searchHub Customer:
HELLWEG Die Profi-Bau- & Gartenmärkte

Smart Search: HELLWEG Boosts KPIs by 12% with searchHub

Customer in Focus

HELLWEG Profi-Bau- & Gartenmärkte is a leading German DIY and garden center chain with numerous store locations and a comprehensive online shop offering over 100,000 SKUs.

The Challenge: Taking Search Relevance and Scalability to the Next Level

After migrating to Shopware 6, HELLWEG faced the challenge of optimizing the store’s search functionality.

Niclas, E-Commerce Project Manager, recalls: “The default Shopware search, based on Elasticsearch, often delivered slow and imprecise results after importing our large product catalog. Managing synonyms manually was extremely time-consuming, and the relevance of search results was unsatisfactory.”

searchHub Integration and Optimization of Elasticsearch Search

HELLWEG chose searchHub, impressed by its proven potential for performance uplift and automation.

The integration was seamless. This sparked the idea to further enhance their existing Elasticsearch technology—powered by searchHub’s data and expertise.
Niclas explains: “We wanted to see how far we could take our own Elasticsearch instance by feeding it with the insights and logic from searchHub.”

KPIs increased by 10–12% in A/B testing—alongside improved performance. This was a best-of-breed approach built on our own infrastructure.

Niclas Block Project Manager Ecommerce -
HELLWEG Die Profi-Bau- & Gartenmärkte

Data-Driven Elasticsearch Optimization

Under searchHub’s guidance, keyword clusters were leveraged to strategically enhance the Elasticsearch database.

New, meaningful data fields were identified to improve searchability.
The search logic was refined—more precision for exact queries, greater tolerance when needed, and no longer defaulting to a broad “OR” matching of all terms.
Field weights were recalibrated, and optimized boosts were implemented—all backed by data-driven insights.

Measurable Success

“The A/B test—where we compared the searchHub-optimized Elasticsearch query variant against our original setup—revealed a significant uplift in key KPIs by 10–12%, along with improved performance,” says Niclas.

“It was a best-of-breed approach that demonstrated what’s possible on an existing Elasticsearch foundation when combined with expert guidance and searchHub’s technology.”

Tangible Results and New Strategic Dimensions with searchHub

The partnership with searchHub and the resulting optimizations quickly led to significant improvements:

Smart Automation: smartQuery automatically detects synonyms (e.g., “brush cutter” / “grass trimmer”) and clusters related terms—dramatically reducing manual effort.
Enhanced User Guidance: smartSuggest now delivers even more relevant suggestions for keywords, categories, and products directly within the search bar.
AI-Powered Navigation with AI-Redirects: Customers are automatically redirected to the most relevant category or campaign page based on specific search queries—shortening the customer journey and boosting conversion rates.
Data-Driven Optimization: The searchHub Dashboard provides performance metrics like “Findability,” enabling continuous, objective improvement of the search experience.
Strategic Use of Search Data: HELLWEG leverages insights from searchHub’s Popular Queries to align marketing campaigns and homepage content with current trends.
Streamlined Multi-Shop Management: hellweg.de and baywa-baumarkt.de are managed efficiently under a single searchHub tenant—despite linguistic nuances—saving valuable time on search maintenance.

Looking Ahead: Search as a Central Success Factor

For HELLWEG, on-site search has become a strategic success factor—thanks to searchHub.

Niclas sums it up: “searchHub has significantly elevated our search experience. The intelligent automation, deep analytics, and collaborative partnership—even enhancing our own Elasticsearch solution—align perfectly with our e-commerce strategy.”

This experience proves that searchHub is far more than just a tool provider. The team consistently thinks beyond technical boundaries and never leaves their clients behind—even beyond their own interfaces.
Search is part of their DNA—a blend of expertise and passion that’s felt throughout every phase of the partnership.