Case study: Expanding Traffic Family's Online Business With AI Support

The Client

Traffic Family is a Dutch company that builds, operates, and acquires review and comparison sites, helping users find the best products at the best prices. Through their network, they reach hundreds of thousands of users. One of their most recent projects was to create a new price comparison platform, based on an already existing online product and expand its offerings.

The Challenge

Our goal was to create a completely new website - a blazing-fast product recommendation site that can fetch products from marketplaces via API calls and reduce copyright costs. The main product objectives of the scope were:

• Rewrite and launch the product on a new domain.
• Enhance website performance and SEO positioning.
• Adjust the custom CMS to Editors’ needs.
• Integrate Google Tag Manager and advanced analytics for better planning and optimization.

The Solution

To address these challenges, we created a fully new website, Consumenten Advies, according to all Client’s requirements. Highlights of the product include:

• Modernized technology stack: Utilizing Next.js for the frontend and Nest.js for the backend, the new site offered improved performance and user experience. The architecture supported user interactions and server-side operations efficiently, deployed on AWS EC2 machines.
• Improved Content Management System: We created an easy-to-use dashboard allowing for the easy management of product pages and content, supporting SEO efforts.
• Enhanced Performance and Analytics: Leveraging AWS Cloudfront for caching and integrating Google Tag Manager, the site achieved significant improvements in performance metrics and user analytics.
• Outstanding Performance: Following a very strict approach to site performance, our team put huge effort into optimizing the site’s speed, making it compliant with Google’s requirements and Core Web Vitals standard.

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Performance is the king

For the Traffic Family team, website speed was one of the most important factors. The new platform needed to be as fast as possible, and technologically, this was a primary goal for our development team. Initially, we didn’t achieve the desired results, and our team received a lot of constructive feedback from the Product Owner. Our team rose to the occasion, and thanks to a collective effort, we managed to deliver the quality and performance expected.

We can proudly say that the client was quite happy with the outcome after all:

This is what I am talking about. This is alpha players creating a blazing fast website.

Bram Speelman, Co-founder

AI-based features

One of the highlights of our collaboration was the implementation of an AI-based solution that supports both: SEO efforts and user’s experience. It was introduced to the client’s decision-makers, and a simple Proof of Concept demonstrating the viability of the solution was created. Then, after getting the green light from Traffic Family stakeholders, we implemented it into the product.

The solution, based on the OpenAI API, allowed us to create additional content for all products listed on the price comparison platform we created. It’s displayed in the form of pros and cons for each offering, giving users additional information on the product they’re looking for. Designed to be brief, each content piece is restricted to no more than 50 words, typically comprising four pros and one con, although the exact numbers may vary based on the specificity of the product descriptions.

The content is based on the product description provided by a manufacturer or distributor but unlike descriptions provided by them, our content is based purely on technical specifications, offering users genuine insights free from marketing bias.

The overarching goal of this AI feature is to boost the site’s organic traffic from Google and other search engines, improving conversion rates and ultimately - increasing sales. This innovative solution enriches the user experience by providing clear, concise, and unbiased product information, making it easier for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.

The cost perspective

One of the biggest advantages of these solutions is that it was extremely cost-effective. If the Traffic Family stakeholders would decide to create a similar solution using copywriter services, they would have to pay around €25,000 euros for a description for each 10,000 products, waiting weeks to get the job done. And only if we would take into consideration the lowest rate of €0.05 for each word written.

Our solution created a description for all the products overnight and cost €3,030 - it’s a week’s worth of work by an AI Engineer and the cost of generating the content through the OpenAI API.

Process Design

A collaborative approach with Traffic Family’s stakeholders and a dedicated product designer ensured the UX/UI not only met aesthetic standards but also supported SEO efforts. The minimalistic and clear approach to the platform design helped to achieve required results in terms of site’s performance, giving a “blazing fast” user experience as a critical aspect of the design process.

Technological Stack

The new platform is built on a robust technological framework:

• Frontend: Utilizes Next.js for dynamic, user-friendly interfaces.
• Backend: Nest.js powers the server-side functions, hosted on AWS EC2.
• API Integrations: Incorporates Bol.com (one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the Netherlands) API and OpenAI, providing AI-enhanced shopping experience.

The Outcome

Together with our client, we have successfully launched an advanced price comparison website that has achieved:

• Better Performance: The new site is faster and more efficient than the old one, scoring significantly better on the Lighthouse app.
• Better User Experience: The AI-based feature assists buyers in making smarter choices.
• SEO and Revenue Growth: Improved content and site design are set to increase web traffic and sales, which will directly impact sales.
• Ready for the Future: The site has a robust technical foundation, facilitating the addition of more features and connections to more online stores and marketplaces.
• Supports Client’s Business: The increase in sales numbers enriches the client’s revenue streams through affiliate partnerships.

Conclusion

In just six weeks, Boldare delivered an AI-enhanced, high-performance price comparison platform that will improve Traffic Family’s market presence and revenue. Thanks to a small but impactful innovation thanks to OpenAI API implementation, the platform gains an SEO boost and a more user-friendly outlook. This surely paves the way for future growth and expansion in the e-commerce space.