Replace Flyouts with Faceted Search

Once upon  a time, flyouts were the latest and greatest innovation for online catalogs. But now, newer and better technologies are replacing flyouts. If your site still relies on flyouts to help users find what they're looking for, it might be time to make a switch.

Is it Time to Replace Your Flyouts with Something New?

When you've got an extensive catalog of products, arranged in several layers of categories, it might be time to move away from flyouts. If, to drill down to the product they want, customers have to hover over flyouts on top of flyouts, they're going to get annoyed. They'll ditch your sites for others that make it easier for them to find what they need. What do those sites have? Faceted search. You've probably encountered faceted search already. Many of the largest consumer retail sites already use it. Here are some examples.

Best Buy

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JC Penney

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Ethan Allen

(Click to enlarge) As you can see, it took me just a few clicks to find the exact product I was looking for on each of these sites. My next click would be the 'buy' button. A purchase made in a total of four clicks. Easy peasy.

Who Needs Faceted Search?

Imagine the year is 1980. You have a paper catalog instead of a website. How thick is it? If it's a pamphlet or just a few glossy pages, then you probably don't need faceted search. But if it could double as a doorstop, then you're should consider faceted search. Old paper catalogs had a table contents in the front that helped people find the products they wanted. After all, no one expected a customer to flip through hundreds of pages just to find the blender on page 296. In a way, faceted search is a digital table of contents -- but it's easier to use and helps customers find what they want even more quickly. If you're a distributor of fasteners, tools or other industrial products, faceted search can help improve user experience and boost sales. To learn more about adding faceted search to your website, contact Ecreative today.