New client prospects often ask us about the top performing product recommendation scenarios and website page combinations. In other words, they want to know where they should put product recommendations on their site and which types of recommendation scenarios will work the best on those pages.
While each implementation is different and a variety of factors influence our suggestions, we've built a series of "Best Practices" for the implementation of product recommendations within a website. The following represents a snapshot of those "Best Practices" developed through years of client implementations and data analysis.
Homepage
Since the homepage is often the first entry point for consumers, we recommend our clients add personalization elements to this page. While our client analytics indicate this page to be less important than others, in terms of personalization, the homepage sets the stage for the overall site experience. In addition, some of our clients have high bounce rates at the homepage and personalized product recommendations really help overcome this challenge.
We suggest clients use the following recommendation scenarios on the homepage:
- Customers Who Viewed Items in Your History Also Viewed
- Most Popular Items on the Site Today
- Items Related to Items You Recently Viewed
- Customers With Similar Searches Ultimately Purchased
- Suggestions Just For You
Product Category Pages
The product category level of a website is often the "first click" we see. As part of our technology implementation on a website, our systems are observing user behavior with each click within a site. Since users most often land on a site's homepage or category page, the category site often represents our first opportunity to learn something about the user's intent on the site.
We suggest clients use the following recommendation scenarios on product category pages:
- Top Selling Items in <CategoryName>
- Most Popular Items in <CategoryName>
- Highest Rated Items in <CategoryName>
If a user has been to the category before, and is a repeat visitor, our analytic data shows higher click-through and conversion rates when using personalized recommendation scenarios such as:
- Items Related to Items You Recently Viewed
- Other Customers Who Were Interested in <CategoryName> Eventually Bought
- Suggestions Just For You
Product Detail Pages
By the time a website user reaches the Product Detail Page of a website, their intent is becoming more and more defined. Typically, the user will have utilized site search or navigation to view a category or search term prior to engaging with a specific product. At the product level, our systems attempt to determine why a user has given preference (via their click) to a specific item and how that item relates to their overall site behavior.
For example, if a user has just visited the Digital Camera category of the website and is now viewing a Canon Powershot SD1200 camera which sells for $299.99, our system is tracking the unique attributes of the product and comparing those attributes to a variety of factors, including your behavior and the behavior of the overall crowd.
We suggest our clients use the following recommendation scenarios on product detail pages:
- What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
- Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed
- Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- Items Frequently Bought Together
- Customers Who Bought Items in Your Recent History Also Bought
- You May Also Like
- Recommendations Just For You
Shopping Cart
User's add items to their shopping cart for 3 reasons: they have a deep intent to purchase the item, they are interested in the item but may not intend to purchase it today, and finally they were simply curious how the site worked. We always assume a user falls into the first two positions so our recommendation strategy at the shopping cart is all about conversion and upsell.
We suggest our clients use the following recommendation scenarios at the shopping cart page:
- Customers Who Added These Items Also Bought
- Customers Who Bought Items in Your Shopping Cart Eventually Bought
- Customers Who Added These Items Also Viewed
- Items Recently Viewed
Search Pages
The search results page of a website often represents a user who is browsing or seeking a specific item. Since these two behaviors are in contrast to one another, our Customer Intelligence Engine attempts to determine the true intent.
When it comes to displaying product recommendations at the search results page, we suggest our clients use the following recommendation scenarios:
- Customers Who Searched for <SearchTerm> Also Viewed
- Customers Who Searched for <SearchTerm> Eventually Bought
- Items Recently Viewed
- Items Related to Items You Recently Viewed
We also strongly recommend our clients use product recommendations on their "No Results Found" search results page. Most sites today display a customer friendly message when search results are not possible but very few sites give consumers a path to other items which they might find of interest. We've seen great results with this strategy and recommend it for all of our implementations.
Other Pages of Interest
In addition to the common pages mentioned above, we've also implemented recommendations on several auxillary pages such as New Arrivals, Ratings & Reviews, FAQ pages, Blog pages, and Closeouts. We've also created a "Recommendations Just For You" page on several of our client sites. These pages give consumers a standard place to go to see items which are specifically recommended for them.
Summary
Every client is different. We are passionate about the truth of this statement and it influences our decisions and recommendations throughout a project. That said, we hope these "Best Practices" provide some insight into the specific pages of a website where product recommendations are most successful along with the scenario types which have the most success on each page.
As always, if we can help your site's journey of creating a personalized experience for each and every customer, please give us a call.