Halfords has appointed ecommerce technology provider Fredhopper to drive customer satisfaction and improve its on-site search function.
The cycling, motoring and getaways retail giant will use Fredhopper’s advanced search, navigation and merchandising technology to help customers find what they are looking for by refining its catalogue into coherent categories and preferences across its desktop and mobile sites.
The search technology will produce more accurate results than Halfords’ current search solution, even if item names or types are misspelled.
Halfords is implementing the new technology in January as a direct result of customer feedback from on-site surveys.
“Our extensive online customer feedback, as well as our growing catalogue, prompted the review of our current search and browsing facility,” says Tricia Owen-Williams, Online Search Manager at Halfords. “Our customers are telling us that our search and browse technology is not good enough, and we will not ignore that. As our product range expands it will become more difficult to browse and search effectively, so the technology we use must change to help customers with their purchasing journey.”
There are currently 15,000 products in the Halfords.com catalogue, and the site receives 925,000 unique visitors each week.
“We wanted a really intuitive interface, coupled with very powerful search, navigation and merchandising tools that would help customers find products, drive conversion and improve average order value,” continues Owen-Williams. “Having looked at several others in the marketplace, it quickly became clear that Fredhopper is easy to use yet incredibly powerful and accurate.”
Fredhopper’s technology will also be Halfords’ first fully hosted cloud-based software solution as it overhauls its online presence to improve user experience and conversion rates. The transition marks Halfords’ commitment to multichannel innovation and investment.
Halfords is aiming to increase online conversion rates by 10% over the next 3 years following implementation of Fredhopper’s technology.
“By listening to its customers about on-site search and browsing, Halfords is on the right track to improve conversion rates and increase customer satisfaction,” says Allyson Tremblay, UK Sales Director at Fredhopper. “Our technology will enable users to search and browse items more effectively, as well as making for a more engaging experience overall.”
Fredhopper won the business following a competitive three-way pitch.
www.fredhopper.com