Neil Thomas knows what it takes to grow a world-leading Software as a Service (SaaS) company. In his previous role as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales of cloud-based business analytics fi...
SLI Systems CEO Dr. Shaun Ryan and his brother and co-founder Dr. Grant Ryan were named “2014 New Zealand Engineering Entrepreneurs of the Year” at the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awar...
SLI’s capabilities to deliver insights into online shopping during Halloween and Thanksgiving is receiving exposure in global news outlets such as Forbes and CNN Money. The company studied 201...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/sli-reports-on-halloween-and-thanksgiving-shopping-trends.html
Hear in a recent video testimonial how U.S. gourmet food and gifting company Harry & David saw a US$437,000 increase in 2014 sales after implementing SLI’s Site Champion™. Other recent video ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/major-corporations-endorse-sli.html
Welcome to the first edition of our new bi-annual investor newsletter. In this newsletter we plan to provide updates on the company and its customers along with the deeper information you need to...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/sli-ceo-confident-of-growth-prospects.html
The results from our annual eCommerce survey are in. Unfortunately, what our latest survey revealed is that a majority of marketers are not taking advantage of the extra “punch” that site sea...
As an eCommerce professional, you’ve likely been preparing for the holiday shopping season for months – deciding which products to feature, planning orders and organizing marketing campaigns....
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/optimize-your-search-merchandising-for-the-holidays.html
Natural Wellbeing is a site rich with reports, reviews and expert advice about the holistic and natural wellness products they offer. Such quality content can really help move shoppers through pu...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/customer-success-natural-wellbeing.html
One of the most frequently asked questions when evaluating site search solutions is why a SaaS-based solution is better than on-premise. The reasoning may follow that with on-premise, you pay for...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/saas-vs-on-premise-solutions.html
Every day we see how introducing great site search is one of the easiest and quickest ways to turn more visitors into buyers. Earlier this month our customers were telling their stories at IRCE 2...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/the-growing-need-for-outstanding-site-search.html
This article is part of our monthly “CSM of the Month” feature, in which an SLI Systems Customer Success Manager discusses a current client example. One of the more interesting projects I’v...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-mark-lawson-on-analysys-mason.html
Changing to a new eCommerce platform is a huge investment, not only in dollars, but time spent integrating your site and training your team on the new features and functions. When you’ve just s...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/technical-ability-matters-dont-overlook-advanced-site-search.html
When you are looking for a vacation rental, there are certain specifications that you need or want. Location, the number of rooms, price and amenities are all ways that people describe what they ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-john-michael-santora-on-vacation-rental-pros.html
For many, the process of shopping is social. While social media and online shopping continue to evolve, the essential act of gathering information or sharing our experiences with others is deeply...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/non-product-content-for-a-full-user-experience.html
In “brick and mortar” stores, we rely on product design and packaging, product placement such as shelf locations or end caps, and discount signs to help draw shoppers’ eyes to special deals...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/powerful-merchandising-in-three-quick-steps.html
As 2012 comes to a close, we’ve seen an increase in adoption of new features and general trends among online retailers, including growth in the development of mobile sites, improved merchandisi...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2013-ecommerce-predictions.html
I knew working with Lakeshore Learning would be interesting because we were supplying them with our full suite of products – Learning Search, Learning Navigation, Rich Auto Complete and Site Ch...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-freddy-jovel-on-lakeshore-learning.html
With the way technology has hastened globalization, it’s less easy to qualify languages other than English as “foreign.” It’s easy for us in English-speaking parts of the world to forget ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/site-search-in-different-languages.html
When I worked with HealthPost on their Japanese-language site, it was a truly new and educational adventure. SLI Systems’ clients have websites in numerous countries and languages, but this wa...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-michelle-polglase-on-healthpost.html
One factor to consider when building a brilliant site search is how stock levels should impact the search. A great search should deliver a product that the searcher wants to buy and that the reta...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/stock-levels-and-site-search.html
Talk to any dog owner, and you’ll quickly find that their pet is just another member of the family. They’ll do anything they can to protect them. DogIDs sells pet collars with built-in ID tag...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-kish-maharaj-on-dog-ids.html
Assume you’re searching for new clip in shoes for your road bike, but you’re not sure exactly what you want. You go to your favorite bicycle or sports outfitter’s website and search ‘bike...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/increase-conversions-with-better-search-relevancy.html
When you are in a niche market and your customers are looking for very specific products or information, it’s really important to have a website that can deliver highly-relevant results fast. T...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-gina-chase-on-bulk-reef-supply.html
As social media and mobile device usage transform the online eCommerce landscape, retailers are keeping a close watch on how these trends change the way visitors search and navigate around their ...
Creating a great e-commerce website is a team effort, and at SLI, we love to work with customers to make their online vision a reality. We recently started working with OQVestir, a Brazil-based w...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-joe-riney-on-oqvestir.html
This month, I’d like to fill you in on a little known eCommerce industry secret: More and more online retailers are using their site search solutions to improve the efficiencies of their call c...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/when-site-search-answers-the-call-service-goes-up.html
King Arthur Flour is an excellent example of an eCommerce website that has taken its community and content to the next level. Not only does the website have tools and materials for bakers, they h...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-justin-matsui-on-king-arthur-flour.html
Many of you were probably at IRCE a few weeks ago, but even if you weren’t – we want to share with you some of the insights we gained from the industry’s biggest, and perhaps most important...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/irce-2012-our-take-aways.html
I worked closely with MonsterCable.com to implement their latest site search, and it was great working with them. Personally, I enjoy playing with electronics and have brought some of their headp...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-kish-maharaj-on-monster-cable-products.html
I recently implemented our search solution on a customer site called Thompson & Morgan, and wanted to let you know about it. It was a pleasure working on their site, and I learned a lot about pla...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/csm-of-the-month-chris-edge-on-thompson-morgan.html
Summer’s almost here, school will soon be out and it’s time for barbecues and the beach, right? If you’re like most in the retail business, Cyber Monday is the furthest thing from your mind...
We are very excited about this year’s Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE 2012), which will be the biggest ever. The exhibit hall has sold out and the number of expected attendees w...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/irce-2012-its-all-about-connections.html
In light of all the transformations we’re seeing on the web, one aspect must be kept top of mind: speed. Consumers’ expectations for pages to load quickly – whether on traditional or mobile...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/is-your-site-search-speedy-enough.html
Floating Search Box Increases Search Usage and Website KPIs As we’ve discussed in our Big Book of Site Search Tips and in our blogs, site search users are responsible for a proportionally large...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/floating-search-box-increases-search-usage-and-website-kpis.html
Got “no results”? Give customers an alternative When someone searches your site only to get a “no results” page, their visit will likely come to an end – whether you’re an e-commerce ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/got-no-results-give-customers-an-alternative.html
What’s On the Radar for 2012: Social, Tablets, Personalization, and Video We’ve noticed several trends percolating over the past several months, which we believe will become more mainstream i...
The 2011 online holiday shopping season had a strong start, with record Cyber Monday sales of $1.251 billion and a significant jump over last year. Depending on whose numbers you believe, this ye...
Since our last year in review, the march toward mobile has continued to revolutionize the way we look at site search and navigation. Of course, the spread of mobile devices, and consumers’ inte...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/year-in-review-the-march-toward-mobile-and-focus-on-usability.html
The process of prepping your online storefront for holiday shoppers begins earlier every year – but there’s still time for last-minute “quick hits” that can help boost conversions and enc...
In an ideal world visitors will come to your website, find what they want and make a purchase. In the real world only a small portion of users will follow this pattern. Many will get interrupted,...
When you’re trying to find something on a poorly designed or overly cluttered website, it can feel like you’re in one of those computer games where you’re trapped in a dark hallway and don�...
This month, we have a tip on boosting conversions from people who land on your product pages from searches via Google and other Internet search engines. The tip is to show a tailored product bann...
Your website visitors have high expectations of quickly finding the products or content they need. However, visitors often struggle to figure out exactly what terms they should use in the search ...
At SLI, we spend a lot of time talking with our clients about ways they can improve performance of their site search and navigation, and options to consider for merchandising results pages. We’...
With the recent growth in mobile shopping, coupled with new technologies that bring online shopping to the physical world (and vice-versa), the lines between online and offline have blurred. It�...
Not long ago, you could implement key technology upgrades to your e-commerce site a few months in advance of the crucial holiday shopping season, all in one go – then leave your site alone unti...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/the-must-have-online-commerce-features-for-2011-and-beyond.html
It’s hard to believe another year is coming to a close. In 2010, site search continued to evolve into an important merchandising technology that positively impacts online businesses. As we’ve...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/year-in-review-mobile-and-social-media-shake-up-search.html
Have you ever shopped for clothing, books, or sporting supplies on your mobile device? If so, was it an easy process, or was it cumbersome and time-consuming? While the numbers vary a bit from re...
In last month’s newsletter, we explained how to identify the most useful refinements for your site search, depending on your customers’ needs and the product mix. Figuring out which refinemen...
Disaster planning and business continuity are an important part of any hosted service offering – and in particular, with the holidays coming up, retailers need a search solution that won’t fa...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/business-continuity-planning-and-holiday-preparedness.html
Refinements or facets, are one of the most important ways to address the myriad ways your online visitors can search your site. They allow visitors to narrow down search results based on certain ...
If you’re like most online businesses, by now you’ve probably taken the plunge into social media marketing. Maybe you have a company blog, or you’ve created a Facebook page and/or a Twitter...
Visitors to your website should always be offered easy ways to navigate your site, shortening the time it takes from the beginning of their search to their discovery of just the right product or ...
Most likely, you already know that with web analytics, you can uncover valuable information about how and where your visitors use your site to purchase products or download information. Did you a...
Given the rapid adoption of smartphones, everyone in ecommerce knows the importance of developing a mobile version of their web site. What’s perhaps even more important is creating a mobile ver...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/mobile-site-search-needs-to-be-fast-streamlined-and-relevant.html
If you’ve invested time and energy in an effective, relevant results-oriented site search solution, you’ve probably seen an impact on your web site – higher conversions for people who use t...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/pain-free-testing-optimizes-search-and-navigation.html
Download the Big Book of Site Search Tips Improving the look and feel—and usability—of your site’s search feature usually requires more than one change. Many small changes and enhancements ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/the-big-book-chock-full-of-site-search-tips.html
The past year saw continuous improvement in site search, particularly in the search interface. We rolled out Auto Complete to most of our clients, and we’re offering it as a standard feature fo...
When your customers are browsing through dozens of search results – for instance, if they’re searching a general category instead of a specific item – the task of viewing each product can b...
A recent article in Internet Retailer notes that speed sells on ecommerce sites. At the same time, consumers want more rich features that can, consequently, slow down their sites’ performance ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/introducing-ajax-search-no-page-reloads-faster-results.html
In our August newsletter, we outlined some basic steps to make your existing site search even better for your visitors. We have more good advice in store for you this month, with ideas that can m...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/back-to-basics-tips-for-how-to-get-the-most-from-site-search-2.html
Most web browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, now feature an integrated search box. Typically these search boxes are pointed to Google or another popular search engine to make it easy...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/drive-more-traffic-to-your-site-through-open-search.html
We spend a lot of time in this newsletter talking about the importance of a good site search – how it can lead to higher conversions on e-commerce sites, how it can improve the overall user exp...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/back-to-basics-tips-for-how-to-get-the-most-from-site-search.html
About 10% of all searches on your site have no results. The “No results” page is an important part of your site and you can benefit from giving it some attention. Your site search logs should...
Over time companies have come to recognize that populating a web site with lots of images significantly improves the user experience. This is especially true for e-commerce sites, where people sh...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/add-some-color-to-your-web-site-and-the-site-search.html
If you’ve been putting off blogging because you’re not sure how it will help your business, it may be time to get on the blogging bandwagon. A recent article in E-Commerce Guide points out th...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/bring-blogging-into-site-search-results.html
Our primary aim is to help create a better online experience for our customers’ visitors, and help improve our clients online business, through more relevant search. As we’ve discussed in re...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/show-reviews-and-social-tags-in-site-search-results.html
Our June newsletter contains details on some of our recent product enhancements that you may find useful. Recent product improvements include the release of our Auto Complete feature (read the ...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/june-newsletter-new-tools-for-faster-user-friendly-search.html
Telescope: Everything You Need to Know About Search Welcome to this edition of Telescope on Search, our monthly newsletter devoted to search. Our goal is to offer a regular, quick-browse e-newsle...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/july-2008-do-slow-loading-web-pages-scare-away-your-customers.html
Our April and May newsletters contain a two part article on using your site search for more than just people visiting your web site or e-commerce site. We discuss using site search for search mar...
https://www.sli-systems.com/blog/april-may-newsletter-using-site-search-data-for-more.html
Last week we sent out our latest edition of Telescope on Search, our monthly email newsletter on; site search, seo, search engine marketing and usability. The February 2008 Newsletter contains: G...
Last week we announced our 5th birthday . Looking back, the five years seems to have gone very fast but it is a milestone we are proud to have reached. SLI was born out of the ashes of Globalbr...