Shoppers in a parts store search differently. They don’t type “something for my washing machine”. They type the number printed on the old part, and they expect the right part first.
When that search fails, the cause is almost never that the part is missing. It is that the number is written one way in the catalog and another way in the search box.
Why part number searches fail
A part number has a few common sources of variation:
- Separators.
92-442-167,92 442 167,92.442.167and92442167are the same number. Labels, manuals and invoices all print it differently. - Letter case.
6206ZZC3and6206zzc3. - Where the number is stored. Your SKU is in the variant. The maker’s number might be in a metafield, the OEM number in the description (“Replaces OEM 92-442-167”), and an old number nowhere.
- Which number the shopper has. Your SKU, the maker’s number, the original equipment number, a number from another brand, or a number that was replaced years ago.
Plain text search compares characters and words. To it, 92-442-167 is three short numbers, and 92442167 is one long one. They don’t match.
What we saw in our own test
We ran 27 test searches against a 500-product sample catalog using Shopify’s built-in storefront search (November 2026, a test store with clean, regular titles). Searches for sizes, threads and models written in the title worked well. The searches that failed were part numbers typed in a different format from the catalog:
| Search | Stored as | Result |
|---|---|---|
BR62072RSSTD000 | SKU BR-6207-2RS-STD-000 | No results |
92442167 | OEM 92-442-167 in the description | No results |
6L0-724-747 | OEM 6L0 724 747 | No results |
6206ZZC3 | Maker number 6206.ZZC.3 in a metafield | No results |
This is one test on sample data, not a benchmark. It does show the pattern: the problem is the format of the number, not the search engine’s general quality.
Store every number a shopper might have
Before you think about search, list the numbers each product really has:
- Your SKU. Usually a variant field. If you have variants, each one has its own.
- The maker’s part number (MPN). Put it in a metafield such as
custom.mpn. Don’t rely on the title alone. - OEM numbers. For replacement parts, the original equipment numbers the part replaces. One part can have several; separate them with commas in a list metafield.
- Old and equivalent numbers. Superseded numbers and other brands’ numbers. These are often in a spreadsheet somewhere. See cross-references and superseded part numbers.
If a number exists only in a product image, a PDF datasheet or your ERP, no storefront search can find it. Getting it into a product field is the first fix.
Keep the format consistent, but don’t depend on it
Inside your own catalog, pick one format for each kind of number and stick to it. It makes imports, exports and supplier feeds easier.
Your shoppers will never follow your format. So the search has to ignore the differences that don’t matter. A part number search should:
- ignore dashes, dots, slashes and spaces;
- ignore letter case;
- match the whole number, not just a piece of it;
- never “correct” a part number as if it were a typo, because one wrong digit is a different part;
- rank an exact number match above everything else.
That last point matters more than it looks. If 6204-2RS returns ten bearings that mention 6204 somewhere, the shopper still has to find the right one. An exact match should be first and clearly marked.
Watch out for numbers that aren’t part numbers
Some codes look like part numbers but describe a whole class of products. Standards are the common case: DIN 933, ISO 4017, EN 10204. If your search treats DIN 933 as a part number, one random bolt ranks first for every DIN 933 search.
Sizes are another: M8x25 or 20x47x14 are measurements, not codes. They should match as sizes. See sizes and units in site search.
How Tolra handles it
Tolra stores every number of a product (SKU, variant SKUs, maker number, OEM numbers from metafields and descriptions, and numbers from your cross-reference file) in one normalized form, with separators removed. The search does the same with the shopper’s query: the whole query, each word, and each pair of words. An exact match always ranks first and is labelled as a part number match. Part numbers have no typo tolerance, and standards like DIN 933 are not stored as part numbers.
You can try this with a sample catalog in the interactive demo.
Check your part number search in 20 minutes
- Pick 20 numbers. Take your 20 best sellers and write down every number each one has: SKU, maker number, OEM numbers.
- Search each number three ways. As written in the catalog, with all dashes, dots and spaces removed, and with spaces where the dashes were.
- Note where the right product ranks. First place is a pass. Lower than first, or not found, is a fail.
- Find where each failing number lives. Is it in the title, the variant SKU, a metafield, the description, or nowhere? Numbers that exist only in images or PDFs cannot be searched.
- Fix the data or the search. Move numbers into fields your search reads, or use a search that ignores separators and reads metafields.
Questions
Does Shopify search the SKU?
Shopify's own storefront search matches variant SKUs. In our test it found a SKU typed exactly as stored, but not the same SKU typed without its dashes.
Should I put the part number in the product title?
Putting the main number in the title helps shoppers recognise the part in results. Keep other numbers (OEM, old numbers) in a metafield or a cross-reference list, so titles stay readable.
What about part numbers with leading zeros?
Treat leading zeros as part of the number. Many makers print them, and shoppers copy them. A good search matches the number with and without separators, but does not drop digits.
Examples use made-up brands and part numbers unless a real format is needed to show the point. Try them in the interactive demo.