Showing your customers just how in tune you are with their shopping needs and wants bursts the doors to success wide open. Product recommendations are one of the most vital tools for achieving this. There’s a wealth of product recommendation strategies that you should be tapping into throughout your Shopify store. However, many merchants tend to shy away from applying the full breadth of product recommendations to their pages.
In this article, we’ll turn you into a believer in adding a diverse range of product recommendations to each page of your Shopify store and show you how to implement them best.
First, let’s briefly talk about the mechanism behind displaying product recommendations throughout your Shopify store.
Product recommendations are displayed on pages in your store with widgets. Widgets are blocks that pull content and data from an app. The types of product recommendation widgets you can access will entirely depend on the app you have installed. Some popular and incredibly useful recommendation widgets are; frequently bought together, new arrivals, bestsellers, recently viewed, most viewed, related items, and hand-picked. These are all configured within a product recommendations app.
Product recommendation widgets can be added to a host of pages in your Shopify store. However, this also will depend on the product recommendation app you’re using. Ideally, you’ll want to be able to add them to the homepage, collection pages, product pages, and cart page as a minimum.
So why should you opt for multiple product recommendation widgets on a page rather than just one?
Product recommendations wield great power in turning browsers into shoppers. In fact, 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with a brand that provides relevant recommendations. The keyword here is relevance. Shoppers are incredibly complex. Their needs fluctuate depending on the type of shopper they are and the stage of the shopping journey they are at.
Despite your best efforts, it can be difficult to precisely discern which type of consumer is interacting and what their desires may be. A homepage visitor could be a new customer or a returning one. Someone viewing a product page could be looking for complementary items or still weighing out their options.
That’s why you shouldn’t hedge your bets on a single product recommendation widget per page. You need to provide a diverse selection to be certain that your suggestions are relevant to shoppers, no matter who they are.
Including multiple product recommendations while maintaining relevance is a fine balancing act. So, here are some tips to ensure your product recommendation strategy is above par.
The homepage is often the first page shoppers land on when they visit an online store. These shoppers could be first-time visitors or returning ones. The umbrella they fall under will have a huge impact on the type of recommendations that will appeal to them. Hence, sticking to just one product recommendation widget on the homepage simply won’t cut it.
First-time visitors need to be convinced that your store is worth their time and money. A bestsellers widget works as a treat for these customers. Bestsellers are more likely to sway new visitors as they act as social proof. Consumers place a lot more trust in the opinions of others over claims made by brands. Plus, it can be challenging to gauge the types of products a new visitor may be interested in. Leaning on the collective opinions of your current customers is a safe bet.
For returning visitors, take a more personalized approach to product recommendations. Consumers yearn for personalized experiences; in fact, 36% would do more to offer tailored experiences. On top of that, 40% wish brands knew more about their style preferences. Personalized product recommendation widgets like recently viewed and recommended for you are excellent for nurturing these needs.
Finally, a must-have widget on your homepage is new arrivals. Customers always want to be on trend. With a new arrivals widget, you can nail your first impression with first-time visitors and continue to inspire returning ones.
Product and collection pages give you the biggest clues about what a shopper is interested in. You’ll need to make sure the product recommendation widgets you include on these pages are directly related to what’s being viewed.
New arrivals from the product category can be included on collection pages along with recently viewed to ease the browsing process.
At a minimum, you should include frequently bought together and related items widgets on product pages. Related items allow you to appeal to customers who are still exploring and help them easily assess their options. Frequently bought together can help you coax a cross-sell by displaying products that are known to add value to what’s being viewed.
When you have multiple recommendation widgets on product pages, it’s best to stay away from more generalized recommendations like bestsellers and most viewed. These product recommendations can dilute relevance and come across as clutter on the page. Instead, save bestsellers, most viewed, and trending recommendations for the collection page, but make sure they’re related to the collection.
Irrelevant product recommendations are a huge pet peeve for shoppers. Consumers find them so disturbing that even 1 questionable recommendation on the cart page will render all other product suggestions hopeless. Without a doubt, the product recommendations you include on the cart page need to be highly relevant to the in-cart items and the shopper.
Having a mixture of recommendations based on a user’s specific behavior and general behavioral data will help you hone in on relevance. That means including cart-related recommendations, such as complementary items and frequently bought together alongside personalized ones like recently viewed.
Sidestep any and all alternative product suggestions, even if they are upsells. Your customer has pretty much settled on what they want at this point. If the recommendations aren't complementary or have a similar use case, you’ll be on the fast track to failure.
With multiple product recommendation widgets on one page, you’ll need a clear plan for their positions. This will help you maximize the impact of your multi-faceted product recommendations.
Define the goal for product recommendations on each page. For instance, you can upsell on certain product pages, so widgets like bestsellers and trending will need to be on top. On the other hand, cross-selling will be the priority on cart pages. The social proof power of frequently bought together makes it the best option for the first position. Complementary products and complete-the-look suggestions should also rank high.
You also need to remember that your store is unique, with a unique pool of customers who respond in their own individual ways. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to ranking product recommendations. You’ll need to figure out what works best for your store. Conducting regular A/B tests for each page will put you on the path to perfecting the positions of your product recommendations.
Emotional connection is a highly persuasive force in eCommerce as it helps consumers relate to your offering. You can build this connection by having buzzwords and visual cues ingrained into your product recommendations. This will go a long way in ensuring each widget has a resounding effect on customers, despite their numbers.
Include strong visual cues such as star ratings, product badges, and slashed discounts to make the recommendations more striking. Buzzwords and phrases like Top rated, You’ll also love, Just dropped,Pair with, Looks great with, and Community picks will help shoppers form an emotional connection as they have a more natural and conversational feel.
Having multiple product recommendation widgets for each page of your Shopify store gives you the diversity needed to be relevant. It’s important, however, to carefully plan how you implement these recommendations.
Ensure that each recommendation type you use serves a clear purpose and relates to the needs your customers are likely to have. Make the recommendations stand out and demonstrate their value with creative copy and visual cues. Placement will be crucial too, so have a good think about what you want to achieve with your product recommendations.
Follow these simple tips, and you’ll have a fool-proof product recommendation strategy.
