Customer Success with Powerhouse Partnerships

How Brownells Ramped up their eCommerce Game

Our latest webinar, "Customer Success with Powerhouse Partnerships" provided insights into the powerful search and eCommerce solution offered by HawkSearch and the quick implementation provided by Thanx Media and Niteco for their client Brownells, a leading supplier of firearms, reloading & gunsmithing products, gun parts, and ammunition. In this 30-minute talk, Kyle Mitzner with HawkSearch, Scott Reed with Niteco, and Paul Macker with Thanx Media, shared their expertise in the field of digital experiences and explained how they transformed Brownells on-site search in record time.‍

With the implementation of HawkSearch completed in a mere six weeks, Brownells was able to share a 47% improvement in their ‘Search Action Rate’ and a 20% increase of the average order value (AOV) year over year.

The Challenge: Implementation Speed and Feature Rich On-Site Search

Paul Macker, CEO of Thanx Media, kicks off the webinar with an overview of the challenges presented by Brownells dating back to 2022, with the target to go live in the holiday season timeframe. He explains that Brownells’ search was missing key components, and that the Optimizely native solution could not provide the metrics that were most valuable to the client. After evaluating three or four solutions for Brownells, they found that HawkSearch was deemed to be the one that would get them to the goal fastest and had the richest experience.

The Solution: Implementation Details

The implementation of HawkSearch for the Brownells eCommerce site involved a partnership between HawkSearch, Niteco and Thanx Media. The process was completed in six weeks, which was achieved through good communication and collaboration between the partners. They used the latest version of the Optimizely platform, running CMS and customized commerce, and a BigCommerce catalog.

The solution was designed with performance optimization in mind, using modern front-end approaches like Vue.js and API-first design.

The core features, built using the HawkSearch API, included:

• indexing
• autocomplete
• search

The solution was designed with flexibility in mind, allowing for the customer to customize and manage the search and filter options. Testing went well, and there were few issues during implementation.

The Results: Increase in Revenue

HawkSearch offered a robust platform that helped improve the customer experience through leveraging features like:

• normalizing data
• ensuring product viability
• raising average order value through recommendations.

The AI and machine learning features are also valuable, especially when it comes to visitor targeting. Additionally, the platform offers powerful merchandising capabilities through its polished dashboard and easy-to-use tools for product owners and merchandisers.

HawkSearch is customizable and easy to set up, and the examples provided in the webinar show how quickly and easily relevancy can be adjusted for different fields or categories. Overall, HawkSearch provided a comprehensive eCommerce solution for Brownells looking to transform their on-site search efforts and with the implementation partners like Niteco and Thanx Media, going to market in six weeks helped Brownells reach their goals of increasing revenue and conversion rates.

Talk to an Expert About These eCommerce Solutions

If you’re interested in learning more about any of these capabilities, be sure to reach out to an expert at HawkSearch, Niteco or Thanx Media.