“Natural language” accounts for over 50% of online car searches, reports iVendi

“Natural language” online car search is now being used in more than half of instances where it is offered by dealers, new data from iVendi shows.

The technology – which was introduced by the company in 2021 – allows users to employ everyday phrases in place of traditional drop down menus. Currently, it is used to make more than 800,000 consumer searches every month.

Rob Severs, senior VP of product and insight at iVendi, said: “When we first offered this product, which we call intuitive search, it was chosen by about a third of car buyers but in 2022, for the first time, the figure was more than half at 51%. It continues to account for more than 50% of searches made this year.

“We believe it is a much superior way of finding the car you need.

“Instead of being restricted to the menus offered in old school filter search, you can express your needs in natural language – such as ‘blue large petrol SUV’ or ‘economical family hatchback with lane assist’ and the search technology will deliver appropriate results.”

Severs explained that in technical terms this style of search is called “long tail” that consists of four words or more and normally includes vocabulary indicating information about lifestyle and other keywords, not just vehicle make and model.

He said the large benefit of natural search language is that customers get a selection of cars likely to meet their needs faster. 

Severs added: “Of course, enhanced speed and relevance also increase the likelihood of making a purchase while long tail searches are widely recognised as having a much higher rate of sales conversion than comparatively simple searches.”