Overview
The Similar Category recommendation algorithm is a powerful tool designed to deliver highly relevant product suggestions to your users. This feature works by identifying the product categories your customers have recently interacted with and then recommending other items from within those same categories. It’s an effective way to encourage deeper exploration of your product catalog and increase sales by showing customers more of what they've already shown an interest in.
This guide will walk you through setting up the Similar Category recommendation block in your email templates to enhance personalization and drive conversions.
How Does It Work?
The Similar Category algorithm provides user-specific recommendations based on their past activities on your site.
Analyze User Behavior: The system first looks at a specific user's interaction history to understand their interests. You can choose which interaction to base the recommendation on:
Recent Product Visits: Recommends products from the same category as items the user has recently viewed.
Recent Orders: Recommends products from the same category as items the user has recently purchased.
Recent Cart Line Items: Recommends products from the same category as items the user has added to their shopping cart.
Generate Recommendations: Based on the selected user interaction, the algorithm identifies the relevant product category and pulls other products from that category to display in the recommendation block.
Apply Optional Filters: You can further refine the product selection with filters. Filters act as a funnel to narrow down the recommended items, ensuring they are even more relevant. For example, you can set a price range to only show products within a specific budget.
Use Fallback Options: In cases where a user has no interaction history (e.g., a new visitor), the recommendation block won't be left empty. The fallback settings ensure that a relevant set of products is always displayed. You can configure the fallback to show:
Products from a specific category that you choose.
Recently added products.
Top-selling or most-viewed items.
Steps to Configure "Similar Category" Recommendations
Log in to your dashboard.
Navigate to your email templates and open the editor.
Drag and drop the Product(New) block into your desired location within the email template.
Select Product Recommendation from the content settings panel.
In the product recommendation pop-up, click on Choose Recommendation Algorithm.
Under the User Specific Recommendation section, select Similar Category.
Choose User Interaction: Select the user behavior you want to base the recommendations on (e.g., Recent Product Visits, Recent Orders, or Recent Cart Line Items).
Add Filters(Optional) : Click on Add Filters to drill down the recommended products further. You can filter by price range or other attributes to make the suggestions more precise.
9. Configure Fallback Settings: If the system cannot find recommendation data for a specific user, the fallback options will be used.
Choose categories: Select one or more general categories to pull products from.
Price Range: Set a minimum and maximum price for the fallback products.
Choose Product Subset: Select a default product pool, such as "Recently added products," to display.
Note: If no products are available in the fallback selection, the email (including test mails) will not be sent to that user.
10. (Optional) Save Configuration: Check the Save configuration to reuse in another template box to save your settings for future use.
11. Click Save to apply the changes to your product recommendation block.
The Similar Category recommendation algorithm is a highly effective way to create a personalized shopping experience. By showcasing products that align with a user's demonstrated interests, you can significantly increase engagement, click-through rates, and ultimately, conversions. Setting up this feature with thoughtful user interaction criteria and robust fallback options ensures your emails are always populated with relevant and appealing products.