Use sequences of up to five criteria to exercise greater control of the items that appear in your Recommendations activities. You can also limit the number of items returned (sometimes referred to as “slot level control.”)
NOTE
Criteria sequences cannot be used with Recommendations activities created before the October 2016 Release of Target Premium.
To create a criteria sequence, you must first create the criteria you want to include in the sequence. See Create criteria for more information.
By using a criteria sequence, you can provide additional targeted recommendations, instead of using more generic backup recommendations, when a criteria doesn’t return enough results to fill your design. Typically, a criteria sequence will proceed from more specific targeting, which might return fewer results, to more general targeting, which usually returns more results.
Your criteria sequences might vary in order depending on the page type, as shown in the following examples:
Page type
Possible sequence order
Product page
Based on current item, from same brand
Based on current item, from all brands
Based on content similarity
Based on top sellers
Based on most-viewed items across the site
Home page
Based on visitor’s last purchase
Based on visitor’s favorite item
Based on visitor’s favorite category
Based on top sellers
Based on most-viewed across site
Create a criteria sequence
You create criteria sequences from the Create Criteria Sequence screen.
There are multiple ways to reach the Create Criteria Sequence screen. Some screen options vary depending on how you reach the screen.
On the Recommendations > Criteria library screen, click Create Criteria > Create Criteria Sequence. Criteria you create here are automatically made available for all Recommendations activities.
When you are creating a Recommendations activity, from the Select Criteria screen, click Create New > Create Criteria Sequence. You will have the option to save your new criteria sequence for use with other Recommendations activities.
When you are editing a Recommendations activity, click in a Recommendations Location box on your page, then select Change Criteria. On the Select Criteria screen, click Create New > Create Criteria Sequence. You will have the option to save your new criteria for use with other Recommendations activities.
The following steps assume you access the Create Criteria Sequence screen by using the first method: the Recommendations > Criteria library screen.
In the Criteria Sequence section, click Add Criteria.
The sequence order defines the order in which a design is filled. If Criteria 1 does not have enough recommendations to fill your design, the remaining slots will be filled with Criteria 2, and so on.
On the Select Criteria screen, select a criteria, then click Add.
You can use the Search box and the filter drop-downs to find the desired criteria.
(Optional) Slide the Limit the number of items returned toggle to the “on” position, then specify the number of items (between 1 and 50).
To help you understand the value of the Limit the number of items returned option (sometimes called “slot level control,”) consider the following use cases:
Use Case 1: You want to have a mix of different kinds of items in a single recommendations tray. For example, you want to show a mix of outerwear (jackets) and tops (shirts, T-shirts). To achieve this, use a Collection for the activity that includes all of the potential product types you want in any slots in your design. Then, set up your first criteria with a static filter limiting the criteria to include only outerwear, and set up your second criteria with a static filter limiting the criteria to include only tops. Finally, add both criteria to a criteria sequence and limit the first criteria to 2 slots.
The recommendations tray might look like this on your site:
Use Case 2: You want a mix of both alternative items and complementary items. Set up one criteria to use a viewed/viewed algorithm and use a dynamic filter that limits the recommended items to the current item’s category. Set up the second criteria to use a viewed/bought algorithm and use a dynamic filter that includes only recommended items that do not match the current item’s category. Finally, add both criteria to a sequence and limit the first criteria to 2 slots.
Continue adding additional criteria to your sequence. You can add up to five criteria to a sequence.
