Personalized recommendations now offer the option to create a dynamic custom profile, providing another option besides the existing static custom profile. Dynamic custom profiles offer greater flexibility for merchants, allowing their sites to adjust customer recommendations on the fly based on the search term or filter applied to the dynamic custom profile.
With a static profile, merchants configure filters and sorts and associate this profile with any page on their site — shopping cart, product detail page (PDP), home page, 404 page, etc. With a dynamic profile, instead of being set up in advance by merchants, the system will choose products when they are requested (such as showing all colors available for a product on its individual product detail page), thus passing the variables from the front end.
Static custom profiles produce a fixed set of results that are updated each time the catalog data changes. Items are selected by:
- boost rules
- filters
- custom sorts
Examples:
- newly published items
- low-priced accessories
Dynamic custom profiles allow the result set to be determined on each page view based on site variables. This dynamic custom profile resides under the Custom profile type, similar to the way Category and Brand trending profiles reside under the Trending/type. Items are selected by:
- search terms
- filters
- custom sorts
Examples:
- items matching a pattern or design from a seed item on the product detail page (PDP)
- other books by the same author
- other artwork by the same artist
The profile page for Dynamic Custom Profiles is very similar to the Static Custom Profiles. The differences are:
- Dynamic profiles do not allow boost rules. Instead, there is a tab for Sorts, which displays only the sort options.
- The preview area presents a Search Term text box that can be populated to adjust the preview items shown.
Creating a dynamic custom profile
To create a custom profile, navigate to Personalization menu, then click "Personalized Recommendations". Click the "Add New Profile" button to create a new profile, or click an existing
The Create Profile page will appear.
Select the location where the custom profile will be used. In this example, we are planning to place the profile on the Product Detail Page. The system will then display the Select Recommendations Type page.
Choose the "Custom" option, then select between a Static or Dynamic custom profile. For the purposes of this example, we are choosing "Dynamic".
The system will display a blank form for the new custom profile.
Give your profile a name and click the "Done" button in the upper right corner of the page. The system will save the profile and then allow you to configure it. (The "Done" button will change to "Save".)
Template tab
Click the "Template" tab and select a template from the drop-down menu.
Template
Use these templates to configure the appearance of this recommendations profile on your site. The template you select will determine which custom options are available for that template, with which you can control things like the layout, look, behavior, and content of the profile. Click the drop-down menu to select a template. Note that the options in this drop-down list will differ based on your account setup. In the example shown here, the options include:
- Vertical
- Horizontal
- Default Template
- Carousel
Once a template is selected, the rest of the form will populate based on that template's options. In the example shown here, we have the following fields available:
Minimum Threshold
This value determines the minimum number of products required for recommendations to display.
Layout
This setting determines the look of your custom profile. It is useful for compact designs such as cart slide-out menus. If you prefer a smaller carousel, choose "mini". Leave this blank for the default.
Title
Key in the title for recommendations here. In the example shown, the title is "Recommended For You".
Title Link
Key in the link for the recommendations title. If you are populating this field, the "Title" field above must also be populated.
Description
Key in the descriptive text that will appear underneath the title.
Slides Per View
Key in the number of product recommendations to display in a desktop view.
Slides Per Group
Key in the number of product recommendations to paginate by in a desktop view. For example, if you enter 5 here, the system will automatically put products #6 and higher on a separate page.
Limit
Key in the number of recommendations returned. The maximum number of recommended products is 20, which is also the default value.
Recommendations Preview
Key in any search term (which can be one word or many words) to have the system display a preview of what a user would see on the merchant site.
Recommended Products
After you key in your search term, the system will show which products match the search per the settings above.
Examples
See below for a comparison of static vs. dynamic profiles.
Static profile |
Dynamic profile |
A shopper browsing a bookseller's site performs a search for children's books by author Sandra Boynton. On the product detail page (PDP) for The Going To Bed Book, the profile shows children's books by multiple authors. |
A shopper browsing a bookseller's site performs a search for children's books by author Sandra Boynton. On the product detail page (PDP) for The Going To Bed Book, the profile shows additional children's books that are all authored by Sandra Boynton. |
On a fashion site, a shopper searches for plaid flannel shirts. On the product detail page, the profile shows recommendations of similar products, including skirts and blankets made of plaid flannel. |
On a fashion site, a shopper searches for plaid flannel shirts. On the product detail page, the plaid flannel shirt shown serves as a seed item, and the profile displays multiple plaid flannel shirts. |
On a custom design site, a shopper searches for items incorporating "Starry Night" artwork by Vincent Van Gogh. The product detail page shows a duvet cover with "Starry Night". The profile displays a carousel with recommendations of similar products, such as other bedding and pillows, but with no focus on Van Gogh's work. |
On a custom design site, a shopper searches for items incorporating "Starry Night" artwork by Vincent Van Gogh. The product detail page shows a duvet cover with "Starry Night". The profile displays a carousel with other products that also feature "Starry Night", such as calendars, mugs, posters, and jigsaw puzzles. |
Sorts tab
On the Sorts tab, you may click the button "Add a Sort Rule" button to associate a particular sort with this profile.
When you click this button, the following window will appear:
Click the first drop-down menu to select a field to sort by. These values will differ based on the fields you have configured with Searchspring.
Once you save your changes, the form will display the selected sort rule(s).
Filters tab
On the Filters tab, filters are used to limit which products can possibly show up in the profile.
Click the "Add a Filter" button. The following window will appear:
Click each drop-down menu to select a field and value, then click the "Save" button.
Note that you can add multiple filters to the selected recommendations profile. In the example below, we have filtered by gender and category:
Integration Code tab
On the Integration Code tab, you will a link to the instructions for installing this profile on your site.
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