Intelligent Search's synonyms feature allows you to add words with similar meanings to a specific search term, increasing the chances of a successful search. This tool enables the creation of rules linking searched words to words in the product list.

For example, if a store lists products under the name television, but customers often search for TV, you can set up a synonym rule so that when the term TV is searched, the results for television are also displayed.

During a search, Intelligent Search receives the term entered by the customer and checks the synonym rules already created. If a matching synonym is found, Intelligent Search includes items matching the synonym in the search results.

This means that even if the customer doesn't search for the exact word listed in the product, they can still get relevant results. This increases the chances of a successful search and reduces the likelihood of getting no results.

The use of synonyms also complements the search reports without results. This analysis allows the merchant to identify unsuccessful searches and determine which terms would benefit from synonyms.

You can create two types of synonyms: unidirectional and bidirectional. Here's how each of them works:

Type	Description	Examples
Unidirectional	Two or more words have similar meanings but are not considered equivalent in all contexts. This configuration allows, by strategic decision, the correspondence to work only in one direction.	smartphone → iphone When searching for the term "smartphone", the results will include products labeled "iphone". However, searching for "iphone" will not return results for "smartphone".
Bidirectional	Two or more words have equivalent meanings, allowing matching to work in both directions. This configuration makes it easier to search for products that may have different names in various regions of a country.	diet ⇄ zero ⇄ sugar-free A search for "diet" products will include those labeled as "zero" and "sugar-free." Similarly, searching for "zero" will return results for "diet" and "sugar-free" products. Searching for "sugar-free" will also show "zero" and "diet" products. soda ⇄ pop ⇄ soft drink In the US, the terms "soda," "pop," and "soft drink" all refer to the same type of beverage. With bidirectional synonyms for each term, it is not necessary to replicate each word in the product description, as all results will be displayed.

Learn more about adding synonyms in Creating synonyms.

After registration or modification, a synonym can take up to two hours to reflect in the store.

Don't use substitute words from the product/SKU in the Catalog with Intelligent Search. Instead, use only the synonym feature, which allows for more scalable management of terms per product.

When creating a bidirectional synonym, there is no differentiation between the two terms in sorting search results. For example, if there is a bidirectional synonym Tylenol ⇄ acetaminophen, in a search for Tylenol, results for the term Tylenol are not necessarily displayed before results for acetaminophen. To determine the sorting strategy, you need to use a merchandising rule.

When creating a synonym with more than one word, each word is added individually to the product. For example, if running shoes ⇄ running sneakers are synonyms, and someone searches for the term running, results for both running shoes and running sneakers will be included in the search results.

Synonyms are recursive, meaning the results are cumulative. For example, if you create a synonym Tylenol ⇄ acetaminophen and another synonym acetaminophen ⇄ headache, a search for Tylenol will also return results for headache.

Synonyms should not be used to address spelling mistakes, singular and plural variations, pronouns, articles, or prepositions in search terms. In these cases, Intelligent Search can interpret, learn, and correct automatically through Autocorrect.

Here are some examples of synonym configurations:

Synonyms	Type	Comments
lotion ⇄ moisturizer	Bidirectional	✔️ Appropriate configuration. When someone searches for lotion, results for moisturizer are included.
pants → jeans	Unidirectional	✔️ Appropriate configuration. When someone searches for pants, results for jeans are included.
color → colour	Unidirectional	❌ Redundant configuration. Intelligent Search automatically corrects variations like this.
shoe ⇄ shoes	Bidirectional	❌ Redundant configuration. Intelligent Search automatically corrects variations like this.
running shoes ⇄ shoes for running	Bidirectional	❌ Redundant configuration. Intelligent Search automatically corrects variations like this.

The Intelligent Synonyms feature generates term recommendations for adding synonyms, in addition to manual configuration. If you are interested in implementing this feature, please contact our Support team. Extra fees may apply in the future.

• Creating synonyms
• Synonym list