Challenges and Research Opportunities in eCommerce Search and Recommendations

Tracy Holloway King, Manos Tsagkias, Surya Kallumadi, Vanessa Murdock

Abstract:

With the rapid adoption of online shopping, academic research in the eCommerce domain
has gained traction. However, significant research challenges remain, spanning from classic
eCommerce search problems such as matching textual queries to multi-modal documents and
ranking optimization for two-sided marketplaces to human-computer interaction and recommender
systems for discovery and browsing. These research areas are important for understanding
customer behavior, driving engagement, and improving product discoverability and
conversion. In this article we identify the challenges and highlight research opportunities to
improve the eCommerce customer experience.