Did you know that e-commerce sites with poor search functionality lose up to 30% of their potential sales? If you’re using Magento 2 Elasticsearch, you’re in luck because it integrates seamlessly with this platform, transforming your store’s search capabilities.
Magento 2 is a powerful e-commerce platform. It allows merchants to create and manage their online stores easily. Magento 2 update had a great performance improvement and added tons of new features. One feature that makes Magento 2 so powerful is the integration of Elasticsearch.
This blog will explore this useful feature and how it works with Magento 2. We’ll also see how you can configure it to improve your customers’ search experience.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned Magento developer or starting e-commerce. This guide will help you configure Magento 2 Elasticsearch to get the most out of your online store.
So, let’s learn more about Magento 2 Elasticsearch!
What is Elasticsearch?
Elastic Search in Magento 2 is an open-source search engine based on the Apache Lucene library. It provides a distributed, multitenant-capable full-text search engine. It also provides an HTTP web interface and schema-free JSON documents.
It is based on the Apache Lucene search library. It supports many features, including full-text search, real-time analytics, and data visualization.
Elasticsearch can be used to search for data across many indices and types. It is often used for full-text search, log, security, and business analytics.
You would’ve gotten some idea about elastic search. Now, let us know what Magento 2 Elasticsearch means.
Magento 2 Elasticsearch is an open-source, highly scalable search engine powering eCommerce stores. It provides advanced full-text search capabilities. The Apache Lucene library powers it.
It also provides improved relevance and performance compared to the default search engine in Magento 2. It can be used for autocomplete, advanced search queries, and analytics.
Features of Elasticsearch Magento 2
Magento 2 Elasticsearch can be a powerful tool for customer satisfaction and conversion rates. It helps enhance search efficiency and aligns with the ever-changing needs of e-commerce. It’s a most essential element for any Magento 2 store.
This Elasticsearch comes with tons of useful features such as fast search results, synonym support, filtering options, multi-language support, scalability, and many more.
To understand its features in a better way, let’s dive deep into its main ones.
1. Faster Search Results – Elasticsearch delivers the search results almost instantly. Regardless of how complex or difficult-to-understand the query might be, it will provide you with the result in a split-second. This will ensure customer satisfaction, as they won’t have to wait long.
2. Optimized for Large Catalogs – One of the most beautiful features of Elasticsearch is its ability to handle huge product catalogs easily. It can effortlessly index the chunks of product catalog data and help the customers browse and find the required products easily.
3. Full-Text Search and Synonym Support – The full-text search feature allows customers to find products using incomplete keywords, phrases, or variations. It’s also called Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). The support of synonyms further helps this by providing relevant results from the related terms.
4. Autocomplete and Suggestions – The autocomplete and suggestion feature provides the customers with autocomplete as they type in the query, just like in the Google search engine. The suggestions appear in the dropdown, helping the customer to easily find their required results and taking away the pain of typing in the whole query.
5. Advanced Filtering Options – This advanced filtering option feature helps the customer find exactly what they need based on the attributes they enter, such as category, price, size, color, brand, or any other.
6. Error Tolerance – Elasticsearch tolerates errors or typos like spelling mistakes or incorrect inputs by the users. It will ensure the correct results are provided regardless of user mistakes. This will help reduce the customers’ frustration and increase engagement.
7. Customizable Search Algorithms – Elasticsearch allows the Magento 2 merchants to give importance to specific products or categories. This flexibility helps businesses align search results with their sales strategy.
8. Multi-Language Support – For businesses catering to a global audience, Elasticsearch provides robust multi-language search capabilities. It supports different languages and characters, delivering accurate results for users from diverse regions.
Benefits of Magento 2 Elasticsearch
Here are some of the benefits of Magento 2 Elasticsearch:
1. Faster Search & Improved Relevancy: It provides faster search results. It also provides more relevant results for customers.
2. Easy Installation & Configuration: It is easy to install and configure.
3. Highly Scalable: It is highly scalable. It can also handle large amounts of data.
4. Secure: It is secure, providing tight access control.
5. Automated Indexing: It automatically indexes data as it is added or modified.
6. Rich Querying Capabilities: It provides rich querying capabilities to retrieve more accurate and relevant search results.
7. Analytical & Reporting Tools: Analytical and reporting tools are used to gain insights into customer behavior.
8. Enhanced User Experience: Search results are displayed in a more user-friendly format, with facets and filters. This enables customers to narrow down their search quickly and easily.
9. Auto-Suggest Feature: It offers an auto-suggest feature for customers, making it easier to find the products they seek.
Magento 2 Elasticsearch Configuration Prerequisites
Before you can start using Elasticsearch with Magento 2, there are a few prerequisites that you need to meet.
- Elasticsearch Server: To use Elasticsearch with Magento 2, you need to have an Elasticsearch server set up and run. This can be done on a local machine or remote server. You will also need to know the server’s address and port number so Magento can connect.
- PHP Extension: Magento 2 uses the PHP extension “elasticsearch” to connect to the Elasticsearch server. This extension needs to be installed and enabled on your server.
- Elasticsearch Version: Magento 2 only supports specific versions of Elasticsearch, so it is essential to check that your Elasticsearch server is running a compatible version. The recommended version for Magento 2.4.x is 7.6.x, and for Magento 2.3.x, it is 6.8.x.
After checking these prerequisites, you can now configure Magento 2 Elasticsearch to exploit its powerful search capabilities.
How to Easily Configure Magento 2 Elasticsearch in 3 Steps
Step 1: Catalog Search Configuration
Log in to your Magento admin panel. Go to Stores > Settings > Configuration
- Now select Catalog under CATALOG from the left side panel.
- Next, expand the
Catalog Searchsection. - Here, clear the
Use System Valuefor theSearch Enginefield and select the latest version of Elasticsearch.
In this section, you can also specify the following settings:
- Minimum Query Length: Users must write at least this many characters before seeing Magento 2 Elasticsearch recommendations or suggestions. In this instance, the system default value is 3.
- Maximum Query Length: Users can only type up to many characters to view results. In this instance, the system default value is 128.
- Number of top search results to cache: For quicker answers, you can limit the number of popular search results by setting the corresponding value in this field. 100 is the default value. When a value of 0 is entered, all search words and results are cached for later entry.
- Enable or disable EAV Indexer: EAV Indexer can be turned on or off to increase indexation speed and prevent third-party extensions from using it.
- Autocomplete Limit: Set an amount for Autocomplete Limit to restrict the maximum search results displayed for Magento 2 Elasticsearch autocomplete. Limiting this quantity improves search efficiency and lessens the size of the displayed list. The standard setting is 8.
Step 2: Elasticsearch Search Connection Configuration
You will need to configure Magento to connect to it by going to the Magento admin panel and navigating to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search. You can specify the Elasticsearch server’s hostname, port, and other settings here.
Elasticsearch Server Hostname: In this field, type the hostname for the Elasticsearch server. Localhost is used by default.
Elasticsearch Server Port: Enter the Elasticsearch Server Port in this field.
Elasticsearch Index Prefix: To find the Elasticsearch index, define a prefix in the Elasticsearch Index Prefix field.
Enable Elasticsearch HTTP Auth: Choose Yes to enable HTTP authentication in the Enable Elasticsearch HTTP Auth field and enter a username and password to access the Elasticsearch server.
Elasticsearch Server Timeout: In this field, enter the number of seconds before which the system times out. The default value is 15.
After configuring all the fields, click the Test Connection button to confirm the configuration.
Step 3: Elasticsearch Recommendations Configuration
Magento 2 Elasticsearch can be configured to provide customer recommendations and suggestions based on their search queries and browsing history. This can improve the customer experience by providing relevant and personalized recommendations and suggestions.
To configure Magento 2 Elasticsearch recommendations and suggestions, you will first need to ensure that your Elasticsearch server is configured correctly and connected to Magento. Once the connection is established, you can enable recommendations and suggestions by going to the Magento admin panel and navigating to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Catalog Search.
Here, you can set the value of the field Enable Search Recommendations to ‘Yes’ and configure the settings for recommendations.
Once you enable this option, two additional fields will appear: Search Recommendations Count and Show Results Count for Each Recommendation.
Search Recommendations Count: Define the number of search recommendations in the Search Recommendations Count.
Show Results Count for Each Recommendation: The result would be shown with each recommendation if the option to Show Results Count for Each Recommendation is set to Yes.
Now, you can configure the settings for suggestions by setting the value of the field Enable Search Suggestions to Yes.
Search Suggestions Count: Define the count for search suggestions in the Search Suggestions Count. Each search returns an average of two suggestions.
Show Results Count for Each Suggestion: The count for each suggestion would be shown if the option to Show Results Count for Each Suggestion is set to Yes.
Minimum Terms to Match: Set a value for Minimal Terms to Match to indicate the minimum number of terms from your query that the search results must match to be returned. This guarantees that shoppers get the most relevant results.
It’s important to note that the recommendations and suggestions will only be displayed if the Elasticsearch server can return results for the customer’s search query. So, make sure that your Elasticsearch server is configured correctly and indexed before enabling recommendations and suggestions.
Configuring Magento 2 Elasticsearch recommendations and suggestions can help improve the customer experience by providing relevant and personalized recommendations and suggestions based on their search queries and browsing history. With the proper configurations, it can increase the chances of customer conversion.
Why Magento2 Elastcisearch May Stop Working?
Magento 2 Elasticsearch is one of the most reliable search tools on which you can place your bet. However, for several reasons, there is also the chance that it may stop functioning. Identifying and troubleshooting the issue will be required to resurrect its functionality.
I’ve listed down some of the common reasons why Elasticsearch may stop working.
- Improper settings in Magento’s admin panel, such as incorrect Elasticsearch server hostname, port, or index name.
- Server connection issues can prevent Magento 2 from connecting to the Elasticsearch service.
- Using an unsupported version can lead to compatibility issues and disrupt search functionality.
- Due to the limited resources like CPU, RAM, and disk space, Elasticsearch can stop working.
- Outdated indexing in Elasticsearch can also prevent search results from appearing.
- Some third-party extensions or custom modules in Magento may conflict with Elasticsearch and cause errors.
- Running an outdated Magento or Elasticsearch version can also negatively affect Elasticsearch.
- Misconfigured SSL configurations can block communication between Magento 2 and Elasticsearch.
Troubleshooting Common Elasticsearch Issues
Following are some of the cases of Elasticsearch issues. Let’s look at these issues in detail and try to understand how to troubleshoot these issues.
Case 1: Data Mapping Errors
Data mapping errors are among the most prevalent problems encountered by Magento 2 users while dealing with Elasticsearch. It usually happens when the data type in Elasticsearch does not match the data type in Magento 2.
To fix data mapping issues, ensure that the data types in Elasticsearch match those in Magento 2. You can accomplish this by accurately mapping the data during the setup process or by adjusting the mapping settings in Elasticsearch to match the data types in Magento 2.
Case 2: Search Result Relevance Issues
Another issue that consumers may find is a lack of relevance in search results. This happens when Elasticsearch’s search results do not accurately match the user’s search query.
Solution: To address search result relevance difficulties, you must adjust Elasticsearch to improve search result relevance. To improve the relevancy of search results, alter the relevancy scoring parameters in Elasticsearch or optimize the data in Magento 2.
Case 3: Indexing Errors
Indexing errors are also a prevalent problem when using Elasticsearch in Magento 2. When Elasticsearch can’t index new data or existing data becomes corrupted, these errors occur.
Solution: To address indexing issues, you must first troubleshoot the indexing process to determine the source of the problem. This may entail inspecting the logs in Magento 2 and Elasticsearch for problems or discrepancies. Once the root cause has been identified, you can take corrective action, such as reindexing the data or rebuilding the index.
FAQs
- What is Elasticsearch in Magento 2?
Elasticsearch helps Magento 2 sites quickly find products and data using smart search. - Why should I enable Elasticsearch in Magento 2?
It improves search accuracy, speeds up results, and boosts user experience. - How do I set up Elasticsearch in Magento 2?
Configure it in Magento Admin under Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search.
Conclusion
Elasticsearch is a strong technology that may considerably improve your Magento 2 eCommerce store’s search capabilities. Elasticsearch can improve the customer experience and increase sales for your company by giving fast and accurate search results.
This blog has covered Elasticsearch and how it interacts with Magento 2. We’ve also included a step-by-step guide for configuring it, listed some common issues, and explained how you can troubleshoot them.
Following this blog’s tips and best practices, you can optimize your Elasticsearch integration and take your online store to the next level.
However, we recommend getting Magento development services if you still need help following the process or wish to install and configure Magento 2 Elasticsearch seamlessly.
We hope you have found this information helpful, and we encourage you to continue learning more about Magento 2 and how to make the most of its features.
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Are you ready to integrate Elasticsearch into your Magento store? Contact HumCommerce today for help!
