What are Redirects?
Redirects feature allows to land user to a custom URL instead of the search results page.
Some of the practical use case examples
If merchant has a special landing page for Nike brand, they can simply target Nike search query and redirect it there. Whenever a user searches Nike, they won’t get to the search results page, but to that landing page.
If users search for delivery and merchant has a page about delivery information, they can simply target delivery search query and redirect there to an informational delivery page. Even if it’s under the other domain e.g. hosted in Zendesk.
Where is it not recommended to use Redirects?
Redirect search queries to category pages. Sometimes merchants think that category pages are more relevant or better merchandised than search results page. However in this case the root cause should be solved - search results and their merchandising should be improved because when users search, they expect to have a proper search experience by finding products from all categories, using contextual facets, and refining search query.
Redirect search queries to irrelevant pages. E.g. if users search for Nike shoes and are getting redirected to a general Nike landing page, they see all sorts of Nike products. In this case, they are served many irrelevant search results and the majority of users will leave the site. If they search Nike shoes, they should get Nike shoes in search results page.