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Relaunch: Continental introduces new features to its dealer locator

Continental updates its international Dealer Locator - with improved performance and new features for tire dealers and customers.

The Dealer Locator we developed for the premium tire manufacturer Continental AG has already been in use worldwide since 2019. Now, the dealer locator for several international markets got an update - with new features for an easier and more accurate search and a more effective data management.

As a premium supplier in the tire segment, Continental has a global presence - with dealers selling a wide variety of tire types and brands. How do you manage such a large amount of dealer data and at the same time make it as easy as possible for users to search for dealers?

With the help of Google Maps, we developed a dealer locator for Continental tires back in 2019. In 2022, Conti started to renew the website of its global markets. As part of this relaunch, Ubilabs developed a new design, UX and new features for the global Continental Tires dealer locator and improved the performance of the dealer locator.

Search hints and dealer subsets simplify dealer searches

Find dealers in a flash

5,000 dealers in Canada alone - a challenge for a dealer locator that should be easy to use and at the same time have an appealing design. As part of the relaunch, we adapted the design of the dealer locator to Continental's new corporate identity and made the map look sleeker. A simple hint in the search bar now tells users how to search for dealers, and the clear display of search results on the map makes it easier to find the right dealer. Thanks to improved performance, retailers are displayed on the map even at high zoom levels and with high retailer density, and users can use filters to find them more precisely.

The various markets can display selected subsets of dealer data on their respective market websites in the dealer search, so that only dealer data relevant to the market is displayed. The subsets consist of the dealer brand (e.g. Continental), the vehicle type (e.g. passenger car) and the market (e.g. Canada). In addition, markets still play out special subsets on topic pages, such as dealers with 24-hour service or featured dealers.

Bring complex address data onto the map

The biggest challenge in the dealer search is preparing the address data of the dealers. How do we ensure the quality of address data with internationally different address formats? In the backend, dealer address data is geocoded using Google Geocoding API and Google Places API. The quality of the data is checked, incomplete addresses are added if possible. Only dealers whose addresses have successfully passed the plausibility check are displayed on the map. This makes the search results more reliable and the map clearer.

How can users find the dealers they are looking for quickly and easily?

To improve the user experience when searching for dealers, we use Google Autocomplete. When users enter a search term, the system also searches for the dealer names stored in the system. This way, locations and dealer names are automatically completed and suggested in the search. Users only need to select the result that suits them best. The filter function allows users to search for specific dealer services such as "24h service" or for prioritized dealers.

Dealer data is dynamically updated via API by Continental CRM

Easy data management for dealers

With multiple data sources and dynamic dealer data on the map, how is integration and data quality ensured for market, tire type, tire brand, service offering and prioritization?

Many dealers mean lots of data that needs to be kept up to date: To ensure that the dealer search database is always up to date, a large amount of dealer data is dynamically updated via interface by Continental CRM.

In addition, Continental market and brand managers worldwide can edit their dealer data in the dealer search backend. A full manual data import is available via the dealer search backend, allowing several hundred or thousand dealers to be updated at once. To ensure the consistency and quality of the dealer data, we have succeeded in establishing a lean and transparent import process that allows market and brand managers to provide only up-to-date and cleansed data.

Via the backend of the dealer search, market managers can update thousands of data at once by importing data

Improved data management and merchant configuration is particularly useful when markets or merchants want to draw attention to specific offers. With functions for filtering special offers, market managers can highlight a selection of retailers and include them on their websites according to offer, service or time period. In this way, users not only find suitable retailers in the vicinity, but also receive additional decision-making aids and incentives when making their selection.

Special offers and featured dealers are highlighted in the dealer search

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