How MLToys Grew 50% with Searchanise
By Stacy
Aug 27 2025
4 min to read
Customer: https://www.mltoys.com/
Industry: Automotive/Toys (Power Wheels modifications)
Company Overview: MLToys is a U.S.-based manufacturer of Power Wheels modification kits, serving parents and DIY enthusiasts across North America, Europe, and Australia.
Industry: Automotive/Toys (Power Wheels modifications)
Company Overview: MLToys is a U.S.-based manufacturer of Power Wheels modification kits, serving parents and DIY enthusiasts across North America, Europe, and Australia.
The Challenge: When Your Customers Don't Know What They Need
After 16 years in business, MLToys had built a thriving operation selling Power Wheels modification kits to parents who wanted to make their kids' cars faster or look better. But unlike typical e-commerce customers, MLToys' buyers arrived with good intentions and no knowledge.
“
"Unlike when you go to Amazon or Wayfair where you're just putting in the search engine what you want, we have to walk our customers through learning what they want. They don't know what will work with their car, so we have to give them that education process."
Alan Placer, Owner
Alan Placer, Owner
The challenge intensified as MLToys grew to over 1,200 products organized in multiple ways: by component type (motors, gears, batteries) for experienced customers, and by car compatibility for beginners. When they decided to migrate from the Volusion platform to Shopify, they needed a search solution that could handle this unique educational sales model without the typical post-migration sales dip.
The Solution: Search That Teaches Before It Sells
MLToys implemented Searchanise during their Shopify migration, specifically because it could support their educational e-commerce approach through three key capabilities:
Educational Content Integration
Searchanise displays MLToys' extensive "Start Here" guides, installation tutorials, and technical articles directly in search results alongside products. When customers search for "motor upgrade," they see both compatible 550 motors and educational articles explaining power differences, installation difficulty, and battery requirements.
Educational articles are displayed in search as well as products
Dual Customer Journey Support
The search handles both customer types seamlessly. New customers get guided through the full educational journey from basic learning to product selection. Returning customers can skip straight to finding specific parts.
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"We get a lot of returning customers who already know how to do it and just need to find the parts - that's another part of that search engine."
Alan Placer, Owner
Alan Placer, Owner
Search results page powered by Searchanise
Instant, Reliable Performance
Fast search results keep customers engaged during critical discovery moments.
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"You put your search in, hit enter and the results pop up instantly. It doesn't seem like there's some separate plugin app that things have to go through."
Alan Placer, Owner
Alan Placer, Owner
Results: Immediate and Sustained Success
Platform Migration Success: Instead of the typical post-migration sales dip, MLToys saw immediate results.
“
"The day we made that switch, our sales went up 20% and they've never gone back down again."
Alan Placer, Owner
Alan Placer, Owner
Long-Term Growth:
- Annual revenue: $1.2M → $1.8M (50% increase over two years)
- Eliminated customer confusion about product compatibility
- Reduced support tickets from wrong purchases
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"Searchanise has never been an issue at all. It just worked right when it plugged in and did what it's supposed to do. The only regular interaction is hitting the re-indexation button when adding new products.”
Alan Placer, Owner
Alan Placer, Owner
The Broader Impact: Education as Competitive Advantage
MLToys' success with educational search has influenced their industry approach. "I work with a lot of other people in the automotive sports product lines and they all go through the same education issues," says Placer, who now recommends Searchanise to peers facing similar challenges.
The model works particularly well for:
The model works particularly well for:
- Stores requiring customer education before purchase
- Businesses with complex product compatibility requirements
- Companies with extensive educational content libraries
- Technical or specialized product catalogs
Key Takeaway: When Learning Drives Buying
MLToys proves that in educational e-commerce, search functionality extends far beyond product discovery - it becomes the foundation of customer education and confidence building. By seamlessly integrating learning content with product search, they transformed their biggest challenge into their strongest competitive advantage.
“
"Searchanise really helps organize the site into a way where people can learn what to buy and not make wrong purchases. When you have to educate your customer before they purchase, having something like Searchanise is helpful."
Alan Placer, Owner
Alan Placer, Owner
For businesses where customer education drives sales, the lesson is clear: your search needs to teach before it sells.
Ready to transform customer education into sales growth? Discover how Searchanise can turn complex catalogs into conversion engines.
Ready to transform customer education into sales growth? Discover how Searchanise can turn complex catalogs into conversion engines.
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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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