Search by Algolia
What is B2B ecommerce? Everything you need to know
e-commerce

What is B2B ecommerce? Everything you need to know

When you think of “customer experience,” what comes to mind? People, right? Specifically, consumers. Retail customers. That’s easy; the ...

Vincent Caruana

Sr. SEO Web Digital Marketing Manager

What is ecommerce merchandising? Key components and best practices
e-commerce

What is ecommerce merchandising? Key components and best practices

A potential customer is about to land on the home page of your ecommerce platform, curious to see what cool ...

Catherine Dee

Search and Discovery writer

AI-powered search: From keywords to conversations
ai

AI-powered search: From keywords to conversations

By now, everyone’s had the opportunity to experiment with AI tools like ChatGPT or Midjourney and ponder their inner ...

Chris Stevenson

Director, Product Marketing

Vector vs Keyword Search: Why You Should Care
ai

Vector vs Keyword Search: Why You Should Care

Search has been around for a while, to the point that it is now considered a standard requirement in many ...

Nicolas Fiorini

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

What is AI-powered site search?
ai

What is AI-powered site search?

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies enabling services such as Alexa, Google search, and self-driving cars, the ...

John Stewart

VP Corporate Marketing

What is a B2B marketplace?
e-commerce

What is a B2B marketplace?

It’s no secret that B2B (business-to-business) transactions have largely migrated online. According to Gartner, by 2025, 80 ...

Vincent Caruana

Sr. SEO Web Digital Marketing Manager

3 strategies for B2B ecommerce growth: key takeaways from B2B Online - Chicago
e-commerce

3 strategies for B2B ecommerce growth: key takeaways from B2B Online - Chicago

Twice a year, B2B Online brings together industry leaders to discuss the trends affecting the B2B ecommerce industry. At the ...

Elena Moravec

Director of Product Marketing & Strategy

Deconstructing smart digital merchandising
e-commerce

Deconstructing smart digital merchandising

This is Part 2 of a series that dives into the transformational journey made by digital merchandising to drive positive ...

Benoit Reulier
Reshma Iyer

Benoit Reulier &

Reshma Iyer

The death of traditional shopping: How AI-powered conversational commerce changes everything
ai

The death of traditional shopping: How AI-powered conversational commerce changes everything

Get ready for the ride: online shopping is about to be completely upended by AI. Over the past few years ...

Aayush Iyer

Director, User Experience & UI Platform

What is B2C ecommerce? Models, examples, and definitions
e-commerce

What is B2C ecommerce? Models, examples, and definitions

Remember life before online shopping? When you had to actually leave the house for a brick-and-mortar store to ...

Catherine Dee

Search and Discovery writer

What are marketplace platforms and software? Why are they important?
e-commerce

What are marketplace platforms and software? Why are they important?

If you imagine pushing a virtual shopping cart down the aisles of an online store, or browsing items in an ...

Vincent Caruana

Sr. SEO Web Digital Marketing Manager

What is an online marketplace?
e-commerce

What is an online marketplace?

Remember the world before the convenience of online commerce? Before the pandemic, before the proliferation of ecommerce sites, when the ...

Catherine Dee

Search and Discovery writer

10 ways AI is transforming ecommerce
e-commerce

10 ways AI is transforming ecommerce

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just the stuff of scary futuristic movies; it’s recently burst into the headlines ...

Catherine Dee

Search and Discovery writer

AI as a Service (AIaaS) in the era of "buy not build"
ai

AI as a Service (AIaaS) in the era of "buy not build"

Imagine you are the CTO of a company that has just undergone a massive decade long digital transformation. You’ve ...

Sean Mullaney

CTO @Algolia

By the numbers: the ROI of keyword and AI site search for digital commerce
product

By the numbers: the ROI of keyword and AI site search for digital commerce

Did you know that the tiny search bar at the top of many ecommerce sites can offer an outsized return ...

Jon Silvers

Director, Digital Marketing

Using pre-trained AI algorithms to solve the cold start problem
ai

Using pre-trained AI algorithms to solve the cold start problem

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly moved from hot topic to everyday life. Now, ecommerce businesses are beginning to clearly see ...

Etienne Martin

VP of Product

Introducing Algolia NeuralSearch
product

Introducing Algolia NeuralSearch

We couldn’t be more excited to announce the availability of our breakthrough product, Algolia NeuralSearch. The world has stepped ...

Bernadette Nixon

Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Algolia

AI is eating ecommerce
ai

AI is eating ecommerce

The ecommerce industry has experienced steady and reliable growth over the last 20 years (albeit interrupted briefly by a global ...

Sean Mullaney

CTO @Algolia

Looking for something?

facebookfacebooklinkedinlinkedintwittertwittermailmail

In the previous blogs (on ecommerce product discovery and in-store kiosk and store locators), we covered how a Composable Commerce approach enabled you to leverage your product catalog to engage directly with shoppers. But shoppers are not the only audience that benefit from a seamless access to this catalog. Retail employees working in store or in customer care departments are often at the center of the most impactful interactions shoppers will have with your brand. Enabling your employees with advanced enterprise search applications to access your product catalog will ultimately benefit your shoppers.

Companion app 

App: Store Assistant mobile app / Companion app with Service Cloud and Voice Search integration for sales associates

Medium: In-store

Goal/problem solved:

  • Support store sales associates by providing real time information about stock availability in-store, online, or at nearby locations

Main user:

  • In-store sales associates

Ensure flawless in-store shopping experience by equipping sales associates with an Algolia store assistant app. One app combines in a single interface: POS (Place-of-sale), Stock App, and Clienteling Service Cloud App. Store sales associates don’t need to juggle multiple tools attempting to provide good customer service. Moreover, if the sales associates’ hands are full, they can simply use a voice search to find any product or customer related information they need on the fly, without the need to head to a static point of sale location. For example, saying “Find me a black overcoat size M in my store” will show a search result page of all the relevant items in stock in the current geographic location. The dataset is very dynamic and the inventory is constantly changing throughout the day, yet with a powerful search tool, the results returned are accurate and real-time updated.

Customers looking for help are always expecting accurate and reliable information about stock availability in-store, online, and at nearby locations for various items as well as smooth communication with sales associates and easy transaction process. Set up a high standard for your in-store customer service and eliminate mistakes and delays in customer care, encouraging customer loyalty.

Brands will be able to maintain high quality customer service not only by investing in customer supporting technology, but also by ensuring that their support associates are equipped with the best technology on their side as well. Ensuring that sales associates are equipped with a single, intuitive, and powerful app serving all their needs should be each retailer’s priority. Empowered store sales associates are more likely to provide more personalized customer experience, ensure higher customer satisfaction, and improve the brand image in the eyes of customers.

Inventory management, operations, and logistics

App: Algolia interaction with Service Cloud for Logistics Operations

Medium: Global operations

Goal/problem solved: 

  • Improving operational efficiency and processes productivity

Main user: 

  • Company employees

Large retail corporations need to ensure their global operation teams are equipped with top-notch technology tools in order to keep up with the fast pace of the industry. All the necessary materials should be easily accessible and searchable at a lightning fast speed. Integrating Algolia with Service Cloud providers helps empower the corporate employees by providing them with best in class operational tools, significantly improving employee performance and efficiency.

App: Image Search app (Optical Character Recognition/OCR) via integration of Algolia and Google Cloud Vision

Medium: In-store

Goal/problem solved:

  • Logistics operations productivity

Main users:

  • Store employees, warehouse employees, office employees

With the recent expansion of online shopping and the growing pressure on warehouses, optimizing logistics operations and productivity is vital for every retailer. Combining optical character recognition (OCR), Algolia search, and Slack notifications, lets warehouse employees scan a shipping label with a phone and send a Slack message to the recipient of the package. The label-scanning app combines optical character recognition (OCR), Algolia search, and Slack notifications.

https://github.com/algolia-samples/image-search-ocr-with-algolia-and-google-cloud-vision

App: Enterprise Search (GDrive, Confluence, Salesforce)

Medium: Global operations

Goal/problem solved: 

  • Improving operational efficiency and processes productivity

Main user: 

  • Company employees

Behind a successful retail brand stands a very efficient organization. To lead in the highly competitive retail market, companies must invest in improving their operational efficiency and processes productivity. To support these strategic efforts, Algolia offers an enterprise search tool, combining Lycos with Google Drive, Confluence, and Salesforce. All the essential elements of a highly efficient organization. 


About the author
Tanya Herman

Product Manager

Recommended Articles

Powered byAlgolia Algolia Recommend

Composable Commerce: how to build an In-Store Product Search Kiosk and Store Locator
e-commerce

Tanya Herman

Product Manager

Composable Commerce: how to improve omnichannel product discovery experience
e-commerce

Tanya Herman

Product Manager

Building Enterprise Search and Discovery for your customers and employees
product

Peter Villani

Sr. Tech & Business Writer