Harvey Nichols Boosts Search Revenue with Smarter On-Site Discovery

Harvey Nichols, the UK’s premier luxury fashion retailer, partnered with Fredhopper to transform its online search experience. By shifting away from a manual, redirect-heavy setup, the brand achieved a smoother, more relevant search journey—resulting in increased precision, higher click-through rates, and a significant uplift in commercial value

A modern clothing store interior featuring a display of jackets on hangers, two stylish chairs, and a decorative rug.

Challenge

Reliance on 5,000+ manual search redirects hindered performance and insights

Time-consuming maintenance of search rules with limited visibility into shopper behavior

A complex, multi-category product catalogue made accurate search matching difficult

Missing or inconsistent product data impacted search quality and relevance


Solution

Elimination of Inefficient Redirects

Fredhopper helped Harvey Nichols reduce their search redirects by 92%, eliminating friction in the customer journey and unlocking better visibility into search performance.

Rule Optimization and Cleanup

Outdated and fuzzy search rules were removed or refined, improving both precision and recall while supporting more accurate product discovery.

Intelligent Data-Driven Adjustments

By analyzing shopper behavior and refining synonym management, Fredhopper tailored search relevance across product types, ensuring results reflected true intent.

Separation of Search and Merchandising

With search and merchandising strategies decoupled, Harvey Nichols could now optimize each independently—unlocking strategic opportunities to test, refine, and innovate.
A stylish clothing store display featuring neatly arranged dress shirts, ties, and belts on shelves and a central table.

Results

£300K increase in estimated annual search revenue

+15pp increase in precision

+15pp increase in recall

+3% increase in search click-through rate

+6% increase in per search value

+9% of searches are now more accurate

92% reduction in search redirects

Reduced search management workflows and team maintenance load

Conclusion

With Fredhopper, Harvey Nichols unlocked a smarter, more efficient search experience that delivers measurable impact. By removing manual blockers and leveraging data-led insights, the luxury retailer significantly improved search quality—and now offers a frictionless journey tailored to its style-conscious shoppers.