In today’s competitive eCommerce landscape, effective search optimization is inseparable from data and analytics. Each day, online retailers handle thousands of shopper interactions including searches, navigation paths, product views, and purchases. Without visibility, those signals are wasted potential.
Insights, the analytics engine within FindTuner, transforms this activity into actionable intelligence, enabling merchandisers and search teams to see which strategies are working, which are underperforming, and how those strategies impact conversions and revenue.
In a previous article, we explained what FindTuner Insights does and why it fills such a critical gap in search merchandising and eCommerce search optimization. In this article we’ll explore the data FindTuner Insights tracks and how it empowers merchandisers to validate their strategies, optimize search and navigation, and deliver great search experiences.
The Role of Analytics for Search Optimization
To unlock the full value of Insights, it’s important to understand the two primary categories of data it delivers and why each matters.
Search analytics capture the intent behind shopper queries and the results those queries produce. Retailers can see which terms drive purchases, which yield irrelevant results, and where shoppers encounter dead ends such as “no results found.” This visibility turns search behavior into a measurable performance indicator highlighting both strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Navigation analytics map the journey shoppers take across a site, from entry point to purchase. While traditional web analytics may stop at click counts, FindTuner Insights traces complete pathways, including how multiple shoppers reached the same product via different routes. This level of traceability provides a deeper understanding of shopper decision-making and highlights patterns that would otherwise remain hidden.
Unlike generic analytics tools, FindTuner Insights surfaces this data in highly granular form. Retailers gain detailed evidence of how search and navigation truly shape conversions making it possible to pinpoint where friction occurs and how to resolve it.
What You Can Track with FindTuner Insights
Now that we’ve covered at a high level the types of visibility FindTuner Insights provides, let’s dive deeper by looking at some specific types of information that can be analyzed and leveraged for search optimization.
Measuring Query Performance
Search behavior produces some of the clearest data about shopper intent. Insights not only records the exact queries entered, but also associates them with measurable results such as product clicks, refinements, add-to-cart actions, and completed purchases. It also flags queries that stall out when shoppers see irrelevant results, encounter a ‘no results’ page, or exit the site altogether. By comparing these patterns, merchandisers can quantify which queries are revenue drivers, which are weak performers, and where strategy changes and search optimization can deliver the greatest impacts.
How Shoppers Refine Their Searches
Each refinement a shopper applies is a data point that clarifies intent. Insights records these refinements in sequence showing how shoppers move from broad queries to precise results. Over time, this creates a detailed map of which refinements accelerate purchases and which correlate with abandonment. Retailers can use this information to optimize search defaults, surface the most relevant filters earlier, or even pre-apply popular refinements so shoppers reach desired products faster and with less effort.
When Searches Hit a Dead End
Zero-result queries aren’t just missed sales, they’re a window into unmet demand. FindTuner Insights tracks them comprehensively, allowing merchandisers to quantify how often they occur, which terms trigger them, and what shoppers do afterward. This data makes it possible to fine-tune search strategies, perform search optimization, expand product attribution, or introduce FindTuner’s AI-based semantic search to catch non-exact matches. Addressing these gaps ensures that fewer searches end in frustration and more lead to discovery.
Measuring Engagement Through Time-on-Page
Every page view becomes more meaningful when paired with time-based data. FindTuner Insights records session length at each step, e.g. product listing pages, category listings, and product detail pages, providing evidence of where shoppers engage and where they stall. Retailers can use this data to pinpoint friction points (e.g., long sessions without conversion) and optimize accordingly, whether by simplifying filters, enriching product content, or boosting items that consistently capture attention and lead to sales.
Using Clickstream to Understand Journeys
With FindTuner Insights, clickstream data becomes actionable intelligence. Every click is logged as part of a structured sequence that shows how shoppers actually experience your site. Unlike generic tools that only summarize at an aggregate level, Insights ties this activity back to outcomes like product discovery and purchase. This makes it possible to identify which interactions accelerate the path to conversion and which introduce friction, all of which enables evidence-based changes to navigation, content, and merchandising strategy.
Reverse Journeys: How Shoppers Find Products
With backwards clickstream reporting, FindTuner Insights reframes the question from ‘Where did shoppers go?’ to ‘How did they arrive here?’ By analyzing all the routes that end at a given product, merchandisers gain visibility into the real discovery process. The data highlights which paths consistently drive purchases and which include detours or drop-offs. Armed with this evidence, businesses can simplify product findability, prioritize high-performing navigation flows, and replicate success across the catalog.
Measuring the Impact of Merchandising
In the end, analytics only matter if they help you answer one critical question: Are our merchandising strategies working? FindTuner Insights connects shopper behavior directly to merchandising actions such as boosts, banners, recommendations, or curated rules, and shows whether those interventions led to higher engagement, improved click-through rates, or increased conversions. By measuring the real-world impact of each strategy, merchandisers gain the evidence needed to double down on what works, refine what doesn’t, and continuously improve results. Instead of guessing at effectiveness, you can see exactly how search optimization shapes shopper behavior and revenue.
Conclusion: Richer and Deeper eCommerce Seach Analytics
The examples we’ve explored are just a glimpse of how FindTuner Insights transforms raw shopper activity into actionable intelligence to inform search optimization efforts. From query outcomes to navigation paths and merchandising effectiveness, Insights equips retailers with the data needed to optimize search, streamline discovery, and increase conversions. With this level of visibility, decisions are no longer guesswork; they’re evidence-based. To see how FindTuner Insights can reshape your merchandising strategies, connect with us and explore the possibilities.
Our next post will explore how FindTuner Insights complements broader tools like Google Analytics to deliver a complete search analytics picture.
