OfferUp, the locally focused e-commerce platform, has taken a significant step towards modernizing its search system by implementing a more advanced solution that incorporates multimodal capabilities. This change is aimed at enhancing the user experience, a key aspect that has always characterized the company.
To achieve this, OfferUp has adopted Amazon Bedrock and Amazon OpenSearch Service technologies. Thanks to this transformation, the relevancy of search results has increased by 27%, while the geographic reach of searches has decreased by 54%. This means that users will enjoy a greater number of local results, making it easier to conduct transactions in their immediate area. Additionally, search depth has increased by 6.5%, reflecting a more efficient use of the platform.
The previous OfferUp system used Elasticsearch, which was limited by relying on a keyword-based algorithm. This led to ambiguous results in situations where the context and user intent were not correctly interpreted. For example, a search for “apple” could result in content related to both the fruit and the famous tech company, causing confusion.
The new search architecture incorporates Amazon Titan’s multimodal embeddings model, allowing the platform to conduct more precise searches based on text and image similarities. This innovation transforms both text and images into vectors, improving the context and accuracy of the results.
The transition to a multimodal search system was a meticulous process carried out in three phases: identifying the market areas that would benefit most from the new implementation, establishing the necessary infrastructure, and conducting a feedback process that converted images of active listings into vectors to enrich the database.
The results of this evolution are promising. Users experienced a 2.2% increase in engagement, along with a 3.8% improvement in seller response. Moreover, the implementation of this technology led to a 0.91% increase in ad impressions, reinforcing the sustainability of OfferUp’s business model.
With this new multimodal search architecture, OfferUp is better positioned to compete in an increasingly competitive market. This transformation not only benefits users by offering a faster, more relevant, and user-friendly search experience, but also drives the company’s continued growth in the local commerce sector.
via: MiMub in Spanish
