Tips & Tricks: Tailor Recommendation Strategies to Your Team's Sales & Product Stock Goals

Date Sent: December 1st, 2020

Hi there,

As the end of this wildly unpredictable year approaches, so too does the beginning of 2021. With the holiday season in full swing, there's no time like the present to turn attention to the post-holiday, Q1 game plan for your organization's site. Regardless of your team's goals for Q1, the approach to achieving them will likely look a bit different.

Get ahead of the curve and help your team move the needle in the right direction with the DY Recommendations on your site by using Custom Filter Rules. Create Recommendation Strategies that align to your team's Q1 goals by leveraging Custom Filter Rules to tailor the items that are recommended to users in widgets across the site.

Use Case #1: Pin Overstocked Products to Item Slots on Cart Page Widgets

One way to help your team proactively address any surplus products that didn't sell as well as anticipated during the holiday season is by tailoring the Strategy that's used for a cart page Recommendation widget. Add a Custom Filter Rule to the Strategy to "pin" an overstocked product to an Item Slot. The pinned product will be shown in the slot that you specify to every user exposed to the cart page widget, increasing its visibility and chances of purchase.

Strategy Setup Overview

Edit the existing Cart Page Recommendation Strategy or create a new one (if creating a new Strategy, select Cart Page as the Page Type and then choose the Algorithm that will be used for selecting items to serve in the other slots of the widget). Then, click the Add Filtering Rule link. Name the rule that you're creating and add any relevant notes and labels, then specify the following settings on each tab of the Custom Filter Rule window:

1. Properties tab: for the Rule Type, select Pin. For the "Apply to" setting, click the option for Selected Slots, and then click the dropdown to select the slot number that you'd like to Pin with a specific product. Note: slot numbers ascend from left to right. For example, Slot #1 is the slot that appears on the left-most side of a widget.

2. Products tab: click the Select Column dropdown and selectSKU. In the blank field that will populate next to the "is" operator dropdown, enter the SKU number of the product that the Rule will Pin to the slot that you chose on the Properties tab:

3. Targeting tab: define any relevant Targeting conditions. For instance, if you only want to target the Rule to an audience of Return Users, click the Additional Targeting Conditions dropdown and select the Return Users audience.

4. Schedule tab: if you'd like to schedule a start time of when the rule will start to apply to the Strategy, or if you'd like the Rule to expire after a certain date, select the Custom option and define the specific date/time for the Start and/or End settings.

When you're finished, users will see the item that you Pinned in the slot that you specified when they are exposed to the Cart Page widget:

Use Case #2: Only Include Products within a Price Range to Boost AOV

If one of your team's goals for site purchases is to increase or maintain a certain Average Order Value (AOV), create a new Strategy for product page widgets aligned to those goals. Add a Custom Filter Rule to the Strategy ensuring only items priced within a certain range of the viewed product are served in the item slots. For example, you could target the Rule to product pages of items priced between $125-$175 and limit the possible item results to products that cost at least $125 but are less than $200.

Strategy Setup Overview

Create a Strategy and select Product Page as the Page Type. Choose an Algorithm that's particularly advantageous to use on product pages, like Viewed Together or Similarity. Then, add a Custom Filter with the following settings:

1. Properties tab: select Only Include for the Rule Type and then select All Slots for the "Apply to" setting.

2. Products tab: click the Select Column dropdown and select Price. Click the operator dropdown and select "at least," then provide your minimum value in the blank value field. Add a second Product Condition for Price by clicking the +and link, select "at most" as the operator, and then define your maximum value.

3. Targeting tab: for the Product Page Conditions, click the Select Column dropdown and select Price. Choose "at least" for the operator and type the minimum value in the value field. Click the +and link and select Price from the Select Column dropdown. Select "at most" from the operator dropdown and provide the maximum value in the value field.

4. Schedule tab: leave these settings as-is, unless you intend to only leverage this Rule temporarily or if you'd like to set a start date of when the Rule will start to apply to the Strategy.

Save the Custom Filter Rule and then save the overall Strategy. Create or modify a product page Recommendation campaign and select the Strategy you just created within the variations of the campaign. Once the widget is live on your site, only products in the price range that you specified will be served on the product pages that you targeted:

Use Case #3: Only Include Products from New or Lesser Known Brands on Homepage Widgets

If there are certain brands that are new or lesser known by customers on your site, you may want to temporarily highlight those brands in widgets that are located on high-traffic pages like the Homepage. This won't take any of the usual attention away from brands that are organically popular on the site; rather, it will allow you to promote items from brands that are perhaps less familiar to users.

Strategy Setup Overview

Create a Strategy and select Homepage as the Page Type, then choose Popularity as the Algorithm. Next, add a Custom Filter that uses similar settings to the following on each of the tabs of the Custom Filter Rule window:

1. Properties tab: select Only Include for the Rule Type and All Slots for the "Apply to" setting.

2. Products tab: click the Select Column dropdown and select the name of the column in your section's Product Feed that corresponds to "brands" (brand, product_vendor, supplier_name, etc.). In the blank value field next to the "is" operator dropdown, type the name of the specific brand. Click the +or link to define additional brands that you'd like to include:

3. Targeting tab: specify any Targeting conditions that may be relevant to the Rule. For example, you may want this Rule to only apply to New Users. If that is the case, click the Additional Targeting Conditions dropdown and define the New Users audience you'd like to Target with this Rule.

4. Schedule tab: indicate a start and end date/time if you only want the Rule to apply to the Strategy temporarily, or if you'd like to schedule the date that the Rule will start to apply to the Strategy.

Until next time,
Ashley

Ashley Berman
Sr. Customer Education Manager