Note: Personalization Settings have been redesigned. If you were used to the older settings before the last upgrade, please read this article to see a comparison. You can also follow this walkthrough for a visual tour.
This tab displays rules that affect the personalization engine globally.
Boosted Products
Products matching an active boost rule will be given priority in relevant personalization results. A "high" boost level will ensure the product is displayed within the first set of recommendations. You can also set start and end dates if you like the rule to only be active for a limited time. You can see a demo of boosted products here.
New Rule button
Click the "+ New Rule" button to create a new boosted product rule.
Search field
Click within the Search field to key in a search term, then press <Enter> or click the magnifying glass icon to execute a search of all boosted product rules.
The table below displays all boosted product rules.
- Rule = This column displays each boosted product rule.
- Level = This column displays the priority of the rule: high, medium, or low. A "high" boost level will ensure the product is displayed within the first set of recommendations. "Medium" and "Low" levels will cause the product to be boosted at a lesser priority, which means it will appear later in recommendations.
- Start Date = This column displays the start date for the rule. The default is now.
- End Date = This column displays the end date for the rule; after this date, the rule will no longer apply. The default is forever.
- Actions = Click the "Edit" button to edit the rule, or click the "Delete" button to delete the rule.
Rows per page
The bottom right of the screen displays the number of rows per page (which you can modify by clicking the drop-down arrow), total results, and navigation arrows to move forward and backward among the pages of rules displayed.
Creating a new boosted product rule
When you click the "+ New Rule" button, the following window will appear:
Rule Name
Key in a name for your rule. If you do not provide a name, the system will populate the name automatically based on the field(s) you have chosen. You can edit the name at any time.
Boost Level
Set a boost level for the rule: High, Medium, or Low. A "high" boost level will ensure the product is displayed within the first set of recommendations. "Medium" and "Low" levels will cause the product to be boosted at a lesser priority, which means it will appear later in recommendations.
Start Date
Click this field to open the calendar pop-up and select a date for the rule to start.
Note: The default value is today's date.
End Date
Click this field to open the calendar pop-up and select a date for the rule to end; after this date, the rule will no longer apply.
Note: "Forever" is the default value.
Rule Type
Basic rule
Set the boosted product rule to "Basic" to utilize only one field and condition in the rule.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand, which the system will save to the list.
Advanced rule
Set the boosted product rule to "Advanced" to utilize multiple fields and conditions in the rule. Using the "Advanced" function allows you to create multiple rules and group them together. In the example below, a boosted product rule for Independence Day includes color (red, white, and blue) and collection (summer items) together. In this rule, the products must match both conditions.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand.
Add Rule
Click this button to add another rule. You may modify the "Include products that match <x> of the following conditions" drop-down from "all" to "any" or "none" to change how this rule behaves. "None" will exclude the associated items.
Add Subgroup
Click this button to add a subsidiary subgroup (rule) to the rule above. This will accommodate more complicated rule logic, if needed.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the boosted product rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to boost a smaller number of items.
Note: We can only provide approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new boosted product rule.
Editing an existing boosted product rule
When you click the "Edit" button, the following window will appear:
The same fields shown in the creation of a new rule will be displayed; you can change a rule to "Basic" or "Advanced", and you can change the date range, modify the boost level, and add or remove fields, conditions, and field values as needed.
Contextual Groups
Contextual Groups can be used to group products so that they are only recommended when shoppers are viewing a product that is a member of the same group. Groups will dynamically update as product data changes.
Use this setting, for example, to ensure that on-sale products aren't recommended for regular price products. You could also utilize contextual groups to make sure products are only recommended with products of the same brand.
Grouped rules are shown in a box, as below.
Users can link groups together and un-link them; simply drag the groups apart to ungroup them.
In the example below, there is a multi-group rule and a single-group rule: "Gender" (multi-group) and "ss_final_sale" (single-group). This has created five groups: Men's, Women's, ss_final_sale, Men's + ss_final_sale, and Women's + ss_final_sale.
When you click the "+ New Rule" button, the following window will appear:
Multi Group Rules
A multi-group rule will have fewer options than a single-group rule, as shown below, side by side for comparison.
Rule Name
Key in a name for your rule. If you do not provide a rule, the system will populate the name automatically based on the field you have chosen.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
From here, you may click "Cancel" or "Create Rule", or you may switch this to a single-group rule.
Single Group Rule
If you choose a Single Group Rule, you have the option to make the rule "Basic" or "Advanced" using the selectors in the middle of the page. "Advanced" rules can handle more complex logic.
Basic
In the example shown above, the "Basic" rule condition type is selected.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand, which the system will save to the list.
Advanced
Set the rule to "Advanced" to utilize multiple fields and conditions in the rule. Using the "Advanced" function allows you to create multiple rules and group them together.
In the example below, a contextual group rule for petite women's trousers includes the inseam (less than 30"), the category "pants", and the gender "women's". In this rule, the products must match all three conditions.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand.
Add Rule
Click this button to add another rule. You may modify the "Include products that match <x> of the following conditions" drop-down from "all" to "any" or "none" to change how this rule behaves. "None" will exclude the associated items.
Add Subgroup
Click this button to add a subsidiary subgroup (rule) to the rule above. This will accommodate more complicated rule logic, if needed.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: We can only provide approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Edit Contextual Group Rule
When you click the "Edit" button, the following window will appear:
The same fields shown in the creation of a new rule will be displayed; you can change a rule to multi- or single-group, you can swap it to the "Basic" or "Advanced" rule condition type, and you can add or remove fields, conditions, and field values as needed.
Rules
The Rules section on the Global Rules tab displays any rules that have been configured. Linked rules are shown together within a box (as shown below), while unlinked rules are displayed separately. Users can split a linked rule into an unlinked rule by dragging and dropping a rule outside the box. Drag one group onto another one to link them.
Create a new rule by clicking the "New Rule" button in the top right corner of this section.
Note: You may edit a rule or delete it by clicking the Edit or Delete icons within each rule.
Groups Created
Once rules have been configured, the system will display every group created by these rules. In the image below, a multi-group rule has been defined to include both "Gender" and the property "On Sale". This has resulted in groups for each gender, for all on-sale items, and for the individual genders combined with the on-sale property.
Excluded Products
Excluded Products can be used to remove products from personalized recommendations. Use this setting, for example, if you want to prevent out-of-stock products from appearing in recommendations.
Note: Excluded Products do not apply to Custom Profiles.
Create Excluded Product Rule
You may create rules that are considered "basic" or "advanced". Advanced rules allow greater complexity; multiple rules or subgroups can be incorporated into the rule, and they may be set to match all, any, or none of the conditions defined.
Note: When an Exclusion Rule includes a field containing the words "sale," "outlet," or "clearance," a warning will be displayed recommending the use of contextual groups instead. Global sale exclusions may break your recommendations functionality with a site-wide sale because this rule would exclude all products.
Basic
When you click "+ New Rule" to add a new excluded product rule, the form will appear as shown in the example below:
Rule Name
Key in a name for your rule. If you do not provide a rule, the system will populate the name automatically based on the field you have chosen. You can change the name at any time.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: The SMC will alert you if you have excluded a large proportion of your product catalog; the "matching products" notification at the bottom of the window will be shown in gray if you exclude 0%-50% of your catalog; in yellow if you exclude 51%-99%; and in red if you exclude 100% of your product catalog.
Note: Searchspring can provide only approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Advanced
Set the rule to "Advanced" to utilize multiple fields and conditions in the rule. The form will look different from the basic rule; you will need to click "Add Rule" or "Add Subgroup" to begin defining this rule.
Once you click "Add Rule", the following pop-up will appear:
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: The SMC will alert you if you have excluded a large proportion of your product catalog; the "matching products" notification at the bottom of the window will be shown in gray if you exclude less than 50% of your catalog; in yellow if you exclude 50%-99%; and in red if you exclude 100% of your product catalog.
Note: We can only provide approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Once the rule is defined, it will look similar to the example shown below (which does not yet have a name). Note in this example that the system is notifying you, in red, to set a rule name at the bottom of the window.
Add Rule
Click this button to add another rule. You may modify the "Include products that match <x> of the following conditions" drop-down from "all" to "any" or "none" to change how this rule behaves. "None" will exclude the associated items.
Add Subgroup
Click this button to add a subsidiary subgroup (rule) to the rule above. This will accommodate more complicated rule logic, if needed.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: The SMC will alert you if you have excluded a large proportion of your product catalog; the "matching products" notification at the bottom of the window will be shown in gray if you exclude 0%-50% of your catalog; in yellow if you exclude 51%-99%; and in red if you exclude 100% of your product catalog.
Note: Searchspring can provide only approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Edit Excluded Product Rule
When you click the "Edit" button, the following window will appear:
The same fields shown in the creation of a new rule will be displayed; you can add or remove fields as needed.
Inactive Products
This section displays inactive products for the account. Inactive items cannot be viewed on the site, so they should not be recommended or be used as seed products for recommendations. Adding rules here will help speed up your Data Science Updates.
Create Inactive Product Rule
You may create a "basic" or "advanced" inactive product rule.
Basic
To add an inactive product, click the "+ New Rule" button. The following window will appear:
Rule Name
Key in a name for your rule. If you do not provide a rule, the system will populate the name automatically based on the field you have chosen.
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: The SMC will alert you if you have excluded a large proportion of your product catalog; the "matching products" notification at the bottom of the window will be shown in gray if you exclude 0%-50% of your catalog; in yellow if you exclude 51%-99%; and in red if you exclude 100% of your product catalog.
Note: Searchspring can provide only approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Advanced
Set the rule to "Advanced" to utilize multiple fields and conditions in the rule. The form will look different from the basic rule; you will need to click "Add Rule" or "Add Subgroup" to begin defining this rule.
Once you click "Add Rule", the following pop-up will appear:
Field
Select a field from the drop-down menu; these fields will differ for each merchant, but may include something like the following:
- Brand
- Category
- Color
- Gender
- Inventory Count
- Price
- Product Type
- Size
- Variant
Condition
Select a condition from the drop-down menu. The options will differ based on the field chosen; if the selected field is a numeric or currency data type, for example, the list will include additional options such as "is less than" and "is more than".
- is
- is not
- is less than
-
is more than
Field Values
Click the field to type in a value or choose a value from the list. If you have selected "Brand" as the field, for example, the list will display all brands that have been listed in your account, but you may also key in a new brand.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: The SMC will alert you if you have excluded a large proportion of your product catalog; the "matching products" notification at the bottom of the window will be shown in gray if you exclude 0%-50% of your catalog; in yellow if you exclude 51%-99%; and in red if you exclude 100% of your product catalog.
Note: Searchspring can provide only approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Once the rule is defined, it will look similar to the example shown below:
Add Rule
Click this button to add another rule. You may modify the "Include products that match <x> of the following conditions" drop-down from "all" to "any" or "none" to change how this rule behaves. "None" will exclude the associated items.
Note: The SMC will alert you if you have excluded a large proportion of your product catalog; the "matching products" notification at the bottom of the window will be shown in gray if you exclude less than 50% of your catalog; in yellow if you exclude 50%-99%; and in red if you exclude 100% of your product catalog.
Add Subgroup
Click this button to add a subsidiary subgroup (rule) to the rule above. This will accommodate more complicated rule logic, if needed.
Calculated number of products
Once the rule has been created, the system will calculate how many items in the product catalog match the rule. In the example shown below, there are 415 matching products — nearly half the merchant's product catalog. Depending on the goals of the rule, the merchant may wish to refine the rule to include a smaller number of items.
Note: We can only provide approximate numbers for matching products in Advanced Rules.
Cancel button
Click the "Cancel" button to discard the rule being created.
Create Rule button
Click the "Create Rule" button to create the new rule.
Edit Inactive Product Rule
To edit an existing inactive product rule, click the "Edit" button. The following window will appear:
The same fields shown in the creation of a new rule will be displayed; you can change a rule to "Basic" or "Advanced", and you can add or remove fields, conditions, and field values as needed.
Blocked Brands
Users have the option to block specific brands from personalized recommendations. This may apply to competitors of the selected seed brand. For example, if a shopper is viewing a Nike product, you may want to block recommendations of Adidas products. To do this, you would create a brand rule on the brand “Nike” to add “Adidas” as a blocked brand. After that rule is incorporated into the recommendations generator, Adidas products will not be recommended in cross-sell or similar profiles when shoppers are looking at Nike products.
In the example shown below, users viewing Breitling products would not be shown Mizu products.
Within this pop-up window, you may edit an existing rule, add other brands to the existing brands, and modify the brand selected in the drop-down menu.
What Rule Should I Create?
Here are some common use cases.
| Objective | Rule | Examples & Outcomes |
| Do not recommend men's items with women's items | Contextual Group | Gender: Use the gender field in a multi-group rule, so each defined gender will become a group and items will only be recommended with other items in the same group |
| Do not recommend out-of-stock products | Excluded Product | In Stock (availability) is Out of Stock: Do not recommend out-of-stock items across the site |
| Do not recommend products that are missing prices | Excluded Product | Price (calculated_price) is less than 0.01 |
| Only recommend products from the same brand as the seed product | Contextual Group | Brand: Only recommend products of a given brand when viewing other products from that brand |
Warning: Searchspring strongly discourages excluding sale items. It is possible to break your recommendations functionality with a site-wide sale because this rule would exclude all products.
| Objective | Rule | Examples & Outcomes |
| Do not recommend sale items | Excluded Product | on_sale is yes: Do not recommend sale items across the site |
Instead of the example above, which utilizes an excluded product rule to hide sale items, we recommend creating a contextual group for sale items, as shown below. This rule will restrict sale items so that they are only recommended when the shopper is viewing another sale item.
| Objective | Rule | Examples & Outcomes |
| Do not recommend sale items with full-priced items | Contextual Group | on_sale is yes: Only recommend sale items when looking at other sale items |
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