Cars.com Leverages Algorithm to Redefine Best-In-Class Car Search and Shopping Experience

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) has unveiled an improved search experience for its users, streamlined its search results pages, enhanced its vehicle inventory pages with rich visualization and expanded its suite of pricing tools with the launch of “Badging.” The sleek new interface, updated search features and innovative shopping tools are designed for speed and personalization, enabling shoppers to quickly and easily find the right car for their needs.

“Our real-time behavioral data, and insights from nearly 20 years of consumer data enable us to deliver an experience that is defined by relevance for the user. Our goal is to help shoppers find the right car, at the right price, from the right dealership faster than ever,” said Tony Zolla, chief product officer at Cars.com. “Our best-in-class user experience brings us one step closer to realizing our mission of transforming the car shopping experience to be more rewarding, emotionally engaging and frictionless.”

The site’s advancements include:

• Powerful navigation: Improved search functionality and guided navigation to help users find the right car faster.
• Re-launched inventory pages: Streamlined to better merchandise vehicles with bold photos and videos.
• Smart filters: Contextual filters help users dig deep to search inventory based on their needs and change dynamically in real-time.
• Best Match sorting: Powered by a custom algorithm that weights multiple factors to arrive at search recommendations relevant for each specific user.
• Improved compare page: Lets users better compare up to four similar models and find the right car for their needs.
• Badging: New badge icons on the inventory pages help provide more context behind why a vehicle is priced the way it is. Badging leverages machine learning to assess the closest comparable vehicle and considers vehicle features either in high-demand for the region or those that impact the price beyond year, make, model and trim. The four badges include “Great Deal,” which means the vehicle is priced significantly below market average; “Good Deal,” which identifies cars priced at or slightly below market average; “Fair Price,” for vehicles priced slightly above market average; and “Well-Equipped,” highlighting vehicles that include additional features that are affecting the price. 

“In addition to our intelligent search engine and efficient user experience, we continue to roll out new pricing tools so consumers are confident they’re paying a fair price and getting the best deal based on their needs,” said Zolla. “With our new Badging icons we wanted to provide more than just a standard price rating. By calling out specific vehicle attributes that may be impacting the price and weighing additional factors such as supply and demand, we are able to produce some of the most accurate pricing context on the market while helping consumers understand not just the ‘what,’ but the ‘why’ behind a price. This helps car shoppers, but it also enables local dealers to be more transparent with their customers, show value beyond price and, ultimately, close the deal quickly and efficiently.”

For more information on the company’s updated site features and search experience, visit www.Cars.com.