of A/B testing, EyeBuyDirect experienced and measured higher engagement with Algolia’s hosted search API compared to their legacy search platform. 

Proving that Algolia’s search platform increased engagement was just the first step. With catalog personalization, EyeBuyDirect was able to customize the products that customers saw based on their browsing behavior, history and user profile. This allowed them to depart from their “one size fits all” sorting solution and return relevant, intelligently-ranked content for each visitor. 

In addition, Algolia’s field engineering and dedicated customer support teams were there every step of the way, from providing technical support during the pilot implementation to offering the time, resources, and flexibility EyeBuyDirect needed to fine-tune its business strategy. It also allowed EyeBuyDirect’s growing frontend development team to delegate and strategize on a higher level and ultimately, drive revenue.

The result

Improved search and browse experiences with personalization leads to improved results for EyeBuyDirect 

Today, EyeBuyDirect uses Algolia’s personalization across search and browse experiences by leveraging it to power catalogue pages and return relevant products as users navigate throughout the site. 

Personalized search and discovery experiences powered by Algolia continue to foster higher consumer engagement and conversion rates for EyeBuyDirect, allowing frontend developers to focus on ongoing UX optimization. 

Within two weeks of implementing Algolia personalization on top of the Algolia search-as-a-service platform, EyeBuyDirect saw a 4% total revenue uplift including a 2.5% lift in conversion rates and a 1% increase in average order value (AOV).

What's next

Leveraging Algolia’s InstantSearch to elevate EyeBuyDirect’s content-rich knowledge hub 

Optimized search and personalization is just the beginning. Inspired by Algolia’s very own search page, EyeBuyDirect is planning to implement InstantSearch so that customers can access rich and relevant content in its knowledge hub. 

By continuing to tap into Algolia’s personalization features and A/B testing, EyeBuyDirect can better serve its online community and improve on its overall customer experience.