Search & Recovery

Meet shoppers at the highest-intent moment of the journey — the search bar — and catch them again when search fails.

Search Integration

From keyword search to conversational discovery. An Ask AI entry point embedded inside or next to the search bar lets shoppers express complex needs in their own words, turning search into a guided shopping entry point instead of a keyword lottery.

It earns its place on the queries keyword search handles worst — "a waterproof jacket for hiking in spring" is three constraints and a use case, which a keyword index reduces to "jacket".

Hand the text already in the input straight to the assistant rather than running a keyword search with it:

// Open Sophi with the shopper's query instead of running a keyword search
askAiButton.addEventListener('click', () => {
  if (!widget.isReady()) return;
  widget.show();
  widget.sendTextMessage(searchInput.value);
});

sendTextMessage posts a message to the iframe and returns void — it is not a promise, so there is nothing to await.

SDK reference

• widget.sendTextMessage(query) — sends the shopper's query into the chat with no product context.
• widget.show() — reveals the widget iframe before handing over the query.
• widget.isReady() — true once init() has resolved and the iframe element exists. Gate the Ask AI button on it.

Post-Search Recovery

Turn zero results into guided discovery. When a search returns nothing — or few enough to be useless, say one to three hits — Sophi activates in the results area with alternative paths and popular items, so the session continues at the exact point it would otherwise end.

Render the recovery panel in your own results area, and let each suggestion hand its prompt to the assistant when the shopper picks one:

// Render the recovery panel when search comes back empty
if (results.total === 0) {
  recoveryPanel.hidden = false;
}

// Each suggestion opens Sophi with the shopper's intent
recoveryPanel.addEventListener('click', (event) => {
  const chip = event.target.closest('[data-sophi-prompt]');
  if (!chip || !widget.isReady()) return;

  widget.show();
  widget.sendTextMessage(chip.dataset.sophiPrompt);
});

SDK reference

• widget.sendTextMessage(query) — seeds the recovery conversation with the shopper's chosen prompt.
• widget.isReady() — true once init() has resolved and the iframe element exists. It does not mean the iframe app can accept messages yet.