---
title: "It’s Almost 2027, So Why Does Search Still Suck?"
author: "Elyse Munselle"
date: 2026-10-14
canonical_url: https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
copyright: Bonsai.io, 2026
---

_Elyse Munselle (our VP of Ops) and Lisa Watts (our BizOps Manager) are the only two people at Bonsai who aren't engineers. Max Irwin, a seasoned relevance and AI engineer, is always looking for a good story about how people perceive search quality._

_On a call about something else, Lisa started complaining about a giant auction site's search, and Max couldn't help asking questions. What do they want to happen when they type into a store's search box? Why do the filters down the left side feel so useless? Do they want recommendations at all? (They don't agree on that one.)_

_If you build or run search for an online store, this is how it sounds from the shopper's side of the box._

* * *

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Tell me something about search that you’re curious about. Speak to your people.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

The one thing I love to complain about is that so many websites’ search sucks. It is crippling. It’s ridiculous, it’s infuriating, and I just don’t get it. I’m like, are you cheap? Do you not understand that you’re losing money and customers? To me it seems like such a simple fix.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

Whose search do you hate?

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

One of the worst is \[giant auction site\]. Their search is ridiculous. I can’t find what I want, and I don’t want to spend a half hour perusing all this nonsense. So retail is a biggie for me. I like to shop and I like a great retail experience a lot.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

That’s the easiest search use case for me to understand, too.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

I think it is for most people, because everybody shops. Not everybody is using complex search use cases like legal research. And shopping has the benefit of being visual, so you don’t have to read a bunch of text. You see the pictures and instantly your brain processes whether you want it or not.

![Giant auction site with lots of options.](https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/giant_auction_site.jpg "Giant auction site with lots of options.")  

## I Want What I Want

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

The search with the one million filters on the left is good, but if you’ve been doing e-commerce search, you’ve been doing it that way since about 2005. That’s already a 20-year-old pattern. E-commerce is starting to change, but very few firms are jumping on this train yet. So instead of describing the layout and the technology, tell me: what do you want to happen when you go to an online store and you’re looking for something?

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

What I don't want is for them to base it on my track record online. Like, “Oh, we think you’d like this.” I don’t want to be told what to buy. Don’t suggest for me. Elyse, are you like that?

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

No. But I don’t like shopping.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

I love shopping. All of it.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Elyse, what do you mean you don’t like shopping? Do you have something in your head and you just want it to appear in front of you?

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

Yes. I’m not a “let me find the deal” type of person.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

Me neither. I don’t care about a sale. I care about what I want.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

So, an example of what I want to happen is what \[clothing rental site\] offers. You can rent articles of clothing every month. Several of my friends and I all do it. Their inventory is so big that you really don’t see everything, and we don’t get to see what our friends are renting. They tailor it based on what you’ve rented and searched for previously. And I love that. I don’t want to see stuff that looks good on someone else, because it won’t look good on me. I don’t need to see her stuff, you know what I mean?

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Okay, I like this, because we have two diverging opinions.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

When you’re logged in, it starts out with a curated group of outfits based on things that are happening in the fall. Then there’s “Just for you,” which is based on other things I’ve saved. It’s pretty accurate. I wore a dress they suggested on a trip to Italy.

![Clothing rental site with curated and seasonal suggestions.](https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/rental_site.jpg "Clothing rental site with curated and seasonal suggestions.")  

## Still Using Early Aughts Filters

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Some background. The classic search experience is a search bar and 10 links. That’s been around since search was a thing. Then they started adding filters, which we also call "facets" in the search world. That’s the list of filter categories on the left, and it works really well up to a certain number of items. It gets really hard once you’re a giant like \[colossal retail site\].

And there’s a duality in e-commerce search, there’s what you want, but then there’s also what they want to sell to you. They might have partnerships, they might have some items on sale that they’re trying to reduce stock on, they might have new things they’re trying to push. So it’s also advertising, and that’s “Searchandising,” it’s merchandising in search. It’s just like going into a store when you walk in and see the end caps stuffed with sale items. Same idea.

Search can personalize for you, too. It can be like a virtual dressing room where you describe what you want, and it’s like, “Here, do you like it or not?” And it’s showing you one thing, maybe several.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

So it’s literally your personal shopper going out into the store and picking it on your behalf, like “Elyse, what do you think about this?” And you’re happy with the choice, “Oh, I’ll try that on. I love it.”

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

And you could say, “Well, I like that cut, but I don’t like the color.” And it’s like, “Okay, here are some others. Which ones do you like?” Those are two very different experiences.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

Can you give me one or two sites that are doing that type of search? Because I have yet to run across them. I get in my little holes and go to the same places all the time.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

This one is an AI shopping product called \[AI shopping agent site\]. It’s a chat: “What should I buy? Will it fit me? Let’s get you the right size.” You tell it who you are, and it says, “We recommend this.” It’s not even a list of stuff; it's specific. Let’s say you go to the \[expensive designer site\] store, one of the vendors working with this site. So, what do you want to search for, Lisa?

![Personalized shopping app that acts like a style consultant.](https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/personalized_app.jpg "Personalized shopping app that acts like a style consultant.")

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

“\[expensive designer site\] plaid wool scarf.” Let’s see how specific it gets.

![Designer shop with minimalist display.](https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/designer_site.jpg "Designer shop with minimalist display.")

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Let’s look at \[giant auction site\] because I know they were one of your frustrations. Same search: 506 results. That’s not too many. Let’s get rid of the designer brand in the search query. Now there are 20,000 results.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

That’s insane.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

How do you even filter this? It would take a while to go through these.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

\[giant auction site\] has this “All filters” box with every sub-filter, and you can go through every single one. But I also think it was originally meant for people who knew exactly what they wanted, like antique collectors. “I need a green crystal glass vase from 1932.”

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

\[giant auction site\] is kind of weird because it’s an anything site. On these giant online retailer sites, I could buy a car or a pair of shoes, and the things I’d want when I’m filtering for a car are very different from finding a pair of shoes. But if you are a retailer that focuses on one thing, and only your inventory is being searched, I think you don’t have any excuses.

Let’s try a department store for our search. Okay, they give you one result. It took me right to the item. It didn’t show me any other plaid wool scarves.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

I’ve never seen that.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

That was like, “That’s all we got. Take it or leave it.” So I took out the designer's name, searched scarves, women’s, and it looks like they have 12 wool scarves.

![Department store that takes you directly to the item if there's only one in search.](https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/department_site.jpg "Department store that takes you directly to the item if there's only one in search.")  

## Gatekeeping

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Let’s get away from shopping for a moment and think about \[popular streaming service\]. I’ve watched these ten things, and somebody else watched the same ten things, but they also watched this other thing. So, \[popular streaming service\] figures maybe I’ll like that other thing too.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

And it’s pretty good.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Yeah, it’s pretty good. But it puts me in a bucket, and I want discovery and exploration. My account and my wife’s account are completely different. There are movies where I’m like, they had that? I would love to watch that, but you’ll never show it to me. I didn’t even know it existed.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

That’s my point. Don’t hide it from me. Let me see it all.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

And see, I’m the opposite. We have analysis paralysis at my house. We’ll spend an hour watching previews. I don’t want to go through that. I want it to be like, “Here’s another murder thing. Great. True crime. Let’s go.”

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

So we end up watching the same stuff over and over, because then we don’t have to decide. We know it’s safe. That’s why I’ve seen _The Princess Switch_ six or seven times.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

Hahahahaha

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Elyse, what you showed us on \[clothing rental site\] gets at the duality between search and recommendations. One kind of recommendation is: I’m looking at a dress, and the site doesn’t know anything about me, so it just shows similar dresses from the catalog. It basically turns the item you’re looking at into a search. The other kind knows something about you and turns you into a search, which sounds kind of weird. Then other things, like the season, get folded in. Both \[clothing rental site\] and \[popular streaming service\] use a lot of the same technology as search.

![Differences between two profile recommendations on a streaming site.](https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/stream_site.jpg "Differences between two profile recommendations on a streaming site.")  

## Breaking It Down

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Let’s go back to some search fundamentals. I bring this up because there are a bunch of ways for each one to fail hard. There are four classes of information needs: Targeted, Survey, Exploratory, and Delegate. Elyse, your XYZ-9 versus XYZ-7 story: which kind of search is that?

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

It’s Targeted; you know exactly what you want. Just give me that thing.

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/max-irwin.webp) Max

Yes! I asked for version 7, not version 9. You’re completely unhelpful. Your search is garbage. I’m going to another store. You’ve immediately lost trust with me as a buyer.

Now we have Survey. I asked for witch costumes, but you’ve got 10,000 things, and you’re showing me weird stuff that’s not even what I want. Maybe I don’t distrust you right away, but now I have to work harder, there’s more friction, and it’s annoying.

Let’s say Exploratory is “costumes.” I have no idea what I want, I’m just looking around. Show me the costume department, I’m going to learn, and I’m going to go back and forth. But Exploratory falls apart quick when it’s not steering you well.

So, Delegate is when you search on behalf of someone else. I’m buying a gift for somebody: what do they want? You have to pull in context outside your own. That’s also how agents work with search now. When you ask an AI agent a question, you might notice it running five different search queries. It’s taking your context and searching for you, to get something that matches your needs, not its needs. In e-commerce, maybe \[AI shopping agent site\] is a Delegate search. Or personalized search is kind of like one: it gathers context about you and then searches for what you need.

## The Last Word

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/lisa-watts.jpeg) Lisa

I have yet to ever come across a website where I was like, “Amazing. This is exactly what I wanted.”

![](https://bonsai.io/static-assets/img/photos/elyse-munselle.webp) Elyse

Either way, looking for a six-foot fold-out table on \[big box hardware store\]? It’s hard for both of us.

* * *

If your customers are hitting the same walls Lisa and Elyse do, let’s talk about your search. We can help you grow it, streamline it, support it, save you money and make it amazing.

_Copyright ©️ Bonsai.io, 2026 · By Elyse Munselle · Originally published at https://bonsai.io/blog/ecommerce-search-interview/ · CC BY-SA 4.0_