# Target researchers report conversion gain from hybrid product search

_Published Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 2:14 PM EDT · Science, AI · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

Target researchers report that a product search system combining keyword and meaning-based matching raised order conversion by 0.98% compared with keyword-only search. The system blends results from both methods while controlling which products appear in the final list.

In online A/B tests, it also raised click-through rate by 0.97% and demand per visitor by 1.10%, while roughly halving searches that returned no results. The researchers say the system serves millions of Target shoppers daily. The results are reported in a preprint by the team that built it.

## Sources

- [cs.LG updates on arXiv.org](https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.31498)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/xyXFbErsbnniQVJrG4EJtp
Published: 2026-09-29T18:14:58.854Z
Story chronology: 2026-09-29T04:00:00.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-09-29T19:39:52.346Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)