Boost rules for slots

This is for:

Merchandiser

In the Recommendations manager of the Coveo Merchandising Hub (CMH), merchandisers can define boost ranking rules to make products that match specific criteria appear more prominently in recommendation slots. These criteria are based on product attributes that are available in the indexed metadata, such as brand, category, or price.

boost rules can also be scheduled for a specific time, letting merchandisers plan and execute strategies effectively.

Boost rule for recommendation slots | Coveo

Use case examples

Boost ranking rules can be used to address a variety of use cases. Here are a few examples:

  • Boost promoted products: Enhance the ranking of products that are part of a specific promotion.

  • Feature specific brands: Boost the ranking of products from specific brands.

  • Feature high-margin products: Enhance the ranking of products with higher profit margins.

  • Highlight new arrivals: Increase the visibility of newly added products to the inventory.

  • Boost high stock products: Promote products that have a high inventory to encourage sales.

Prerequisites

Before you create rules in the Coveo Merchandising Hub (CMH):

Create boost rules

To create boost rules

  1. In the CMH, access the Recommendations manager.

  2. From the navigation tabs, select ranking rules and then click Create ranking rule.

  3. Under This rule will apply to, define the scope of the rule.

    1. Locale: Select the locale that the boost rule applies to. By default, a rule applies to all available locales.

    2. slot: Select the recommendation slot that the boost rule applies to, and then click Done.

      Note

      Currently, ranking rules can only apply to a specific recommendation slot.

  4. Under Choose an action, select boost.

  5. Under Attribute, select the attribute on which you want to apply the boost rule. For example, to affect the ranking of products by brand, select ec_brand.

  6. Under Operator, select the operator that you want to use.

  7. Under Value, select one or more attribute values that you want to use to affect product ranking. For example, to affect the ranking of products based on the ec_brand attribute, enter the brand value that you want to use, such as Barca Sports.

    For a recommendation slot using a seeded strategy, you can select the Use "Same as product…​" option to use a dynamic value. For example, on a PDP, you can create a boost rule that uses the ec_brand attribute and the Use "Same as product…​" option to boost products from the same brand as the product being viewed. When a visitor views a Barca Sports product, the recommendation slot will boost other Barca Sports products.

  8. Under boost strength, select how strongly you want to affect the ranking of products.

    Important

    How strongly the products are affected by a given strength value depends on other ranking rules that are applied to the same slot.

    The more ranking rules you apply to a slot, the more you must increase the strength value to have a significant effect on the products.

  9. (Optional) To add more attribute-value pairs to the boost rule, click Add attribute and repeat the process.

  10. For a recommendation slot using a seeded strategy, under Choose when to apply, select whether you want the rule to apply in any situation, or only if specific conditions are met.

  11. Click Next: Review and publish.

  12. Review your rule configuration.

    Tip
    Leading practices

    Use the panel on the right to preview how the rule affects the products in the recommendation slot for a given locale.

    If you’re previewing a rule for a recommendation slot using a seeded strategy, you must choose the products for which you want to simulate recommendations to see the effect of the rule.

    The preview is an approximate simulation that won’t cover every scenario encountered in a live environment.

  13. Click Next: Publish.

  14. Under Rule name, enter a meaningful name for your rule.

  15. Under Choose when to publish, select one of the following:

    • To apply the rule immediately, select Publish now.

    • To set a schedule for the rule, select Set a schedule, and then select the time frame in which the rule should apply.

  16. Click Publish now.

The rule now applies or will apply as scheduled.

Modify boost rules

To modify boost rules

  1. In the CMH, access the Recommendations manager.

  2. From the navigation tabs, select ranking rules.

  3. Locate the rule that you want to modify.

  4. Click dots, and then click Modify.

  5. You can modify the rule’s scope (Locale, Audiences, or slot) or its configuration by clicking Edit on the relevant card. These are the same settings covered in the rule creation section.

    Important

    The Audience option is currently in early access. Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) to enable this option.

  6. When you’ve finished editing the rule, or to modify its publishing settings, click Next: Publish.

  7. Update the publishing settings, if applicable, and then click Publish now.

The modified rule now applies, or will apply as scheduled.

Delete boost rules

To delete boost rules

  1. In the CMH, access the Recommendations manager.

  2. From the navigation tabs, select ranking rules.

  3. Locate the rule that you want to delete.

  4. Click dots, and then click Delete.

  5. Click Delete again to confirm.

The rule is deleted.