Search and product recommendations
Tune search with Search & Discovery, set up the search drawer, and show related and complementary products.
Metonia uses Shopify’s built-in search and recommendations. The Search & Discovery app lets you tune both without touching the theme. For filters, see Set up filters with Search & Discovery.
How search works in Metonia
| Where | What customers see |
|---|---|
| Search drawer (search icon in the header) | Before typing: Popular searches links and Trending now products. While typing: up to four matching products with image and price, or a View all results link when nothing matches. |
| Search results page | Products, pages and blog posts that match, the same filters as collections, and pagination. |
The drawer’s predictive results show products only. Pressing Enter opens the full results page.
Set up the search drawer
- In the theme editor, open the Header group and select the Search drawer section.
- Quick links: choose a menu. Its first four links appear under Popular searches. Create the menu first in Content → Menus (for example Rings, Earrings, Gold, Gifts under 200). If you leave it empty, Metonia shows up to four of your collections.
- Trending collection: choose the collection whose first four products appear under Trending now. If empty, products from all products are used.
Push products to the top with product boosts
Boosts move chosen products to the top of search results (including predictive search) for specific terms.
- Go to Apps → Search & Discovery → Search → Product boosts.
- Select Create product boost and choose the products.
- Enter up to 10 search terms, selecting Add after each one. For example, boost your signature ring for engagement ring and solitaire.
- Select Save.
Boosts only apply to products that are available for sale. Use them for a few products per term; boosting many products at once makes results less useful.
Choose what search returns
In Apps → Search & Discovery → Settings you can choose which result types the search results page includes (products, pages and blog posts) and whether sold-out products are shown, hidden or placed last. Metonia’s predictive search always requests products, so the predictive result type setting does not change the drawer.
Synonyms and related words
Shopify search uses semantic understanding on eligible plans, matching related words and concepts (for example necklace and pendant) automatically. It applies to the search results page, not to predictive search. If a term still returns nothing, add that word to the product title, description, product type or tags.
Product recommendations
Metonia’s Related section shows recommended products on product pages. The default product template includes two of them: Pairs well with (complementary) and You may also like (related).
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Heading | The title above the products. |
| Products to show | 2 to 8 products. |
| Recommendation type | Related products (similar items customers might buy instead) or Complementary products (items that go with this one). |
The section loads its products as customers scroll toward it and stays hidden when Shopify has no recommendations for the product. You can add it only to product templates.
Choose recommendations by hand
- Go to Apps → Search & Discovery → Product recommendations.
- Select Add recommendations and choose a product.
- Add up to 10 Complementary products (for example matching earrings for a necklace) and up to 10 Related products (for example the same ring in another stone).
- Choose whether to show only your picks or combine them with Shopify’s automatic recommendations.
- Select Save.
Automatic recommendations use purchase history, product descriptions (English storefronts only) and related collections.
Troubleshooting
The Related section doesn’t appear. Recommended products must be active, published to the Online Store, priced above zero, in stock (unless they continue selling when out of stock) and not gift cards. A new store with few orders may have no automatic recommendations yet; add them by hand.
Complementary products are empty. Add complementary products for that product in Search & Discovery, or switch the section’s Recommendation type to Related products.
A product I boosted isn’t first. Check that it is in stock, and that the search doesn’t use search syntax such as quotation marks or AND, which turns boosts off.