GroupBy, a SaaS-based eCommerce search and product discovery provider, says it is transforming year, make, and model search. The company is launching its new AI-powered Fitment product. With this technology, GroupBy is expanding its ability to service online stores that sell car parts. These include automotive parts, tires, industrial and machinery supplies, electronics, and many resellers with vast product catalogues and databases that require exact specifications or fitments.
For decades, this market has seen little to no search technology advancements, prompting GroupBy to develop the Fitment product. The application uses the same Google Cloud Discovery AI technology that powers its eCommerce search and product discovery platform.
It provides relevant product and part results from an extensive product inventory that includes year, make, and model. Getting this information has proven problematic for many online sellers. The reason for this, depending on the industry, is that a given part can fit tens of thousands of products. Additionally, unsophisticated UI tools complicate the buyer experience. Some prompt buyers to take upwards 10 actions before finding the right product part or ultimately abandoning the search.
GroupBy’s AI-powered Fitment enables buyers to find specific product parts directly from a search bar query. Users can carry that experience into browsing, navigation, and recommendations. Parts returned are guaranteed to fit the queried product, eliminating cumbersome drop-down menus and configurators. This drastically reduces friction in the buying process, ensuring customers get to the right products in the fewest steps possible.
Optimising search experiences
Supported by Google Cloud Discovery AI, GroupBy’s Fitment solution optimises the search experience for both buyers and internal merchandising teams. The platform is built on a Google Cloud search engine and trained on vast global and industry-specific datasets. As a result, it provides users access to the most relevant search results that are guaranteed to fit every time. The AI can handle misspellings, calculate the viability of the result in real-time, eliminating the need for business rule creation.
Additionally, GroupBy’s Fitment solution can identify intent and contextual meaning behind a search query. This can determine the difference between year and model or even short-form searches like ‘Chevy’ or ‘Stang.’ The company says this ensures the accuracy and relevance of search results. GroupBy’s Fitment technology provides online retailers access to AI functionality that eliminates consumer product findability frustration with a focus on generating revenue gains.
“For years now, retailers with complex catalogues that sell cars, automotive parts, industrial manufacturing or machinery supplies have struggled to provide their customers with a seamless product findability experience,” says GroupBy CEO Roland Gossage. “Our AI-powered Fitment solution, which utilises Google Cloud’s search engine, has been developed to eliminate the complexity and frustration from product part search delivering relevant and exact-fit results for conversational searches.”
Using conversational terms
Additionally, shoppers can perform product part searches for conversational terms like “Chevy”, ambiguous models like “91 911” (for a 1991 Porsche 911), or long-tail keywords, easily from within the search box to return exact fit parts. We are seeing an AI-tech revolution that is finally beginning to take place and those who leverage AI today, quickly and efficiently, will be winners in the eCommerce marketplace in the near future.”
In August 2023, GroupBy released product enhancements that make it easier for retailers to create positive product discovery experiences. Updated features included integrating GroupBy’s data enrichment product (Enrich) into its Command Center for a comprehensive product discovery experience. The implementation of single-sign-on functionality (SSO) via OAuth and the introduction of site filter functionality for retailers with multiple sites and brands.
Enterprise Times: What this means for businesses
It is surprising that it has taken so long for some form innovation in this area of the search market. Customers are still required to sift through numerous pages or use complex UI tools like drop downs, filters, or widgets creating long click journeys. This can range anywhere from eight to 30 clicks. With every click that customer has a 7% less chance of purchasing the product they intended to buy.
Product search functionality has long been a challenge in B2B eCommerce. However, analysts have suggested that B2B buyers are increasingly demanding the UX of B2C counterparts. This is where AI first solutions can help solve the challenges with existing search solutions. GroupBy says its new, AI-powered Fitment product can deliver results guaranteed to fit directly from the search bar. This leads to revenue-generating shopping experiences that boost product findability, customer purchase confidence and online revenue. Anything that improves the quality of product search is to be welcomed. Google’s has estimated that $2 trillion is lost annually to search abandonment. Poor search experiences is often the leading cause of search abandonment.
