59% of online shoppers prefer buying items from websites that personalize their shopping experience, suggest custom products, and adapt the suggestions based on previous interactions.
An AI-driven product recommender becomes a necessity for a successful ecommerce business.
What is this feature, how does it work, and why it might be one of the best business decisions?
What is a product recommender in ecommerce search?
An ecommerce search product recommender is a feature used in most advanced ecommerce search solutions that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and needs and provide personalized and relevant product suggestions.
Recommendations help users explore more options and discover new products (they may haven’t thought of before).
Users can easily switch to other items that are related or compatible if they are not satisfied with the original results.
That said, a product recommender unlocks new opportunities to grow revenue from the same website visitor.
How does it work?
A product recommender is an AI-powered feature that interprets the user search query, considers a broader context (like user behavior, past interests, etc.), and combines these criteria to display the most relevant search results.
There are different ways that a product recommender can work, depending on the data and the algorithm used.
First, a product recommender takes into account these data sources:
product similarities (based on categories and other attributes);
session and user data (product click, add to cart);
cart/order item combinations.
Then, it uses those data sources with some of the most common recommendation methods:
Content-based filtering:
This method analyzes the products a customer has viewed, liked, or searched for in the past and recommends similar or compatible products.
For example, if you have bought a laptop, a content-based filtering system might recommend a laptop bag, a mouse, or a keyboard.
Collaborative filtering:
This method analyzes the products other customers with similar tastes or profiles have viewed, liked, or bought and recommends products they have interacted with.
For example, if you offer clothes for all seasons, a collaborative filtering system might recommend currently trending products that similar users have searched for and clicked on.
Using these methods and data sources, you can creatively set relevant settings on how you want the product recommender to suggest user-relevant products.
How can you exploit a product recommender?
Some of the most commonly used tactics for creatively exploiting the product recommender are these:
Suggest similar products that will be relevant when buying an item (like a winter beanie and a matching scarf);
Promote trending products that many users have shown interest in and help your users follow the trends;
Present other product options and their bundles with customers also bought / frequently bought together feature. You can use this feature on a search results page or display it in the shopping cart and increase the average order value;
Suggest products that other customers also viewed when searching for the same item.
As other business owners might reaffirm, the product recommender alone can be one of the top revenue-boosting strategies for your online business.
Why can a product recommender be the game changer for your ecommerce business?
Product recommender can drastically change the way your ecommerce search performs (to the good).
Businesses that introduce an AI-driven product recommender into their ecommerce search usually see a spike in average order value, click-through, and conversion rates. Besides, it strengthens customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.
All these factors lead not only to improved satisfaction with your brand but also to long-term business monetary success.
Your business could be there, too.
LupaSearch - your next lasting ecommerce search partner
Exploit the opportunities of product recommender with a highly converting ecommerce search solution.
LupaSearch is a well-trusted ecommerce search solution that offers an intuitive and converting site search experience for ecommerce stores like yours.
It uses AI and machine learning to provide accurate and relevant search results, spot-on product recommendations, personalized search results, and analytics.
Request a free demo, and let’s see how a converting product recommender can scale your business.