Everything you'd want to know before you install.
A detailed look at how Advanced Search Module for PrestaShop 8 & 9 - DataFirefly Live Search works, why we built it the way we did, and the thinking behind the features above.
PrestaShop’s native search is not enough
PrestaShop’s built-in search module redirects to a results page on every submit. On mobile, that is slow and discouraging. Customers who don’t find what they’re looking for within 2 seconds leave the store. DFLiveSearch replaces this behaviour with a live experience: a dropdown opens instantly, products appear with their image, price and promotional badges, and the customer clicks directly on what interests them.
A search that forgives typos and understands synonyms
A customer typing “televsion” or “computr” should not land on an empty page. DF Live Search automatically corrects the typo, re-runs the query and shows “Results for television”, with a link back to the original spelling. The synonym dictionary, editable per language from the back-office, maps “tv”, “telly” and “television” to the same catalogue. The outcome: queries that used to convert nothing finally find the right product.
Relevance designed for conversion
Not all results are equal. The engine assigns a weighted score based on where the query matches — exact name, start of name, reference, EAN — then prioritises in-stock products and best-sellers. Variant references are taken into account too: type the barcode or reference of a specific variant, and the result points straight to the right combination, with its reference and price.
Smart suggestions before the first character
As soon as the customer activates the search field, two carousels appear: the most popular searches on your store and a selection of recommended products. This data is calculated from your store’s actual search logs. By enabling the personalisation option, recommended products factor in the browsing history of the logged-in customer.
An analytics dashboard to understand your customers
Every search is logged: term entered, number of results returned, any product click, and order conversion. The back-office dashboard gives you access to the success rate (searches with results), click rate and conversion rate, a day-by-day evolution chart, the 20 most searched terms and the 20 terms that never returned any results. The latter are a goldmine for detecting catalogue gaps or common typos.
Email alerts to catch every gap
The alert system continuously monitors no-result terms. As soon as a term exceeds the configurable threshold (5 by default), an email alert is sent to your chosen address and a notification appears in the back-office header. Each alert can be marked as read or dismissed after being handled.
Conversion and add to cart directly from search
The quick add to cart option lets customers add a product directly from the dropdown without navigating to the product page. An optional quantity selector completes this feature. The module then tracks the conversion: if the customer places an order after clicking a product in the search results, the order is flagged as converted and counted in the stats.
Really good search engine for PrestaShop, the analytics data is genuinely usefulAutomatically translated