It is generally advantageous for stores with lots of products (50+) to have a prominent search bar visible at all times. Shoppers who use search bars are 1.8 times more likely to make a purchase, with conversion rates significantly higher than the site average.
There are currently no free Shopify themes that include a long search bar. Fortunately, there’s an app available that lets you add one to your Shopify header for free.
Rapid AI Search Bar
The Rapid AI Search Bar & Filter app allows you to add a smart search bar to your Shopify store for free up to 5000 products. With its smart search and discovery features, customers can enjoy tailored, relevant search results and find products using custom collection and product filters.
Get the Rapid AI Search Bar & Filter App
The app provides real time search analytics to give you valuable keyword insights to boost your marketing campaigns, all without needing to write any code. You’ll also benefit from unlimited multilingual support.
Key features include a search bar, personalized search recommendations, rapid search results, and advanced merchandising tools that let you pin, demote, or hide products in search results. Other features include search recommendations, autocorrect, and synonym management for a smoother browsing experience.
Plus, this super lightweight app won’t slow down your store. It can handle up to 1 million products, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
Installing Search Bar
After installing the app, you can turn it on in your theme editor’s app embeds section.
Enable the position picker, and choose an element to anchor the search bar to. Make sure to click the small save button in the top right hand corner. Then save your theme.
Turn off the position picker so it doesn’t get in the way of editing.
Fixing the Layout on Desktop
I would recommend putting the search bar under the header as the most aesthetically pleasing position. In the above example, I have set my site width to 1000px and the search bar’s width to 890px x 37px.
Conclusion
A prominent search bar is essential for Shopify stores, and while free Shopify themes lack this feature, the Rapid AI Search Bar & Filter app offers it for free on stores with up to 5,000 products. This app is a must-have for stores with many products.