What is faceted search?
Faceted search, also known as faceted navigation or faceted browsing, is a method of searching through data using facets or attributes to gradually filter down a large selection of data to a smaller, more relevant set. In e-commerce, faceted search helps users analyze, organize, and filter large product inventories based on size, color, price, and brand attributes.
This classification system aims to increase product discoverability and conversions by excluding items that don't meet the user's selected criteria.
Best practices of faceted search:
- Suggest or require users to select a scope or category before allowing them to sort results, disabling site-wide sorting options entirely
- Encourage scope or category selection while allowing users to sort across multiple category scopes when truly needed
- Suggest a list of category-specific sorting options for any highly relevant subset of the search results
- Knowledge graphs are particularly suited for powering faceted search. A knowledge graph can populate the faceted search interface with relevant data, facets, and items matching the search parameters with just a few simple and fast queries
Benefits of faceted search:
- Improved product discoverability: Faceted search helps customers find the products they are looking for quickly and easily by allowing them to filter large product catalogs based on their specific preferences and needs
- Enhanced user experience: Faceted search improves the overall user experience by making it easier for customers to navigate and explore product catalogs, reducing frustration and increasing satisfaction
- Data-driven interface: When powered by a knowledge graph, faceted search interfaces can be entirely data-driven, dynamically adapting to the available data and providing relevant facets and results based on the user's search query and selected filters
- Deeper, more granular search: Faceted search allows users to drill down into product catalogs with greater specificity, enabling them to find exactly what they're looking for, even if it requires a combination of multiple facets or attributes
