The Retail Analytics Council (RAC) is the leading organization focused on the study of consumer shopping behavior across retail platforms and the impact of technology. Established in August 2014, RAC is an initiative between the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and the McCormick School of Engineering, Computer Science Department.
At the beginning of the project, the team discovered two opportunities for search improvement on the website. One was that some search terms returned no search results. For example, if the search term entered was “Christmas gift for girlfriend” on the website, no product would be returned. However, this is a search term that a customer would very possibly use. The second issue discovered was that some customers perceive a product in a way that is different from how the website management team does. For example, in customer reviews, an item labeled by the retailer as a “casual dress” was described by a customer as a “fancy dress.” This gap creates a potential challenge for generating matching search results and sales.
At the beginning of the project, the team discovered two opportunities for search improvement on the website. One was that some search terms returned no search results. For example, if the search term entered was “Christmas gift for girlfriend” on the website, no product would be returned. However, this is a search term that a customer would very possibly use. The second issue discovered was that some customers perceive a product in a way that is different from how the website management team does. For example, in customer reviews, an item labeled by the retailer as a “casual dress” was described by a customer as a “fancy dress.” This gap creates a potential challenge for generating matching search results and sales.
At the beginning of the project, the team discovered two opportunities for search improvement on the website. One was that some search terms returned no search results. For example, if the search term entered was “Christmas gift for girlfriend” on the website, no product would be returned. However, this is a search term that a customer would very possibly use. The second issue discovered was that some customers perceive a product in a way that is different from how the website management team does. For example, in customer reviews, an item labeled by the retailer as a “casual dress” was described by a customer as a “fancy dress.” This gap creates a potential challenge for generating matching search results and sales.
