Online retailers are constantly trying to better understand exactly how consumers are shopping on their websites. If ecommerce sites can better understand the digital path to purchase, they can optimize their site’s layout, make it easier for the consumer to find what they are shopping for, and ultimately drive up conversion rates. One way a retailer can do this is by better understanding exactly what shoppers are looking for when they use an onsite search tool.

Recently, Walmart announced the implementation of a new methodology to better understand a user’s search term.  Items that other consumers have searched for and clicked on, as well as items generating buzz on social media sites, are all considered before the results are returned. To measure the impact of this change, I looked at two particular metrics on Walmart.com: pages per visit and attention.