Solving Search Challenges on BigCommerce: Alkali Scientific’s Success Story
By Stacy
May 21 2025
4 min to read
Customer: alkalisci.com
Industry: Laboratory Supplies & Equipment
Company Overview: Alkali Scientific is a U.S.-based manufacturer and supplier of laboratory supplies and equipment, serving both public and private sector organizations across the Northern Hemisphere.
Industry: Laboratory Supplies & Equipment
Company Overview: Alkali Scientific is a U.S.-based manufacturer and supplier of laboratory supplies and equipment, serving both public and private sector organizations across the Northern Hemisphere.
Challenges
Misleading SKUs: The store’s default search couldn’t handle complex product variations. For example, a product available in both Large and Small sizes had different packaging options, but the search would incorrectly show all packaging options for both sizes, even if some didn’t exist. Customers tried to order unavailable SKUs, creating confusion and frustration.
Accessory overload in results: Some products had up to 300 accessories. Instead of highlighting the main item, the default search cluttered the results with accessories, burying core products and driving buyers away.
Search term mismatch: Customers often used industry slang that didn’t match the product naming conventions. A common example: users searching for "cell culture plates" wouldn’t see results, because products were listed as "tissue culture plates."
Accessory overload in results: Some products had up to 300 accessories. Instead of highlighting the main item, the default search cluttered the results with accessories, burying core products and driving buyers away.
Search term mismatch: Customers often used industry slang that didn’t match the product naming conventions. A common example: users searching for "cell culture plates" wouldn’t see results, because products were listed as "tissue culture plates."
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“We’ve done a lot of research. We found that if a customer isn't able to locate the product within the first 30 seconds, there's a very big fall off in conversions… That’s why using programs like Searchanise is very critical to keep our conversion rate as high as possible.”
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
The Solution: Searchanise Implementation
To address these challenges, Alkali Scientific implemented Searchanise Search & Filter, customizing it to meet the needs of a highly technical catalog and user base.
Search powered by Searchanise
Customer Favorites: The Searchanise Features That Make a Difference
Variants Display
Key Feature: Product variations (sizes, colors) shown directly in the search results.
Why It Matters: Helps customers see all product options immediately, enhancing the user experience for technical and complex products.
Why It Matters: Helps customers see all product options immediately, enhancing the user experience for technical and complex products.
Product variants
Hide Accessories from Search Results
Key Feature: Ability to hide accessories from search results while displaying them on the main product page.
Why It Matters: Keeps search results clean while still allowing customers to find related accessories in a dropdown menu once on the main product page.
Why It Matters: Keeps search results clean while still allowing customers to find related accessories in a dropdown menu once on the main product page.
Product page with accessories
Synonyms in Search
Key Features: The ability to add synonyms for industry-specific terms, ensuring that products are displayed even when different terminology or slang is used.
Why It Matters: Helps customers find the right product despite using alternative terms, increasing the chances of successful searches and improving the overall shopping experience.
Why It Matters: Helps customers find the right product despite using alternative terms, increasing the chances of successful searches and improving the overall shopping experience.
When searching for "fly" search results display results for "drosophila"
Other Improvements
No More Phantom SKUs
The team configured Searchanise to show only real, purchasable SKU combinations, eliminating customer frustration and cart errors.
Custom Price Lists
Searchanise’s support for custom price lists allowed Alkali Scientific to display accurate pricing for enterprise customers with negotiated contracts. This was essential for serving large accounts, ensuring that each client saw the correct pricing across various portals and punchout catalogs. The feature helped maintain pricing consistency and simplified sales operations across different customer segments.
Custom Styling
With custom CSS, the search widgets were styled to visually match the site, enhancing trust and usability.
Positive Customer Feedback
The team configured Searchanise to show only real, purchasable SKU combinations, eliminating customer frustration and cart errors.
Custom Price Lists
Searchanise’s support for custom price lists allowed Alkali Scientific to display accurate pricing for enterprise customers with negotiated contracts. This was essential for serving large accounts, ensuring that each client saw the correct pricing across various portals and punchout catalogs. The feature helped maintain pricing consistency and simplified sales operations across different customer segments.
Custom Styling
With custom CSS, the search widgets were styled to visually match the site, enhancing trust and usability.
Positive Customer Feedback
“
“Our customers are scientists, who are always very busy. After installing Searchanise we got feedback that they're able to find products easier. We received numerous compliments on ease of use and also from an aesthetic standpoint as well. They like the features that your instant search widget had… the recommendations and the autocorrect feature allowed scientists and our end users to find what they needed quickly and efficiently.”
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
More Than Features: A Partner That Listens
For Alkali Scientific, true value came not just from what Searchanise could do — but from how the team stood behind it. Whether guiding complex setups, implementing custom CSS, or resolving issues, Searchanise consistently delivered solutions rather than excuses.
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“Your team is very responsive. Any issues we have, you fix things very quickly... We’ve had a lot of situations where your team was able to take care of complex issues when we didn't have the technical know-how to solve them.”
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
To Whom You Would Recommend Searchanise?
- Stores with complex product catalogs and technical variations
- Businesses that rely on contract pricing or large volume SKUs
- Companies serving professional or scientific audiences
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“I would recommend your app to anyone managing a more complex storefront... especially for companies with a lot of product variations and detailed technical products.”
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
Randon Rybak, Director of Finance and Head of Business Development
Conclusion
In a field where accuracy matters, Alkali Scientific couldn’t afford a search experience that confused more than it helped. From broken SKU combinations to cluttered results and missed keywords, their default search was slowing down customers and costing conversions.
Searchanise turned things around. With smart features like variant display, synonym support, and clean search results, Alkali Scientific made it easier for busy professionals to find exactly what they needed — fast. The search experience became clearer, faster, and more reliable, helping both individual buyers and large enterprise clients.
Because when your customers are short on time, your search can’t fall short.
If your store has a complex catalog or technical products, it’s time to upgrade how people find them.
Start your free trial and turn your search into a powerful sales tool.
Searchanise turned things around. With smart features like variant display, synonym support, and clean search results, Alkali Scientific made it easier for busy professionals to find exactly what they needed — fast. The search experience became clearer, faster, and more reliable, helping both individual buyers and large enterprise clients.
Because when your customers are short on time, your search can’t fall short.
If your store has a complex catalog or technical products, it’s time to upgrade how people find them.
Start your free trial and turn your search into a powerful sales tool.
Quick to install
and ready to use instantly!
Select your platform to unlock better conversions and smooth customer experiences.
Stacy
Stacy is a content creator at Searchanise. Her professional areas of interest are SaaS solutions and ecommerce. Stacy believes that quality content must be valuable for readers and achieve business goals. When she is not busy writing, which does not happen often, she reads passionately, both fiction and non-fiction literature.
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