Why 80% of your catalog is invisible
If your products aren’t showing up, they aren’t selling.
It’s an obvious truth. And in physical retail, there are clear limits—shelf space, customer attention, store hours. But in e-commerce, the digital shelf is supposed to be infinite, always open, always full. So why do most retailers still see only a fraction of their inventory actually perform?
Here’s the reality:
👉 In large online stores, 70–80% of products generate no meaningful organic traffic.
👉 That means they’re practically invisible in search.
👉 And invisible products don’t convert.
Retailers with deep catalogs—hundreds of thousands or even millions of SKUs—feel this most acutely. Despite the promise of digital scale, most of their inventory lives in the dark.
Let’s unpack what’s really going on.
The gap shows up in three painful ways:
The rest rarely do.
E-commerce sites structured around tidy product filters and categories aren’t built to handle this. Result: most long-tail and exploratory search traffic goes elsewhere.
Nike doesn’t just optimize product pages. They create a search-first experience. Whether someone searches for “Pegasus 40 size 10” or “best marathon shoe for beginners,” Nike is there.
This isn’t just visibility—it’s authority. Customers don’t stumble onto Nike; they actively seek it out. Because Nike shows up early, often, and with relevance.
AI makes it possible to:
Retailers that invest in this now will spend less on paid, grow faster, and build stronger relationships with their customers. Those who don’t will keep feeding the ad machine—and wondering why margins shrink.
There’s revenue hiding in your catalog.
The question is: Are you going to find it—or let your competitors do it first?
It’s an obvious truth. And in physical retail, there are clear limits—shelf space, customer attention, store hours. But in e-commerce, the digital shelf is supposed to be infinite, always open, always full. So why do most retailers still see only a fraction of their inventory actually perform?
Here’s the reality:
👉 In large online stores, 70–80% of products generate no meaningful organic traffic.
👉 That means they’re practically invisible in search.
👉 And invisible products don’t convert.
Retailers with deep catalogs—hundreds of thousands or even millions of SKUs—feel this most acutely. Despite the promise of digital scale, most of their inventory lives in the dark.
This Isn’t Just an SEO Problem—It’s a Structural Issue
Earlier this year, Retail Economics reported that UK retailers lose £6.7 billion annually due to unfindable online products. That’s not just leakage—it’s systemic failure in how inventory is presented and discovered online.Let’s unpack what’s really going on.
The Disconnect: Search Behavior vs. Product Data
Most e-commerce systems still rely on internal product data—descriptions, categories, and specs—written from a brand or supplier perspective. Meanwhile, consumers search with messy, inconsistent, and trend-driven language.The gap shows up in three painful ways:
1. SEO at Scale is Nearly Impossible
Sure, product pages can be optimised—but when you’ve got 100,000 SKUs? Manual keyword research, content writing, and performance tracking just don’t scale. Even with a strong SEO team, you’re forced to prioritise your top sellers and hope the rest catch up.The rest rarely do.
2. Search Behaviour is Splintering
The way people search is changing fast. AI tools, voice assistants, and generational differences mean customers now type (or speak) queries like:- “running shoes for wide feet 2025”
- “best waterproof boots for Scotland trip”
- “need black sneakers size 10, lightweight”
E-commerce sites structured around tidy product filters and categories aren’t built to handle this. Result: most long-tail and exploratory search traffic goes elsewhere.
3. Paid Ads Can’t Cover the Gap
Retailers spend big on performance marketing, but ads mainly chase high-intent, bottom-funnel searches. The rest—long-tail, early-stage, or exploratory queries—are ignored because they don’t immediately convert. So you keep paying more for fewer returns while half your catalog sits idle.Who’s Doing it Right?
Take Nike. On SimilarWeb, you’ll find:- ~240 unique search terms per product
- ~70 landing pages per product
Nike doesn’t just optimize product pages. They create a search-first experience. Whether someone searches for “Pegasus 40 size 10” or “best marathon shoe for beginners,” Nike is there.
This isn’t just visibility—it’s authority. Customers don’t stumble onto Nike; they actively seek it out. Because Nike shows up early, often, and with relevance.
What About Everyone Else?
At Aloome, we analyse more than 1,000 e-commerce stores on a yearly basis. Here’s what we found:- 90% have fewer than one landing page per product.
- 50% have less than one keyword per product optimised for organic search.
The Solution: Scalable Organic Visibility
The tech hasn’t been there—until now.AI makes it possible to:
- Detect how real people are searching
- Automatically generate SEO-optimised pages for every product
- Continuously adapt based on live search behaviour
- Enterprise-grade: stable, secure, scalable
- Search-native: built with deep SEO and marketing logic
- Adaptive: able to evolve with trends, seasons, and language
Organic is the Next Performance Channel
Organic search is no longer a “nice-to-have” or a long-term brand play. It’s a scalable acquisition engine. And it compounds.Retailers that invest in this now will spend less on paid, grow faster, and build stronger relationships with their customers. Those who don’t will keep feeding the ad machine—and wondering why margins shrink.
There’s revenue hiding in your catalog.
The question is: Are you going to find it—or let your competitors do it first?
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