Test bluebarry search against your store's search

Does bluebarry search sell more than the search your store had before? Test it. Some of your shoppers get bluebarry search, the rest keep your store's own search, and bluebarry compares what each group spends.

Before you start

• bluebarry search is live on your store, see Launch search on your store.
• Orders reach bluebarry. On Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and CCV Shop the bluebarry app, plugin or module tracks checkouts for you.
• Experiments are switched on for your Studio user. If you don't see an Experiments button, see Fix paused or stuck experiments.

Create the test

1. Go to Live on your store → Search and open your search configuration.
2. Click Experiments in the header.
3. Click Test against your store's search.
4. Under Shoppers who get bluebarry search, pick a share between 10% and 90%. It starts at 50%. The rest keep your store's own search.
5. Click Create test.

The test opens on its Settings tab. Until you launch, you can change the share there and click Save split. There are no versions to build: both groups use the same search settings, and the only difference is which search handles the search box.

Launch the test

At the top of the test, click Launch test and confirm with Launch. The split is locked from then on.

How the test runs

• Each shopper gets one group and keeps it on every visit. In your store's group, bluebarry steps aside and your own search box and results page work as before.
• A shopper counts from their first click into the search box, in either group. Shoppers who never search are left out, so both groups are compared from the same moment.
• Revenue per shopper decides. The conversion rate is shown next to it. Clicks and add-to-carts are not compared, because your store's own search does not report them to bluebarry.
• The split stays as you set it. Unlike other experiments, traffic does not shift toward the group that is ahead.

When the test ends

• bluebarry search sells clearly less. The test stops and every shopper gets your store's own search until you archive the test.
• You stop the test. Every shopper gets bluebarry search.
• bluebarry search wins. Click Give everyone bluebarry search on the verdict. The test ends and every shopper gets bluebarry search.
• You pause the test. Every shopper gets bluebarry search and nobody is counted until you resume it.

For the verdict and the numbers, see Read results and publish the winner.

See the groups in Google Analytics 4

With your Measurement ID added (see Send search events to Google Analytics 4), each shopper's group goes to GA4 as the user property bluebarry_search: on for bluebarry search, off for your store's search. It rides along on every later event, your store's own events included. On Shopify with Google's own app, GA4 runs where bluebarry cannot reach it, so there only bluebarry's search events carry the group.

To use it in reports, go to Admin → Data display → Custom definitions in GA4, click Create custom dimension, set the scope to User and enter bluebarry_search as the user property. If GA4 has not listed it yet, type the name yourself.

Good to know

• It works on Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and CCV Shop.
• A new shopper in your store's group who clicks the search box right as the first page loads may see bluebarry search once. Every page after that shows your store's own search.
• Your search settings are locked at launch. Publishing a change to the search configuration while the test runs pauses it: every shopper then gets bluebarry search and nobody is counted. The changed settings need a new test, so make changes before you launch or after the test ends.
• One experiment at a time per search configuration.