Why is search the lever marketplaces pull hardest as they scale? Because on a platform with millions of listings, search is how shoppers cut through to what they want — and small improvements touch every transaction. Ozon, one of Russia’s largest marketplaces, made AI search central to its rapid growth.
The result: Ozon achieved a 64% revenue surge in 2024, with AI-driven product search and personalization playing a key role in scaling its marketplace.
Search makes scale usable#
A marketplace’s catalog is its asset and its obstacle: enormous selection is only valuable if shoppers can navigate it. As Ozon grew — to 57 million active buyers ordering 26+ times a year — search and personalization became the mechanism that kept that scale usable. Without strong search, more listings just means more noise; with it, every new product is findable by the shoppers who want it.
AI search interprets shopper intent, ranks by relevance, and personalizes to each buyer, helping convert the platform’s vast selection into the 64% revenue surge of 2024.
How AI search works#
AI search understands what shoppers mean rather than matching keywords, ranking results by relevance and likelihood to convert, personalized to the individual.
Three capabilities matter at marketplace scale. Semantic understanding maps messy queries to the right products across millions of listings. Personalized ranking orders results around each shopper’s behavior. And recommendation integration rescues vague or zero-result queries with curated suggestions.
Why search compounds with growth#
The strategic point is that search is the layer that lets a marketplace keep converting as it scales. Add millions of listings without improving search and shoppers drown; improve search and the growing catalog becomes a deeper, more valuable selection for every shopper. Because search touches every transaction, even fractional relevance gains aggregate into large revenue effects — which is how AI search helps power a 64% surge.
What this means for your store#
You don’t need marketplace scale for the principle to hold:
- Use semantic AI search so shoppers find products even when their words don’t match listings.
- Personalize search ranking to each shopper’s behavior and context.
- Pair search with recommendations so no query dead-ends.
Selection only converts if shoppers can navigate it. AI search is what makes a growing catalog an asset.
Bring AI search to your store with CartAmplify#
CartAmplify brings marketplace-grade AI search to any store — Shopify, dropshipping, or marketplace. Semantic, personalized search that turns selection into sales.
Related reading#
- How Ozon’s AI Discovery Helped Power 64% GMV Growth
- How M&S Engaged 450K Shoppers with AI Style Discovery
- How Rituals Lifted Conversions 85% with AI Search
Revenue figures cited from publicly reported Ozon 2024 results. Results vary by catalog, traffic, and implementation.
