In Voyado Product Discovery, search criteria relaxation (or simply search relaxation) is how the product discovery engine adjusts a search when no exact matches are found. Instead of returning no results, the engine automatically adapts the search to show the most relevant products available.
How it works
When a shopper enters a search query, the engine tries to find products that match all parts of the query.
If no or too few products match all criteria, the engine will:
- Gradually remove less important parts of the query
- Keep the most important parts
- Return products that are still relevant
The engine analyzes each search query and breaks it down into different parts, such as:
- Product type
- Brand
- Color
- Material
- Other descriptive attributes
It then tries to match all of these parts against your product catalog. If that is not possible, the engine automatically relaxes the query step by step.
Example
A shopper searches for “dark blue denim jacket”.
If no exact matches are found, the engine might:
- Keep “jacket” (product type)
- Keep “blue” (color)
- Remove “denim” (material)
The result is still relevant, even if not a perfect match.
What determines what is relaxed?
The engine prioritizes different parts of the query based on importance.
- Product type is usually the most important
- Other attributes, such as color or material, may be less important
You do not need to configure this prioritization manually. This prioritization is handled automatically and is based on:
- Product understanding
- Customer behavior
- Search patterns
What the shopper sees
When search criteria are relaxed, shoppers may see:
- Relevant products that match most of their query
- A broader set of results than expected
- In some cases, suggestions or alternative queries
This helps avoid empty result pages and keeps the experience smooth.
Important to know
- Search criteria relaxation is fully automatic
- It is applied when necessary to avoid “no results” situations
- It works in real time for every search
- It is based on the engine’s understanding of both products and search intent
Learn more
If you want to understand the technical implementation in more detail, you can read more in the Product Discovery API documentation: