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Price indexing and facets:
- WebSphere Commerce search builds calculated prices into the search index, so that a B2B
storefront can use the indexed price mode to support contract-based pricing based on calculated
prices.
- The storefront displays facet values based on the selected contract. Asset stores can either
share prices, or use different prices for Extended Sites based on the selected pricing model.
Parallel preprocessing and distributed indexing:
- You can index large catalog data into the search server with parallel preprocessing and
distributed indexing by sharding and merging.
- Data can be split either horizontally or vertically into different threads, so that each thread
can process smaller chunks of the data. This approach is useful when the catalog size is large, or
when preprocessing and indexing times are not acceptable.
Rule-based sales categories: Search relevancy enhancements:
- Site Administrators can group products in search results.
- Grouping products in search results allows you to aggregate the search results, and display
accurate price ranges and facet counts based on the matched entitled items.
Starter store enhancements:
- The auto-suggest menu uses the SiteContentHandler REST service to apply entitlement and catalog
filter rules when offering search suggestions.
Software stack:
- Updated to Apache Solr 4.7.0.
For more information about a key area of Feature Pack 8, see WebSphere Commerce search and the B2B direct business model.   Feature
Pack 8 further enhances WebSphere Commerce search:
- Setting up WebSphere Commerce search in a clustered production environment reduces complexity of
the following tasks:
- Initially setting up the search index in a clustered environment, including configuring
replication.
- Adding more languages or new master catalog index cores in a clustered environment.
- Setting custom Solr properties, such as caching values, and preserving them after you apply
fixes.
- Adding more search node members into a search cluster.
- The managed configuration is introduced as a new search deployment mode. It is a variation of
the advanced configuration, but contains streamlined configuration tasks, where all managed
production Solr cluster members are federated and managed by a deployment manager.
The managed
configuration contains the following characteristics:
- The search index setup utility includes an extra action and accepts an input property file.
Using the new action and property file helps set up more managed search templates for each server
type. For example, master, repeater, or subordinate.
- WebSphere Application Server tools are used to deploy the managed search templates into the
deployment manager.
- The managed templates are synchronized to all Solr cluster members, so that search configuration
changes are streamlined when updates are promoted to production.
- Only the production cluster's primary node needs to be updated with search changes; then, the
changes can be replicated to all nodes. For example, you can set up the search index in the master
node, and then replicate the index structure to all the subordinate cluster nodes. This task is
beneficial when there are many subordinate nodes or many language indexes to be set up.
- The managed repeater and subordinates can perform index check
validation to ensure data integrity of the search index.
For more information, see WebSphere Commerce search server: Managed configuration.
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Deploy and scale the search and browse storefront
traffic separately from WebSphere Commerce:
- The search runtime can be accessed directly through a REST interface from the storefront. With
this approach, the search and browse-only traffic from the storefront can be offloaded away from the
WebSphere Commerce server (transactional server), to the search server. That is, the search server
acts as a read-only non-transaction service provider for storefront navigation. With this
architecture, the search servers can be scaled separately and therefore the search and browse
traffic can be handled independently, creating a flexible and scalable deployment model that can
adjust to various storefront browsing traffic at different times or shopping seasons.
- Separate the site navigation and search workload in the search server from the transaction
workload in the main WebSphere Commerce server.
Search index enhancements:
- Product and Category enhancements, including a new product and category sequencing approach. In
addition, the storefront Department menu is constructed from the search index, rather than from the
WebSphere Commerce database.
- Search expressions that are used for B2B product and category entitlement are precompiled at
authoring time, and cached for reuse at runtime.
Lightweight REST services programming model on the search server:
- A set of search and navigational REST services are provided by the search server with
lightweight runtime implementation and customization interface to access index data and database
information.
Software stack:
- Updated to Apache Solr 4.3.0.
Note: Documentation conventions:
- WebSphere Commerce search documentation that is denoted by (FEP 7) in the
title indicates that the documentation applies only to the Feature Pack 7 REST-based search
application.
- WebSphere Commerce REST API handlers that are denoted by (Search) in the
title indicates that the REST class applies only to the Feature Pack 7 REST-based search
application.
For more information about a key area of Feature Pack 7, see |
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BloomReach Search, Navigation, and Personalization
(SNAP) integration:
- BloomReach provides
search, navigation and personalization solutions that enable businesses
to dynamically adapt site experiences to each unique shopper. BloomReach
SNAP uses sophisticated algorithms to combine cross-device behavioral
patterns, natural-language processing, machine-learning, and other
web-wide signals of intent to automatically present the most relevant
search results, navigational features, and contextual filters. BloomReach
SNAP is powered by continuous learning technologies that respond to
the shopper's changing context without the need for business users
to manage extensive search rules. In cases where granular control
is required, the BloomReach platform contains data-driven management
tools to empower business users to make informed decisions around
business rules.
- Using the WebSphere
Commerce Search Connector, businesses can extend WebSphere Commerce
search with the self-learning BloomReach SNAP solution. The WebSphere
Commerce Search Connector enables WebSphere Commerce to communicate
with the BloomReach SNAP service, including passing search results
from the storefront for further processing.
For more information, see BloomReach Search, Navigation, and Personalization (SNAP) integration with WebSphere Commerce search. |
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- Search relevancy can be managed by Site Administrators and Business users, and observed in
starter stores.
- Search rules can be configured to produce more relevant search results. For example, by
promoting or demoting products in search results.
- Management Center store preview enhancements are supported in WebSphere Commerce search. For
examples, see the Management Center store preview enhancements section.
- An optional inventory index can be set up and built to refresh independently of other search
indexes, such as the product index. Search rules can be created to demote products that are
out-of-stock, or conversely, to promote overstock products.
For more information about a key area of Feature Pack 6, see Search relevancy and merchandising. |
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- Attributes for facet display. Product Managers can specify that shoppers can find a facet by
using search-based navigation.
- The need for full reindexing is reduced. That is, almost all common business update operations
through Management Center can now be converted into a delta update on the search index. This change
can reduce the availability delay of pending changes due to index updates.
- Software stack. Updated to Apache Solr 3.5.0.
- Updates to Managing WebSphere Commerce search documentation include lifecycle management. For
example, including workspaces and best practices when you are building search indexes in a staging
environment.
- Store preview. By default, the workspace schema is indexed when a user previews the store
changes that are made in a workspace.
- Greater control over site operations. The UpdateSearchIndex command has two new parameters:
mode, and masterCatalogId.
For more information about a key area of Feature Pack 5, see Workspaces in WebSphere Commerce search. |
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- Site search statistics: Analyze top search hits and misses so you can continually improve site
search effectiveness and increase conversion rates.
- Indexing for categories: Enhance your store's auto-suggest feature by suggesting categories, in
addition to products.
- Indexing for site content: Index static store pages, such as related articles and shipping
information, so that customers can access the pages through search and auto-suggest.
- Search rule experiments: Gather usage and conversion statistics for specific search rules to see
which rules are most effective at driving sales.
For more information on a key area of Feature Pack 3, see Indexing site content with WebSphere Commerce search. |
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- WebSphere Commerce search is introduced as a new feature available with WebSphere Commerce.
WebSphere Commerce search uses the Apache Solr search platform to deliver enhanced search
capabilities in starter stores.
- Business users can manage search term associations and search-based merchandising rules with the
Management Center. The built-in search capabilities and tools allow businesses to optimize the
search experience, reduce the total cost of implementation, and provide a tightly integrated
commerce and search solution.
For more information about a key area of Feature Pack 2, see WebSphere Commerce search in starter stores. |
