AAAUsed car marketplace powered by Elastic Search

Challenge

AAA, in partnership with SureSale, needed to launch a brand new Marketplace. The platform would allow customers to connect with dealerships participating in the AAA Inspected program powered by SureSale’s extensive database. Users needed more information about the program, and a better way to search for their dream car. With the implementation of the Inspection Badge, customers would be able to shop with confidence as a result of a verified inspection and background check.

Solution

We were tasked with building the Marketplace from the ground up, integrating AAA’s Inspected program requirements, and working alongside SureSale’s engineers to import their dealership vehicle databases into Elastic Search. The result is a web application used by the AAA Inspected program in select cities ahead of global expansion. Large amounts of data needed to be processed to result in an experience that is accessible, quick, smart, and satisfactory.

AAA Inspected powered by SureSale

The challenge was to respect AAA’s and SureSale’s DNA as the web app would live on AAA domains and reuse some of their existing brand identity, such as logotype, fonts, and colors. We created a technology-oriented, modern, smooth, and welcoming user interface, incorporating smart accent colors reminiscent of the AAA brand and reusing SureSale’s iconography style.

The best used car for your needs

The AAA Inspected program is meant to help customers find the best used car for their needs. The Marketplace incorporates multiple search functionalities, real-time filters where applicable, and search by location. We wanted these top-notch used cars to stand out, with all relevant information available through the search results page, and listings savable in a wishlist.

Informative and focused car pages

SureSale’s strength resides in their complete overview of used cars before publishing them in their database. Each car has detailed data attached as a result of the inspection and background check. We needed the car pages to reflect this key-selling point of the AAA Inspected platform, retrieving all relevant data and mapping it to be displayed in an accessible and informative way. As we are not only selling cars but also a program, we had to integrate a clever call-to-action for customers to learn more, ultimately triggering the purchase decision.

Elastic Search Behind The Scenes

From the get-go, we needed the web application to leverage Elastic Search’s technology, allowing people to filter results according to their needs. We crafted a user experience that allows customers to search by car, body style, and price. Results could be refined through a variety of criteria, including zip codes. We had to make significant changes to the base behavior of Elastic Search to allow multiple levels of filtering and updating the criteria in real time. Coupled with the power of Next.js React framework, we provided an instant and smooth browsing experience.

A program with a whole lot of benefits

The AAA Inspected program is not only a marketplace to find your next used car, but also a way for AAA to offer their membership with the purchase of a vehicle. We needed to highlight the members’ and dealers’ benefits in a way that would entice customers to learn more or purchase the vehicles. We crafted a variety of landing pages to explain the program and an external search widget to launch the experience from AAA’s websites.