Algolia + Tapcart

Sahand Ansari
  • Updated

What is Algolia? 

Algolia Search and Discovery is an advanced e-commerce search and discovery platform. Enabling retailers of all sizes to deliver fast and personalized e-commerce experiences that drive engagement and conversions across the web and mobile. Algolia comes with a suite of tools built for Shopify users that allow you to analyze, optimize, and merchandise the experience.

Why Algolia + Tapcart? 

The Algolia integration creates a frictionless search and navigation experience for the end-user. Used to assist shoppers with finding what they are looking for by displaying faster, more relevant search results and offering advanced search capabilities, such as:

  • Typo-tolerance
    • This feature will autocorrect any typos the user makes while searching for an item. 
  • Speed
    • Mobile networks tend to be slower, this is where speed is a critical feature when populating search results.  
  • Relevance
    • Through Algolia’s algorithm, the trending or popular search results will populate at the top of the list for users.

How to Connect Algolia + Tapcart

Here’s how to set up this integration:

The integration is available to all Tapcart Enterprise customers and Algolia Search customers. For more information on Algolias' plans, check out their website.

Screen_Shot_2022-03-02_at_3.50.31_PM.png

Steps 

  1. Open your Shopify Dashboard and click on the “Apps” tab
  2. Find the app titled “Algolia Search and Discovery“
  3. Click on the “Settings” tab
  4. Copy and paste the “Admin API Key”, “Search API Key”, “Application ID” values in their respective fields on the Tapcart Algolia Search integration page
  5. Select ‘Save & Enable’ and you’re all set for the Tapcart configuration.

How to Configure Aloglia on Shopify

Once, you have completed adding Algolia to your Tapcart account, you'll need to configure Alolgia within your Shopify store.

important-note_3x.png Important Note
You need to enable "Collection Pages" (see attached image) for Filtering and Sorting to work

Steps

  1. Enable "Collection Pages" for Filtering and Sorting to work 
    Screen_Shot_2020-08-27_at_4.54.07_PM__1_.png
  2. Enable "Include Search by Algolia"  under Display > Display Preferences
    Screen_Shot_2020-08-27_at_4.54.22_PM__1_.png
  3. Once this is completed, you will want to confirm there are no duplicate products in your app. Navigate back to Aloglia and go to your ‘Main Product Index’ > ‘Configuration’ > ‘Deduplication and Grouping’.
  4. From here you will update your settings as shown below: Screen_Shot_2020-08-27_at_4.54.42_PM__1_.png

How to use Algolia Search & Discover Integration? 

To complete the configuration of Algolia and Tapcart, you will be required to set up your search index in Algolia’s dashboard and add the index name to your Tapcart dashboard.

  • Indices: The files from which general search, filtering, popular search, and trending search yield their results
  • Facets: Filters (ie. colors.options, size.options, etc)
  • Tags: Filters that are customizable and not included in Facets 
    • Important Note: Tapcart currently does not support custom tags

Search Functionality 

  • General Search: Home page and collection page search (required) 
  • Trending Search: Before you start typing trending search will show you what users are looking for (automatic with Algolia’s algorithm)
  • Popular Search: Start typing and popular search / predictive algorithms (required)
    • Please make sure to choose "products_query_suggestions" for this index on the Tapcart dashboard. Your app will display "Popular Search" results once your app is live and users are on the app with Algolia integrated.

Discovery Functionality 

  • Filtering: Comes from the predetermined facets in the dashboard (required)
  • Sorting: Pulls from the customized tags in place (optional)

What if I have Custom Filters Setup?

To determine if you have Merchandising Facet Filters on your Algolia instance please follow the steps listed below.

Steps

  1. Go to your website
  2. Right-click anywhere and click “Inspect”Screen_Shot_2023-05-05_at_11.13.42_AM.png
  3. Go to any collection on your website
  4. On the “Inspect” page, go to “Network” > Add “Algolia” > Go to “Payload”Screen_Shot_2023-05-05_at_11.11.08_AM.png
  5. Copy the details in “Filters” that include collections (eg. Collections, Collection_handle)Screen_Shot_2023-05-05_at_11.19.53_AM.png

To determine if you have Custom Filters on your Algolia instance please follow the steps listed below.

Steps 

  1. Go to your website
  2. Right-click anywhere and click 'Inspect'
  3. Go to any collection on your website
  4. On the 'Inspect' page, go to 'Network' > Add 'Algolia' > Go to 'Payload'
  5. Copy the details in 'Filters' that does not include collections (eg. variants_inventory_count > 0)Screen_Shot_2023-05-05_at_11.19.59_AM.png

Still, having trouble finding your custom filters? Please reach out to your account manager for assistance or email help@tapcart.co! 

Considerations

The Algolia integration is available to Tapcart Enterprise customers only.

Not on Tapcart Enterprise but want to learn more about using Algolia? You can talk to one of our mobile experts by accessing the Algolia integration within your dashboard. Simply select the integration and choose ‘talk to a mobile expert’ to get started!

More Questions 

To learn more about Tapcart, visit Tapcart Academy to become a mobile app expert!

If you have additional questions regarding the Algolia Integration, we’re happy to help! Please reach out to us through LiveChat within your dashboard or email us at help@tapcart.co! 

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