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How accurate are your searchable features?

amarsal

Green Pea
Jan 3, 2011
4
0
First Name
Amanda
I have been working on updating several of our websites, and attempting to make it easier for the consumer to find exactly what they want. However, I have been having trouble getting the searchable features section of the SRP to pull accurate information. I have spoken with DealerInspire, Homenet, and DealerOn and they have told me several different things, none of which worked. The miraculous thing here is that our factory mandated CDK site is the most accurate when it comes to this issue.

Has anyone else been able to get this information to pull correctly?
 
Amanda, what exactly did DealerInspire, Homenet, and DealerOn day?

I see you're main website that you have listed in your profile is DealerInspire and have an open search feature and works very well. Maybe some of us aren't exactly sure what you're asking for...

Love to help out more.
 
They are using a Vin Explosion to label the searchable features. i.e. If you search "Sunroof" in my new car inventory, you will see 26 Buicks only because a Sunroof is a standard feature on certain models. That is the same across the board for all inventory, and I haven't been able to crack the fields that I can manipulate optional features. Just curious if the other members, have A. Even noticed this being an issue, and B. If they have, did they fix it or just accept it and move on?
 
So the searches only work with standard equipment... got it.

When your new car inventory is entered into the DMS, are the actual option codes being included? And if so, is Homenet matching them up correctly and placing them into "options" field?

I'll include a screen a bit later today when I'm not responding from my phone.
 
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There are two schools of thought here and I wouldn't just apply the search mechanism to SRP pages alone. It should be a global feature on the site. Why this hasn't been adopted well by the major web platform providers, beats the heck out of me.
  1. Provide a global search mechanism that produces consistent and clear results, based upon queries on every attribute of new and used vehicles.
  2. Allow the user to find what they need by filtering / sorting (generally speaking located in left sidebar of SRP).
  3. Do both.
As Jeff alluded to, it will depend greatly on how your inventory feed is set up and is parsed on to your site. Your search mechanism needs to be able to find all attributes and the feed should allow for it. That said, you have many different inventory feed providers and do they all communicate properly with the search mechanisms on automotive websites...? Dunno'... probably not (general rule of thumb).
 
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