Ecommerce ops · Production

Vape Superstore increases conversions by 35% and reduces search speed to 2ms with Algolia AI Search, Personalization, and Recommend

The problem

Vape Superstore's previous search platform was cumbersome and slow, and because the company cannot use paid advertising, it depends entirely on organic traffic and on-site search quality to drive conversions across a massive product catalog.

First attempt

The previous search provider (Boost & Search Filter) was slow and lacked relevance accuracy, and the previous merchandising platform (Nosto) delivered a less smooth experience with slower load speeds.

Workflow diagram · grounded in source
1
Customer arrives on site
trigger
“When they land on our website, we need to make it as seamless as possible and — from the entrance to check-out — minimize the steps that it takes to purchase the product”
2
Algolia Search returns results
ai_action
“Algolia is powering the website, and it allows the website to be fast and reactive, which is a core metric in Google's eyes”
3
AI Reranking and Personalization
ai_action
“Algolia Search, Recommend, Personalization and AI Reranking has helped them do that, increasing relevancy and ultimately revenue”
4
Recommend suggests cart items
output
“Algolia Recommend is also being used to suggest items to add to the cart during check-out, and the company is currently looking to implement the feature in its email campaigns”
5
Merchandising team boosts brands
human_review
“with Algolia we can boost their product ranges to get the best return on investment”
6
Analytics inform product decisions
feedback_loop
“The company has started using reporting and in-depth analytics capabilities of Algolia to make data-driven decisions around the types of products to carry and enhance the selection range”
Reported outcome

After deploying Algolia in 2022, Vape Superstore saw conversions increase by 35 percent over the previous search platform, average order value grow by 5 percent, and average search speed drop to 2 milliseconds.

Reported metrics
Conversion rate35 percent
Average order value5 percent
Average search speed2 milliseconds
Deployment completion timeless than two weeks
Show all 6 reported metrics
conversion rate35 percent
average order value5 percent
average search speed2 milliseconds
deployment completion timeless than two weeks
time to quantified resultsWithin six weeks
overall site performance improvementbig improvement
Reported stack
AlgoliaAI RerankingRecommendSearch APIPersonalizationKarmoonNostoBoost & Search FilterShopify Online Store 2.0
Source
https://www.algolia.com/customers/vape-superstore
Read source ↗

Frequently asked questions

What did this team achieve with this AI workflow?

After deploying Algolia in 2022, Vape Superstore saw conversions increase by 35 percent over the previous search platform, average order value grow by 5 percent, and average search speed drop to 2 milliseconds.

What tools did this team use?

Algolia, AI Reranking, Recommend, Search API, Personalization, Karmoon, Nosto, Boost & Search Filter, Shopify Online Store 2.0.

What results were reported?

Conversion rate: 35 percent; Average order value: 5 percent; Average search speed: 2 milliseconds; Deployment completion time: less than two weeks (source-reported, not independently verified).

What failed first in this deployment?

The previous search provider (Boost & Search Filter) was slow and lacked relevance accuracy, and the previous merchandising platform (Nosto) delivered a less smooth experience with slower load speeds.

How is this ecommerce ops AI workflow structured?

Customer arrives on site → Algolia Search returns results → AI Reranking and Personalization → Recommend suggests cart items → Merchandising team boosts brands → Analytics inform product decisions.

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