WebSphere Commerce offers two types of search, a Catalog Search bean, and Product Advisor. These two types of search are complementary.
The catalog search bean is a lightweight bean which enables you to implement a search tool for your customers. By adding a simple interface to any JSP file in your site, you provide your customers an additional way to locate your products. It is lightweight, yet powerful enough to search both vertical and horizontal constraints to locate products.
Product Advisor is a search tool, offering the ability to iteratively apply vertical constraints to narrow down the product selection. For more information, see the Product Advisor help.