The global Health and Beauty (H&B) market is booming. With new brands, innovative products, and trending ingredients emerging daily, shoppers have more choices than ever before. But for ecommerce businesses in this vibrant sector, this endless aisle presents a double-edged sword. While variety attracts shoppers, it can also lead to choice paralysis, abandoned carts, and a stagnant Average Order Value (AOV).

Acquiring a shopper is only half the battle. The real key to sustainable profitability lies in maximizing the value of each transaction. This is where AOV becomes your North Star metric. The challenge isn't just selling a single lipstick or serum; it's about inspiring the shopper and streamlining the path to purchase with a complementary liner, the full skincare routine, or that extra product they didn't even know they needed.

The solution lies in transforming how shoppers find your products. By implementing an intelligent, intuitive, and personalized product discovery experience, you can guide shoppers seamlessly from browsing to buying more, directly boosting your AOV and building a more loyal shopper base.

Why product discovery matters for health & beauty retailers?

Product discovery is the entire journey a shopper takes to find the item they want to purchase. It's far more than just typing for a query on a search bar; it's an interactive and curated experience, much like a personal consultation with trusted beauty experts. It anticipates needs, understands intent, and makes relevant suggestions.

This is especially critical for the unique H&B consumer. Shoppers aren't just looking for a product name; they are searching for solutions. Their queries are nuanced and personal: "vegan mascara for sensitive eyes," "hydrating serum without hyaluronic acid," or "shampoo for colour-treated frizzy hair." They are influenced by ingredients, brand ethics, and social proof. A generic, one-size-fits-all approach won't cut it.

A seamless product discovery journey acknowledges this complexity. It creates a frictionless path that educates and inspires, guiding customers not just to a product, but to the right products for their specific goals.

The power of intelligent product discovery

A truly effective product discovery engine is the ultimate shopping assistant; one that knows precisely how to increase basket size by enhancing the shopping experience.

Intelligent search & navigation

A "zero results" page is a dead end for your revenue. Modern shoppers expect search to understand them, not the other way around.

• Understanding natural language: Customers use colloquial terms and long-tail questions. An intelligent search powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP) can decipher this intent. A search for "help me get rid of tired eyes" should lead to eye creams and concealers, even if the exact keywords aren't in the product description.
• Forgiving typos and offering suggestions: Simple mistakes shouldn't derail the shopping journey. Auto-suggestions and typo tolerance ensure customers always land on a relevant results page, keeping them engaged and on-site.
• Personalized search results: The ultimate goal is to tailor the results to the individual. By leveraging a user's past browsing behavior, purchase history, and known preferences (like "cruelty-free"), you can reorder search results to show them what they are most likely to buy, dramatically increasing conversion potential.

Hyper-personalization and recommendations

Generic recommendations are noise. AI-driven personalization is what turns a single-item purchase into a full basket.

• AI-powered recommendations: By analysing vast amounts of data, AI can suggest genuinely complementary products. If a customer adds a specific shampoo to their cart, the engine should immediately recommend the matching conditioner, a heat-protectant spray from the same line, or a best-selling hair mask for their hair type.
• Creating routines and bundles: Go beyond "Shop the Look" and create a "Shop the Routine" experience. When a customer views a Vitamin C serum, you can showcase a complete morning skincare regimen—cleanser, toner, serum, moisturiser, and SPF—that works synergistically.
• Intelligent cross-selling and upselling: This is where AOV truly skyrockets. A sophisticated recommendation engine can identify the perfect moment to cross-sell (e.g., suggesting makeup remover pads with a mascara) or upsell (e.g., showing the larger, better-value size of a foundation).

Actionable strategies to lift your AOV today

Leveraging a powerful product discovery platform allows you to implement proven AOV-boosting tactics seamlessly.

• Offer "complete the routine" bundles: Group related products together (e.g., an "Anti-Aging Starter Kit") and offer them at a slight discount compared to buying each item individually.
• Implement a free shipping threshold: This is one of the most potent psychological incentives. A notification like, "You're only $500 away from free shipping!" encourages customers to add one more item to their cart.
• Use "frequently bought together" prompts: Display these logical pairings clearly on the product and cart pages to make adding complementary items an easy, one-click decision.
• Leverage visually similar recommendations: If a popular shade of foundation is out of stock, don't lose the sale. An AI-powered engine can instantly suggest visually similar shades from the same or different brands.
• Reward higher spending: Implement a loyalty program with tiered rewards to encourage higher spending. The more a customer spends, the better the perks, allowing for larger and more frequent purchases.

The Netcore Unbxd advantage

Implementing these strategies requires a robust, AI-first platform. Solutions like Netcore Unbxd provide the underlying technology to make this a reality. By integrating real-time personalization, AI-powered recommendations, and advanced search capabilities, you can automate and optimize the entire product discovery journey. The result is not just a higher AOV, but a vastly improved customer experience that fosters loyalty and drives long-term growth.

Real-world results: How DoctorOnCall boosted AOV with smarter discovery

DoctorOnCall, Malaysia’s leading digital health platform, faced challenges with inaccurate search results and a high bounce rate due to outdated product discovery tools. After integrating Netcore Unbxd’s AI-powered search with NLP, Vector Search, and KPI-driven merchandising, the results were transformative. Shoppers could now find highly relevant products, such as matching “knee pain” queries to actual support items, improving both speed and satisfaction. The impact? A 24% increase in average order value, alongside a 53% drop in bounce rates and a 13% lift in conversions. DoctorOnCall’s success illustrates how precision-driven discovery doesn’t just guide users—it meaningfully grows revenue.

From browsing to buying more

In the competitive Health & Beauty landscape, the right product discovery strategy is no longer a "nice-to-have"—it's a direct and consequential driver of your bottom line. By making it effortless for customers to find what they need and discover new products they'll love, you can naturally and effectively increase your Average Order Value. You're not just selling products; you're providing solutions, building routines, and becoming a trusted partner in your customer's beauty and wellness journey.

Ready to transform your customer experience and boost your AOV? Explore how Netcore Unbxd's specialized solutions for Health & Beauty can help you achieve your ecommerce goals.