Case Studies

Honda Case Study

Background & Challenges

In early 2002, Honda had determined that Honda customers were sophisticated internet users and expected advanced web features and capabilities. These customers expected to bypass conventional navigation to find relevant content. Honda's multi-million dollar advertisement budget was directing consumers to www.hondacars.com and the company wanted to provide consumers with superior User experience on their web site.

In addition, the company wanted to gain better insight into customer interests to provide more targeted product promotions.

Solution

In July 2002, Honda conducted a proof of concept with InQuira and selected InQuira for two reasons:

  • The product accounts for misspellings, synonyms, and industry-specific language (e.g., Mesa Beige = gold @ Honda) and has over 80% accuracy
  • The product has low implementation and maintenance requirements, when compared to other natural language products

The InQuira solution has been implemented on Hondacars.com and will soon be rolled out to their site for dealers. The plan is to roll out InQuira to other Honda web sites, including Acura and Honda Motorcycles.

Business Benefits

  • Over 80% accuracy in response rate
  • Search is the 2nd top referrer to high value  pages (like Request a Quote and Vehicle Configuration pages)  that drive dealership visits and vehicle purchases.
  • Have improved User Experience on their web site and have increased cross-sell/up-sell by delivering dynamic products and promotions, based on understanding customer intent