Enable website-level search providers
Optimizely Configured Commerce lets you run a different Search Provider on individual websites, even when those websites share a single Search Indexer. This is a specific use case of migrating to Commerce Search v3.This page covers the website-level provider scenario only. For the full Commerce Search v3 migration, see Commerce Search v3 overview. For the full list of search settings, see Search settings.
How the Search Indexer and Search Provider work together
Configured Commerce separates two roles, both set in the Admin Console under Settings > Search. The Search Indexer builds the search index. It is a global setting that applies to the whole application. The Search Provider serves queries against that index. It is set per website, so each website can serve search from a different provider.Both can use one of the following:
- Commerce Search v1 (formerly Elasticsearch)
- Commerce Search v2 (formerly Elasticsearch v7)
- Commerce Search v3 (Vertex AI Search, also known as Retail Search)
When the Search Indexer is Commerce Search v3, only Commerce Search v2 and Commerce Search v3 are selectable as the Search Provider. Commerce Search v1 is not available in this configuration.
The website-level provider use case
Normally, the Search Provider and Search Indexer are both set to the same provider globally, and that setting applies to every website. This is true whether you use Commerce Search v1, Commerce Search v2, or Commerce Search v3.Commerce Search v3 adds one extra option: with the global Search Provider set to Commerce Search v3, you can override the Search Provider on a specific website to Commerce Search v2. A single index built by Commerce Search v3 can then serve some websites through Commerce Search v3 (Retail Search) and others through Commerce Search v2 (Elasticsearch v7).
Single-website configurations Pairing Commerce Search v2 as the Search Provider with Commerce Search v3 as the Search Indexer is only meaningful when you have multiple websites and want different websites to use different providers. If you have a single website, this combination provides no benefit. Configure Commerce Search v2 as both the Search Indexer and the Search Provider instead.
Set a Search Provider for a website
- In the Admin Console, go to Settings > Search.
- Confirm Search Indexer Name is set to Commerce Search v3.
- Select the website you want to configure.
- Set Search Provider Name for that website to Commerce Search v2 (Elasticsearch v7) or Commerce Search v3 (Retail Search).
- Review the settings reset by the change (see below) and reconfigure the ones you need.
- Run a full index rebuild from Marketing > Indexing > Rebuild All.
Settings reset when you enable Commerce Search v3
Switching the Search Indexer or Search Provider to Commerce Search v3 resets several search settings to their defaults. After you change the provider or indexer, review and reconfigure your search settings before you rely on the results.
When you set the Search Indexer to Commerce Search v3, Configured Commerce automatically turns off some of the Elasticsearch-oriented settings, because they do not apply to Commerce Search v3. Similarly, when you set the Search Provider to Commerce Search v3, Configured Commerce automatically turns off certain Elasticsearch-specific settings.
Settings visibility with mixed providers
Because the Search Provider is per website, the global Search Provider can differ from the providers in use on individual websites. When the global Search Provider is Commerce Search v3 but at least one website uses Commerce Search v2, some of the Elasticsearch (Commerce Search v2) settings remain visible at the global level.