Case study

When search becomes the main navigation

With millions of products and 60–70% of users starting their journey in the search bar, Cultura needed a search engine that could act as the backbone of the entire customer experience, online and in stores.

Client

Cultura

Platform

Magento 2

Stack

AEM, ElasticSuite Solutions

Scope

Search & omnichannel

Summary Context Approach Results

Executive summary

For Cultura, the search engine is not a secondary feature. With millions of products and 60–70% of users starting their journey in the search bar, it has become the main navigation of the site. The project focused on building a search experience that matches customer expectations across digital channels and stores, and that can handle the complexity of a large, diverse catalog without losing users.

60–70%

Of users starting their journey in search

Millions

Of products in the catalog

Search as the backbone of navigation

The context

Cultura is a leading French cultural and creative retail brand. Its catalog spans several million products across books, creative hobbies, games, stationery, fine arts, music, instruments and entertainment. In this environment, search is not an optional feature: it is where most customers start and often complete their journey.

Frédéric, who led the cultura.com redesigns in 2012–2013 and again in 2020, worked closely with the team that later became ElasticSuite Solutions. The collaboration started from a simple observation: with 60–70% of users going straight to the search bar, the engine had to be treated as the main navigation of the site, not as a secondary layer on top of categories.

The project also had to reflect Cultura’s omnichannel reality: customers move between digital channels and physical stores, and the search experience needed to integrate store inventory and local availability in a coherent way.

The challenge

Build a search experience that can act as the backbone of navigation for millions of products, meet high customer expectations, and support an omnichannel journey that includes stores and their stock.

Objectives & scope

Business objectives

• Make search the main entry point and navigation backbone for a multi‑million product catalog

• Ensure the search experience meets customer expectations in terms of relevance and speed

• Support an omnichannel journey by integrating stores and their stock into search results

Scope & team

• Scope: Search, autocomplete, category pages, product widgets, faceted navigation and store integration

• ElasticSuite Solutions team: Product, technical and search expertise

• Cultura team: E-commerce, digital product, merchandising and store teams

Solution & technologies

A search engine built to act as the main navigation, online and in stores.

ElasticSuite Solutions Magento AEM Omnichannel search Store inventory APIs

Making search the backbone of navigation

Treating the search engine as the main entry point, designing for catalog complexity and integrating stores into the experience.

1	Make search the main entry point With 60–70% of users starting in the search bar, the engine was designed as the primary way to explore the catalog, not as a secondary feature layered on top of categories. Focus: Search-first navigation, autocomplete and result pages that act as real discovery surfaces
2	Design for catalog complexity The search experience had to handle millions of products across very different categories while keeping results relevant and easy to scan for customers. Focus: Relevance tuning, faceted navigation and result layouts adapted to a large, diverse catalog
3	Integrate stores and stock into search Search results and product pages can surface store inventory and local availability, so customers and store teams see the same reality across channels. Focus: Omnichannel search, store signals and availability-aware product discovery
4	Keep the experience consistent across channels The same search logic and product intelligence support web, mobile and store-assisted journeys, so customers do not feel they are switching between different worlds. Focus: Unified search experience, consistent relevance and shared product data

Key capabilities

🔎

Search-first navigation

A search experience designed to act as the main entry point for exploring a multi‑million product catalog.

📦

Catalog complexity handled

Relevance and faceted navigation tuned for millions of products across very different categories and use cases.

🏬

Omnichannel search

Search results and product pages that integrate store inventory and local availability for a coherent cross‑channel experience.

What ElasticSuite Solutions enables for Cultura

⚡

A true search-first journey

Search, autocomplete and navigation work together so that the engine acts as the main way to explore the catalog.

📊

Relevance at multi‑million scale

The search engine handles a large, diverse catalog while keeping results relevant and easy to scan for customers.

🏬

Stores visible in search

Store inventory and local availability can surface in search results and product pages, aligning online and in‑store experiences.

🔗

One experience, all channels

The same search logic and product intelligence support web, mobile and store‑assisted journeys for a consistent experience.

Results in detail

Metric	Before	After	Impact
Share of revenue generated by search	Not publicly disclosed	5%	Search as a measurable channel
Site exit rate	Not publicly disclosed	-3.15%	Fewer lost users after search
Product-discovery ecosystem	Fragmented product-discovery needs	Search, categories and widgets connected	Search as the navigation backbone

Impact

Search is now the backbone of Cultura’s navigation, online and in stores.

By treating the search engine as the main entry point and integrating stores and their stock into the experience, Cultura gives customers a coherent path to the right product across channels. The result is a search experience that handles catalog complexity while reducing the risk of losing users when their expectations are not met.

ElasticSuite Solutions

Facing the same challenge?

Let’s talk about your search engine, your catalog and the product-discovery experience you want to create.

Talk to our experts