Search is an extremely critical element for B2B e-commerce sites as indicated in a Forrester study which found that 92% of the B2B purchases begin with search. The B2B sites face various challenges which are unique to their business. Some major challenges include :

Large catalog with over 100k products
Pricing based on user groups
Restricting visibility of products based on user groups
Different variations of SKU search
Large number of facet customized across categories

Unbxd Search empowers B2B stores to provide a seamless,consumer-grade search experience to their users while incorporating all the complexities involved in the B2B space. Let’s take a look at some of the uniquely crafted features keeping the needs of B2B businesses in mind.

B2B Search Features

SKU Search

Repeat purchases are common in B2B e-commerce sites and this behaviour is also reflected in the way users search on the site. A lot of users prefer to use SKU-IDs of products to get the exact product. As a result of this, SKU searches form a significant volume of searches happening on the site and must be optimized to offer the best user experience.

We understand that the SKUs should be handled differently than text. We have designed two new attribute types – sku & nsku to optimize the search on SKUs. Once these data-types are selected for any attribute, Unbxd automatically handles the following scenarios to provide relevant results :

Support partial matches on SKU attributes
Support for special characters in query & SKU attributes

How to configure search for SKU attributes ?

The sku Datatype

This data type supports search queries which have only leading characters of SKU ID. Say, when the user searches only the first few letters (prefix characters) of the SKU ID, this returns all the products matching the criteria. This data type also supports camel case, alpha-numeric searches.

Example of searches with sku DataType

In the table below, we have shown different variations of the search queries which a shopper might be using while searching for SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE.

Query	Query Description	Match Type
CM532-REQS/RE	Exact sku with special characters	Matches with SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE
CM532 REQS RE	Exact sku without special characters. Special characters replaced with spaces	Matches with SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE
CM532-REQS RE	Exact sku with a special character omitted	Matches with SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE
CM53	Partial sku search with trailing characters removed	Matches with SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE
REQS/RE	Partial sku search with leading characters removed	Does not match with SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE
32-REQS	Partial sku search with leading & trailing characters removed	Does not match with with SKU ID CM532-REQS/RE

Sample Schema for "sku" Datatype

This schema should be uploaded as part of the feed upload. To know more about feed & schema upload, check here.

				
					{
          "dataType": "sku",
          "multiValue": "false",
          "autoSuggest": "false",
          "fieldName": "manufacture_part_id"
}

The nsku DataType

This data type supports any substring match within SKU ID, including prefix match, suffix match along with special character handling. This data type also supports camel case, alpha-numeric searches.

Example of searches with nsku DataType

In the table below, we have shown different variations of the search queries which a shopper might be using while searching for SKU ID MOTR-900044/34.

Query	Query Description	Match Type
MOTR-900044/34	Exact sku with special characters	Matches with SKU ID MOTR-900044/34
MOTR 900044 34	Exact sku without special characters. Special characters replaced with spaces	Matches with SKU ID MOTR-900044/34
MOTR-900044 34	Exact sku with a special character omitted	Matches with SKU ID MOTR-900044/34
MOTR-90	Partial sku search with trailing characters removed	Matches with SKU ID MOTR-900044/34
900044/34	Partial sku search with leading characters removed	Matches with SKU ID MOTR-900044/34
900044	Partial sku search with leading & trailing characters removed	Matches with SKU ID MOTR-900044/34

Sample Schema for "nsku" Datatype

This schema should be uploaded as part of the feed upload. To know more about feed & schema upload, check here.

				
					{
          "dataType": "nsku",
          "multiValue": "false",
          "autoSuggest": "false",
          "fieldName": "part_id"
}

Faceted Search

The B2B shoppers precisely know what they intend to purchase. They need an interface which allows them to quickly narrow down to the relevant product.

B2B sites can solve this by displaying facets relevant to the search term or the product category the buyer is browsing. B2B sites powered by Unbxd can control the facet experience for each category page using Field Rules.

Define 1000s of facets globally and control the order and visibility of these facets using Field rules.
Use field rules to show 50+ facets for a single category page along with the ability to customize the facet experience. B2B sites with extremely large catalogs have benefited tremendously by field rules to show relevant facets on their category listing pages.
Leverage hierarchical facets which enable the users to navigate through a multi-level product classification and narrow down to a specific category using a single facet.

Catalog Visibility based on User Group

Unlike B2C sites, users in B2B sites are usually organized into user groups based on criteria like location, organisation, size of company or any other custom segment. Each of these user groups have access to the parts of the catalog based on the business rules.

Our search index supports the needs of large B2B enterprises that may have more than 1000+ user groups. B2B stores can define unique catalogs for the user groups. We ensure that the shopper only sees products that are accessible to them based on the business rules defined by the B2B store. Other products in the catalog are hidden for the user.

How to configure catalog visibility for User Groups ?

Let’s take a B2B business which sells office supplies. The business may group all the IT companies into the same user group (say group1) who commonly purchas products such as Laptops, Monitors, Printers etc. The Backoffices customers may be grouped into a different user group (say group2) who commonly purchase products like Printers, Paper Supply, Scanner, Xerox Machine.

For this example let’s assume that there are three products: Lenovo laptop (P1),Xerox machine (P2) and HP Inkjet printer (P3). The B2B retailer has allowed IT companies (group1) access to products from categories Laptop & Printers (i.e. P1 & P3 are accessible to group1). Similarly, the B2B retailer has allowed Backoffices (group2) access to products from categories Printers & Copier devices (i.e. group2 has access to P2 and P3). The table below summarises this scenario.

ProductID	Title	UserGroup Authorised	Price
P1	Lenovo laptop	group1	$670
P2	Xerox Copier machine	group2	$950
P3	HP Inkjet printer	group1,group2	$650

Unbxd Feed Structure

				
					[{
	"uniqueId": "P1",
	"title": "Lenovo laptop",
	"description": "Lenovo laptops 9th generation CPU. Compatible with wireless printer.",
	"variants":[
		{
			"user_group" :"group1",
			"price":670
		}

	]
},

{
	"uniqueId": "P2",
	"title": "Xerox Copier Machine",
	"description": "Xerox Machine with double side printing. USB connection with laptop to transfer scanned documents.",
	"variants":[
		{
			"user_group" :"group2",
			"price":950
		}

	]
},

{
	"uniqueId": "P3",
	"title": "HP Ink Printer",
	"description": "HP Inkjet printer for fine printing.",
	"variants":[
		{
			"user_group" :"group1",
			"price":650
		},
		{
			"user_group" :"group2",
			"price":650
		}
	]
}]

Creating the Search Request

Use Case 1

When a buyer from IT companies (group1) logs in to the B2B site and searches for “Laptop”, the following search API will be triggered :

				
					https://search.unbxd.io/{APIKEY}/{SITEKEY}/search?q="Laptop"&variants.condition=user_group:"group1"

This API request will return only product P1. The product P2 has the term “laptop” in description so it matches the search term. Since the buyers from group1 do not have access to P2 it will be hidden from the search result for this user.

Use Case 2

When a buyer from Backoffices (group2) logs in to the B2B site and searches for “printer”. The following search API will be triggered :

				
					https://search.unbxd.io/{APIKEY}/{SITEKEY}/search?q="printer"&variants.condition=user_group:"group2"

Although, the products P1 & P3 have the term printer in title or description. The search request will only return the product P2 because the buyer only has access to P2.

Pricing based on User Group

The prices, discounts & taxes of products on B2B sites may change based on the user group of the buyer. We allow B2B sites to handle this complexity by adding the pricing, tax and discount information for each user group. When a user searches on the website, only the relevant prices, discounts & taxes applicable for the buyer are returned.

How to support different prices for different user groups ?

Let’s take the same B2B office supplier discussed above. Now let’s assume that the retailer wants to set different prices of HP Inkjet printers (P3) for IT Companies (group1) and Backoffices (group2). The table below describes the scenario.

ProductID	Title	UserGroup Authorised	Price
P1	Lenovo laptop	group1	$670
P2	Xerox Copier machine	group2	$950
P3	HP Inkjet printer	group1	$650
P3	HP Inkjet printer	group2	$600

Take a look at the product P3. If you recall our previous example – Product P3 is accessible to both user groups. However this time, business has more complicated requirements where if this product is being viewed by a buyer from IT Companies (group1) then price of the product should be shown as $650 and if the product is being viewed by a buyer from Backoffices (group2) then price of the product should be shown as $600.

Unbxd Feed Structure

				
					[{
	"uniqueId": "P1",
	"title": "Lenovo laptop",
	"description": "Lenovo laptops 9th generation CPU. Compatible with wireless printer.",
	"variants":[
		{
			"user_group" :"group1",
			"price":670
		}

	]
},

{
	"uniqueId": "P2",
	"title": "Xerox Copier Machine",
	"description": "Xerox Machine with double side printing. USB connection with laptop to transfer scanned documents.",
	"variants":[
		{
			"user_group" :"group2",
			"price":950
		}

	]
},

{
	"uniqueId": "P3",
	"title": "HP Ink Printer",
	"description": "HP Inkjet printer for fine printing.",
	"variants":[
		{
			"user_group" :"group1",
			"price":650
		},
		{
			"user_group" :"group2",
			"price":600
		}
	]
}]

Creating the Search Request

Use Case 1

When a buyer from IT companies (group1) logs in to the B2B site and searches for “Printer”. The following search API will be triggered :

				
					https://search.unbxd.io/{APIKEY}/{SITEKEY}/search?q="Printer"&variants.condition=user_group:"group1"

This API request will return P3 the variant document for group1 which has the price as 650 .

Use Case 2

When a buyer from Backoffices (group2) logs in to the B2B site and searches for “printer”. The following search API will be triggered :

				
					https://search.unbxd.io/{APIKEY}/{SITEKEY}/search?q="printer"&variants.condition=user_group:"group2"

This API request will return the product P3 and P2. For the product P3, only the variant document with price of $600 would be returned.

Pricing & Catalog for Multi-seller and Multi-user group scenario

B2B businesses can have additional complexity where they have multiple sellers on the platform selling to multiple user groups. A shopper can be mapped to multiple user groups across different sellers. Also, sellers can define different prices and availability of products for different user groups and they may sell only a limited number of products based on location – zipcode, state, etc.

We have the ability to support the multi-seller scenario described above with 5000+ sellers and 1000+ different user groups. We index the prices, quantity and additional attributes of a product for each combination of seller and user group.

How to support a multi-seller & multi-user group marketplace?

Consider the below example – where we have two sellers Seller 1 and Seller 2. Seller 1 may choose to classify small scale IT companies and enterprise IT companies in different user groups to sell them products at different prices. But Seller 2 may classify both the small scale IT companies and enterprise IT companies in the same group. So, a shopper may be assigned to usergroup_1 by Seller 1 and usergroup_3 by Seller 2.

Sellers	Small Scale IT Companies	Enterprise IT Companies	Comments
Seller1	usergroup_1	usergroup_2	Seller1 classifies small scale and enterprise in different user groups (say usergroup_1 & usergroup_2).
Seller2	usergroup_3	usergroup_3	Sellers2 considers both startup and enterprise in a single user group (say usergroup_3)

ProductId	Product	Seller	usergroup_1_pricing	usergroup_2_pricing	usergroup_3_pricing
124	Lenovo Laptops	Seller_1	$100	$150	NA
124	Lenovo Laptops	Seller_2	NA	NA	$120
4572	Xerox Copier Machine	Seller_2	NA	NA	$500
34634	HP Laptops	Seller_2	NA	NA	$120
92457	HP Inkjet Printers	Seller_1	$300	$350	NA

Unbxd Feed Structure

Here is a sample feed for the example described above.

				
					[{
	"uniqueId" :"124",
	"title":"Lenevo laptop 9th generation",
	"variants":[{

		"usergroup":"usergroup_1",
		"seller_id" : "seller_1",
		"price" :100$
	},{
		"usergroup":"usergroup_2",
		"seller_id":"seller_1",
		"price":150$
	},{
		"usergroup":"usergroup_3",
		"seller_id":"seller_2",
		"price":120$
	}]
},
{
	"uniqueId" :"4572",
	"title":"Xerox Copier Machine multipurpose",
	"variants":[{

		"usergroup":"usergroup_3",
		"seller_id" : "seller_2",
		"price" :500$
	}]
},
{
	"uniqueId" :"34634",
	"title":"HP Laptops with Intel CPU inside",
	"variants":[{

		"usergroup":"usergroup_3",
		"seller_id" : "seller_2",
		"price" :120$
	}]
},
{
	"uniqueId" :"92457",
	"title":"HP Inkjet Printer ",
	"variants":[{

		"usergroup":"usergroup_1",
		"seller_id" : "seller_1",
		"price" :300$
	},{
		"usergroup":"usergroup_2",
		"seller_id":"seller_1",
		"price":350$
	}]
}]

Creating the Search Request

When Shopper 1 is looking for Laptops, first fetch the seller and user group relationship, which in this case is – Seller 1 and Usergroup 1 ; Seller 2 and Usergroup 3. The API request to Unbxd will then look like below:

API Format:

				
					https://search.unbxd.io/{APIKEY}/{SITEKEY}/search?q="laptops"&variants.condition=(seller_id:"seller_1" AND usergroup:"usergroup_1" ) OR (seller_id:"seller_2" AND usergroup:"usergroup_A" )

In this case, the user sees Lenovo Laptop (124) & HP Laptop (34634). Since Lenovo laptop (124) is sold through Seller 1 and Seller 2, this product will show both pricing options for the user ($100, $120).

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To create a Query Rule
To Edit a Query Rule
Delete a Query Rule
Campaign States
Create Campaigns
Edit Campaigns
Preview Campaigns
Duplicate Campaigns
Delete Campaigns

Search for B2B Sites

B2B Search Features

SKU Search

How to configure search for SKU attributes ?

The sku Datatype

Example of searches with sku DataType​

Sample Schema for "sku" Datatype

The nsku DataType

Example of searches with nsku DataType

In the table below, we have shown different variations of the search queries which a shopper might be using while searching for SKU ID MOTR-900044/34.

Sample Schema for "nsku" Datatype

Faceted Search

Catalog Visibility based on User Group

How to configure catalog visibility for User Groups ?

Unbxd Feed Structure

Creating the Search Request

Use Case 1​

Use Case 2​

Pricing based on User Group​

How to support different prices for different user groups ?

Unbxd Feed Structure

Creating the Search Request

Use Case 1

Use Case 2

Pricing & Catalog for Multi-seller and Multi-user group scenario

How to support a multi-seller & multi-user group marketplace?

Unbxd Feed Structure

Creating the Search Request

API Format:

Yes!

No…

On this Section

Example of searches with sku DataType

Use Case 1

Use Case 2

Pricing based on User Group