WooCommerce stores typically needed dedicated filter plugins — WooCommerce AJAX Product Filter, WooCommerce Layered Nav, Yith WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter — to provide customers with faceted search and collection filtering. Shopify's built-in Search & Discovery app (free, included with all plans) provides robust native filtering and search customisation that replaces most WooCommerce filter plugin functionality. This guide covers configuring Search & Discovery and when a third-party search app is needed instead.

Shopify Search & Discovery: what it does

Free app, built by Shopify — install from App Store → Search & Discovery
Collection filters: Add filterable attributes to collection pages — customers filter products by price, size, colour, material, brand, availability, and any product metafield
Search customisation: Add synonyms ("sofa" = "couch"), boost specific products in results, hide irrelevant results
Product recommendations: Configure "Frequently bought together", "You might also like", and "Recently viewed" recommendations for product pages
Search analytics: See what customers are searching for — queries with no results, top search terms, conversion rate by query

Collection filters setup

Filters appear on collection pages and allow customers to narrow products. Available filter types:

Product availability: "In stock only" / "Include out of stock" — automatically included
Price range: Slider or price bracket — automatically included
Product options: Size, colour, material — based on your variant options. Displayed as checkboxes or colour swatches.
Product tags: Filter by any product tag. Useful for custom attributes added as tags (e.g., "eco-friendly", "sale").
Product type: Filter by product type field (Shopify's native product type, not metafield).
Vendor/brand: Filter by product vendor. Useful for multi-brand stores.
Metafields: Filter by any product metafield — this is the most powerful feature. Add filters for material, care level, pet-safe, or any custom metafield you've created.

Configuring filters in Search & Discovery

Shopify admin → Apps → Search & Discovery → Filters
Add filter: click "Add filter" → choose filter type (product option, metafield, tag, availability, price)
Filter label: rename filter labels to customer-friendly terms ("Material" not "product.metafields.clothing.fabric")
Filter display: choose between checkboxes, swatches, or a list. Colour swatches display hex codes as colour chips.
Filter order: drag to reorder filters. Price and availability filters are typically at the top; specific attribute filters below.
Limit options shown: if a filter has 30+ options, configure to show 8 initially with a "Show more" link.

Search synonyms

Synonyms solve mismatched vocabulary between your product naming and customer language
Examples: "sofa" → "couch", "trainers" → "sneakers", "torch" → "flashlight", "nappy" → "diaper"
One-way synonyms: "couch" returns sofa results, but "sofa" searches only return sofa results. Use for regional vocabulary.
Two-way synonyms: searching either term returns the same results. Use for true equivalents.
Configure in Search & Discovery → Synonyms → Add synonym
Review search analytics: the "Searches with no results" report reveals where synonyms are needed. If 200 customers searched "joggers" and found nothing (because you call them "jogging bottoms"), add a synonym.

Product boosts and pins

Pin a product: Force a specific product to appear first in search results for a query. Use for promotional products or flagship items. Search & Discovery → Search → Pin product for query.
Boost a product: Increase a product's rank in search results without pinning it to first. More natural than pinning.
Hide a product from search: Exclude a product from all search results — useful for internal or wholesale-only products that shouldn't appear in customer search.

Product recommendations

Shopify's recommendation algorithm uses purchase behaviour and product relationships. You can customise it:

Frequently bought together: Products commonly purchased in the same order. Algorithm-driven, not manually configured.
Related products: Products with similar tags, product type, or collections. Algorithm-driven.
Manual recommendations: Override the algorithm with manually selected related products — useful for complementary accessories (a camera bag on a camera product page).
In Search & Discovery: Recommendations tab → select a product → add or override related product recommendations
Theme display: recommendations appear on product pages in a "You might also like" or "Customers also bought" section. Ensure your theme renders the recommendation block — some themes require enabling this in settings.

WooCommerce filter plugin equivalent mapping

WooCommerce plugin	Shopify Search & Discovery equivalent
WooCommerce Layered Nav (built-in)	Search & Discovery filters — direct equivalent
YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter	Search & Discovery filters (no AJAX lag in Shopify)
WooCommerce Product Search	Search & Discovery search + synonyms
Faceted Search for WooCommerce	Search & Discovery metafield filters
Advanced Woo Search	Search & Discovery or third-party (Searchanise, Boost Commerce)
SearchWP	Third-party Shopify search app for advanced needs

When to use a third-party search app

Shopify Search & Discovery covers 80–90% of use cases. Consider a third-party app if you need:

Visual search: Upload a photo to find similar products (camera-search). Apps: Visually, SearchPie
AI-powered personalisation: Results personalised per user based on browsing history. Apps: Boost Commerce, Findify
Advanced analytics: Detailed conversion funnel by search query. Apps: Searchanise, Boost Commerce
Full-text search across descriptions and metafields: Shopify Search & Discovery indexes titles, tags, SKU, and variant options — not full product descriptions. For stores where description content is searchable (ingredients, technical specs), a third-party app is needed.
Autocomplete with product previews: Search suggestions with product images in the dropdown. Some themes include this; others need an app.
Large catalogues (10,000+ SKUs): Performance-optimised search for very large catalogues benefits from a dedicated search infrastructure.

Search & Discovery migration checklist

Install Shopify Search & Discovery app (free)
Identify all WooCommerce filter options currently available — replicate in Search & Discovery filters
Set up filters: price, availability, size, colour, material, brand — all relevant product attributes
Add metafield-based filters for any custom product data (fabric type, care level, induction compatible, etc.)
Configure colour swatches for colour filter display
Set filter order — price and availability at top, specific attributes below
Add search synonyms for UK/US vocabulary differences and common search terms
Review initial search analytics 2 weeks after launch — identify "no results" queries and add synonyms
Configure product recommendations on top 20% of products (highest traffic)
Test filters on collection pages — verify correct products appear for each filter combination
Test search: search for a product by tag, by SKU, by category — verify correct results
Cancel WooCommerce filter plugin subscriptions post-migration

Search analytics is the most underused feature of Shopify Search & Discovery — and the most valuable data source for understanding what customers actually want. The "Searches with no results" report typically reveals 15–25% of search queries returning empty results: products you don't stock (opportunity to expand range), products you stock under a different name (synonyms needed), and products that exist but aren't indexed correctly (metafield data missing). Review this report weekly for the first month after migration, add synonyms aggressively, and use the data to inform buying decisions. If 500 customers searched "linen duvet cover" and found nothing, either you need to stock linen duvet covers or you need to ensure your linen bedding is tagged and titled correctly. The search data tells you exactly where to focus product and merchandising efforts.

Shopify search & discovery setup after WooCommerce (2026)