Product Search and Filters for Large Catalogues
By CodexierPublished 5 min read
A visitor who uses the search box is telling you exactly what they want to buy. If the search returns nothing, or the wrong things, that intent is wasted. Built-in webshop search often struggles with Swedish in particular: compound words, inflections and the many ways customers name the same product. This guide covers how to make search and filters work for a large catalogue, and when a dedicated search tool is worth it.
What shoppers type into search
Customers do not search the way products are named in your system. They type brand names, model numbers, colloquial words, misspellings and problems (”jacket that doesn't get wet”). They also mix Swedish and English, especially for tech and fashion. Your search logs show this directly. In GA4 the view_search_results event records the terms; Shopify and WooCommerce plugins keep their own logs. Export a month and group the terms before you change anything.
- Product type in everyday words, often different from your category names
- Brand and model numbers, with and without spaces or dashes
- Misspellings and missing å, ä and ö
- English terms for Swedish products and the reverse
- Problem descriptions instead of product names
Swedish compounds and synonyms
Swedish joins words together. A customer searching for ”barnskor” expects children's shoes even if the product title says ”skor för barn”. Many search engines built for English do not split compounds, so they miss matches. The fix is a combination of decompounding (splitting words into parts), stemming (so ”jackor” matches ”jacka”) and a synonym list maintained from your search logs.
| Problem | Example | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Compound word | ”regnjacka” vs ”jacka regn” | Decompounding in the search engine |
| Inflection | ”jackor”, ”jackan”, ”jacka” | Swedish stemming |
| Synonym | ”tröja”, ”sweatshirt”, ”collegetröja” | Synonym list from the search logs |
| Missing å ä ö | ”stovlar” typed for ”stövlar” | Accent-insensitive matching |
| Model numbers | ”XR-200”, ”XR200”, ”xr 200” | Normalising dashes and spaces |
Zero-result searches
The zero-result list is the most useful report in your webshop. Each entry is either a missing synonym, a spelling problem, or a product customers want that you do not stock. Review it every month. Fix the first two with synonyms and spelling tolerance; treat the third as purchasing information.
- Show spelling suggestions (”Did you mean …”)
- Show the closest categories and popular products instead of an empty page
- Offer a contact option for customers looking for something specific
- Log the query so it ends up in the monthly review
Filters that match buying decisions
Good filters follow the questions a customer asks before buying: does it fit, is it compatible, is it in stock, what does it cost. Bad filters expose whatever fields happen to exist in the product data. Filters also depend entirely on clean data: a size filter is useless if half the products have size in the title only. Our guide to category pages for SEO covers how filtered pages should be handled so they do not create thousands of thin duplicate URLs.
Category-specific filters
Shoes need size and width; lamps need socket and colour temperature. One global filter set fits nobody.
Counts and empty states
Show how many products each option gives and hide options that would give zero.
Mobile first
Filters in a drawer with a clear apply button and visible active filters.
Search tools vs built-in search
Shopify's built-in search with the Search and Discovery app handles synonyms and filters reasonably for small and medium catalogues. WooCommerce's default search is weak and nearly always needs a plugin or an external service. Dedicated search services such as Algolia, Klevu or Doofinder add typo tolerance, better Swedish handling and merchandising, at a monthly cost that grows with catalogue size and traffic.
When you do not need a search tool: with a few hundred products and clear categories, most customers browse rather than search, and fixing your synonym list and filters gives more than a new service. Custom search work through our e-commerce features service makes sense for thousands of products, complex compatibility data or B2B catalogues with part numbers. To talk through your catalogue, book a short call.
Frequently asked questions
How do I see what customers search for?
Enable site search tracking in GA4 so the view_search_results event records the terms, or use the search log in your platform or search app. Review it monthly.
Does Shopify handle Swedish compound words?
Only partly. Synonyms can be added in the Search and Discovery app, which covers many cases. For large catalogues with many compounds, an external search service handles it better.
How many filters should a category have?
As many as there are real buying decisions for that category, usually a handful. Filters nobody uses make the important ones harder to find.
Do filtered pages hurt SEO?
They can, if every filter combination creates an indexable URL. Decide which filtered pages deserve indexing and keep the rest out with canonical tags or noindex.
Is your search losing customers?
Fifteen minutes: we look at your catalogue and search results with you and tell you whether synonyms and filters will do, or whether you need a search tool.
Book a free 15-minute call