Ecommerce ops · Production

Lacoste reduces bounce rates by 88% and boosts mobile conversion by 62% with Algolia search

The problem

Lacoste's Solr-based search engine provided only basic speed and relevance functionality and did not meet the new performance standards Lacoste set for themselves, as user expectations were shaped by players like Google and Amazon. The solution also needed to be both developer-friendly and usable by business stakeholders without requiring technical expertise.

First attempt

The previous Solr-based search engine failed to meet Lacoste's new performance standards for speed and relevance.

Workflow diagram · grounded in source
1
As-you-type search trigger
trigger
“providing direct, as-you-type feedback from the search box”
2
Route to nearest data center
routing
“search queries can be automatically directed to the closest data center, and that network latency is drastically reduced”
3
NLP relevance processing
ai_action
“features like typo-tolerance, synonyms, word separators and optional words, Lacoste provided users with an ultra-functional search”
4
Business rules and personalization
ai_action
“Features like Query Rules and personalization enable Lacoste's business team to influence ranking behavior of the engine for specific queries, rapidly adjusting to user intent and boosting conversions”
5
Results delivered under 50ms
output
“results in under 50 miliseconds”
Reported outcome

Lacoste achieved search results in under 50ms globally, reduced bounce rates by 88%, and boosted mobile conversion rates by 62%, while enabling business teams to directly control search relevance and rankings through Query Rules and personalization.

Reported metrics
Search response timeless than 50ms
Bounce rate reduction88%
Mobile conversion rate increase62%
Conversion ratesincrease in conversion rates
Reported stack
AlgoliaSolrInstantSearchQuery RulesDistributed Search NetworkAlgolia AI RecommendationsAltima - AccentureTeliosEarly Birds
Source
https://www.algolia.com/customers/lacoste
Read source ↗

Frequently asked questions

What did this team achieve with this AI workflow?

Lacoste achieved search results in under 50ms globally, reduced bounce rates by 88%, and boosted mobile conversion rates by 62%, while enabling business teams to directly control search relevance and rankings through…

What tools did this team use?

Algolia, Solr, InstantSearch, Query Rules, Distributed Search Network, Algolia AI Recommendations, Altima - Accenture, Telios, Early Birds.

What results were reported?

Search response time: less than 50ms; Bounce rate reduction: 88%; Mobile conversion rate increase: 62%; Conversion rates: increase in conversion rates (source-reported, not independently verified).

What failed first in this deployment?

The previous Solr-based search engine failed to meet Lacoste's new performance standards for speed and relevance.

How is this ecommerce ops AI workflow structured?

As-you-type search trigger → Route to nearest data center → NLP relevance processing → Business rules and personalization → Results delivered under 50ms.