Store search for Icelandic and Nordic catalogs.
Shoppers type hardfiskur on a phone without Icelandic letters, hár kolla with a space your catalog doesn't have, and blaabaer on a keyboard without å. Findlane finds Harðfiskur, Hárkolla and Blåbær, with exact matches first. It's built in Iceland, and Icelandic stores search with it today.
However shoppers type, in your catalog's language.
Letters, compound words and small words are where Nordic searches go wrong. Each has a setting, and languages and compound words apply as shoppers search, with nothing to rebuild.
ð, þ, æ, ø and å, however they're typed.
Phones and foreign keyboards leave Nordic letters out, and so do shoppers in a hurry. New indexes match them to their plain spellings, in your records and in searches, so hardfiskur finds Harðfiskur and thorsmork finds Þórsmörk.
ðmatchesd,þmatchesth,æmatchesae, andø,ö,åandämatchoanda.- Case and accents never matter:
islenskt smjorfinds Íslenskt smjör, and the other way around.
Compound words, together or apart.
Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish join words, and catalogs write the same thing both ways. With compound words on, hár kolla finds Hárkolla, barna afmæli finds Barnaafmæli, and sjóræningjabúningur finds a product written Sjóræningja búningur.
- Compounds come from your own records: a word of six letters or more that two other words of the same field make up, each of three letters or more.
- A compound match counts for less than an exact match or a synonym, so exact matches still come first.
- On an Icelandic party store's catalog, turning it on took
hár kollafrom 3 results to 193. - It's off by default. Turn it on in the index's search settings, and searches use it within about a minute.
Small words, plurals and spellings, by language.
Set your store's languages, from Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German and English, and searches leave out the small words, match plurals, and take the spellings people use for letters their keyboard lacks.
- Small words such as
og,fyrirandmeðin Icelandic,ogandtilin Danish and Norwegian, andochandförin Swedish are left out, unless a search has nothing else. - Singular and plural find each other in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German and English:
lampafinds lampor, andpuderfinds pude, ranked just below the word itself. aaandoematchåandøin Danish and Norwegian, andaa,aeandoematchå,äandöin Swedish.
Icelandic word forms.
Icelandic declines its nouns, so shoppers type different forms of the same word. Search reaches them three ways.
- Searches match the start of words from three letters, so
dúkkfinds dúkka, dúkku and dúkkur while the shopper types. - Forms a letter apart match through typo tolerance:
dúkkufinds Dúkka. - Synonyms cover the rest: a group with
dúkkaanddúkkurlets each form find the other. Search analytics list the searches that keep finding nothing, so you see which ones to add.
Searches in English, for products described in Icelandic.
Tourists and newcomers search Nordic stores in English. When a search's words find nothing, related results show the products closest to it in meaning, so pale waterproof face paint finds face paint described only in Icelandic.
- Searches that find something don't change, and analytics still count the search as one that found nothing.
- Synonyms can pair words across languages too, such as
balloonsandblöðrur, both ways. - Related results come with paid plans.
Three settings for a Nordic catalog.
Set them in the index's search settings, from your server, or with an AI agent.
languagesYour store's languages
["is", "en"] for an Icelandic store whose shoppers also search in English. Any of da, de, en, is, no and sv.
compoundWordsCompound words
Off by default. Turn it on for Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or German catalogs.
normalizationProfileHow letters match
default-v2, the default for new indexes: ð, þ, æ, ø, å and the rest match their plain spellings.
Set up in one call.
From your server with the SDK, in the dashboard, or by asking your AI agent.
await products.replaceSettings({ ...(await products.getSettings()), languages: ["is", "en"], compoundWords: true, synonyms: [["blöðrur", "balloons"], ["dúkka", "dúkkur"]],})
// Typed without Icelandic letters, and apartawait client.search({ q: "hardfiskur" }) // Harðfiskurawait client.search({ q: "har kolla" }) // Hárkollaawait client.search({ q: "lopapeysa fyrir herra" }) // Lopapeysa
› Set this store's search up for Icelandic shoppers.
get_indexproducts · 6,400 records · no languages set
compare_settings2 settings changed · 12 search tests pass
update_settingslanguages is, en · compoundWords on
Good to know.
- Letters, languages, compound words and synonyms are on every plan, Free included.
- Languages apply within about a second, and compound words within about a minute, with nothing to rebuild.
- Typo tolerance and the letters work in every language written in the Latin alphabet; the six languages add small words, plurals and spellings.
- The WooCommerce plugin's wording is in Icelandic, as well as English.
Questions, answered.
Does Findlane understand Icelandic?
Yes. It matches Icelandic letters and accents however they're typed, finds compound words together or apart, leaves out small words, and forgives typos. Prefixes, typo tolerance and synonyms reach the different forms of a word.
Can shoppers search without Icelandic or Nordic letters?
Yes. In new indexes, hardfiskur finds Harðfiskur, thorsmork finds Þórsmörk, and kobenhavn finds København, and searches typed with the letters find records written without them.
Which platforms does it work with?
WooCommerce, with a plugin whose wording is in Icelandic too; Shopify, with an app on its way to the App Store; any other site, with a search box script; and your own code, with the API and SDKs.
What does it cost?
Free for up to 10,000 records and 10,000 searches a month. Starter is $19 a month for 50,000 records and 50,000 searches. Every language feature is on every plan, and related results on paid plans.
Can you help us move our store's search?
Yes. Book a call or write to hello@findlane.dev, in Icelandic or English, and we'll help set up your languages, compound words and synonyms.
Search that speaks your catalog's language.
Upload a catalog, set your languages, and search it with Nordic letters, compound words and typos straight away, Free plan included.