Merchandising rules for Commerce Search

📖 In this article, we are learning about Merchandising rules for Commerce Search in Boost AI Search & Discovery's Merchandising feature.

⚠ This feature only works for Boost AI Search & Discovery V3. To find out which version of our app your store's current theme is installed with, please follow this article.

List of merchandising rules for Commerce Search

The first thing you see when going to Visual Merchandising is the rule listing page. The rule listing page is divided into two tabs: “Commerce Search” and “Collection Page”.

“Commerce search” tab displays all rules that apply to the instant search widget and search result pages Here you can organize the rules, see what they're doing, go to edit existing rules, and create new ones.

What can you do on the rule listing page?

Quickly search for a rule

You can easily search for a rule by search terms. The search bar is located at the top of the rule listing page.

Filter out rules based on status and, or active period

You can quickly filter the rules based on status (Enabled, Disabled), or filter by the active period of the rule.

Enabled means the toggle of the rule is on;
Disabled means the toggle of the rule is off.

Enable/disable the rules by switching the toggle

You can enable/ disable the rules by switching the toggle in the first column.

Manage rules by name and date range

The rule applied for all search terms is marked with the star icon.
If a rule is displayed with an “Expired” abel, it means the validity period is over and the rule is no longer active.

View how a rule is affecting your site

The merchandising strategies for each rule are represented as icons. The icons will be highlighted (in bold) if the rule is set with that strategy. By hovering over the highlighted icon, you can view a description of the strategy being used.

Creating new merchandising rule for Commerce Search

Creating rule for specific search terms

⚠ This rule will affect the search results in the Instant Search Widget and Search Results pages.

Step 1: Click “Add new rule” button

From the app’s admin, go to “Merchandising” > Click “Add new Rule” > Select “Commerce Search”.

Step 2: Set rule conditions

Rule name: You must enter a name for the rule.
Active date: You can optionally set the validity period of the rule by clicking on the date range box.
Apply to: Select “Specific search queries” option.

One search term (query) can be included in one rule only. However, it’s possible to add add multiple search terms for one rule. By understanding how customers are searching for products on their store, store owners can add relevant search terms to their rules and optimize the impact of the rule on search results.

For example, if you run an online store that sells clothing and accessories, you might want to prioritize new dress products in search results. To do this, you can create a rule that targets specific search terms such as "women dress", "skirt," and "dress". When customers enter one of these search terms in your store's search box, the rule will be triggered and the corresponding products will be prioritized in the search results.

Step 3: Set merchandising strategy

⚠ For Merchandising strategies that requires conditions, Metafield attribute is not yet supported. We are continuously working to enhance our features and hope to include this functionality in future updates. Stay tuned for further announcements, and thank you for your understanding.

You can apply up to 5 merchandising strategies including “Pin”, “Boost”, “Demote”, “Hide” and “Filter” for a rule that applied to specific search terms. The settings for each strategy you selected are shown on the right side of your screen.

The strategies are set in the priority order (highest to lowest) as: Hide > Pin > Filter> Demote > Boost.

Pinning Products

You can pin up to 7 products on the first 7 positions for the instant search widget and search results pages.

⚠ This rule only works when you enable Relevance sorting on search results pages.

Drag and drop each product to the desired position. Pinned products will be highlighted with a pinning icon in the preview section. You can un-pin the product and return it to its original position by removing the pinning setting.

The settings of “Pinned products must be matched with customer's active search query to display” will be checked by default. It means that the products will only be pinned up if they are included in the search results for the specified terms you have set. For example, you create a rule with search term as “dress” and pin product A. Your customer searches “dress” and the product A doesn’t belong to the list of returned results If you check the box, the product A will not be pinned If you uncheck the checkbox, the product A will always be pinned even though it is not in the returned results.

Boosting Products

Boosting rule allows you to promote products with certain attributes to the top of your organic results set. The rule will continue to stay in effect and re-order your products in real-time even if the product information may vary.

⚠ This rule only works when you enable Relevance sorting on search results pages.

Under the “Boost product” section, you can set up the conditions for boosting rule by deciding on which attribute of the product can activate the rule.

You can add maximum 3 set of conditions and 3 product attributes for each condition.

Click “+ Add” to add new condition and “+ Add another set of conditions” when you want this rule to have multiple set of conditions. Products that meet all the conditions you select will appear at the top of both the instant search widget and search results pages.

For example, you want to boost a group of dress products that matches the below conditions:

The color is equal to black; and
The vendor is equal to Mango; and
The price is less than 500 USD.

In the preview section, you can see the products that match your settings are displayed on top of the search results, and after the pinned products (if have).

Demoting Products

Our Demote strategy allows you to decrease the visibility of specific products by creating rules that push them down in search rankings.

⚠ This rule only works when you enable Relevance sorting on search results pages.

If a product is out of stock, it's not going to be helpful for customers to see it in their search results but you don’t want to completely hide the products from your store. Instead, you can demote the product to make it less visible until it is back in stock.

Under the “Demote product” section, you can set up the conditions for demoting rule by deciding on which attribute of the product that can activate the rule.

You can add maximum 3 set of conditions and 3 product attributes for each condition.

Click “+ Add” to add new condition and “+ Add another set of conditions” when you want this rule to have multiple sets of conditions.

Hiding Products

This rule allows you to hide up to 7 products that have low sales or engagement, are seasonal or temporary, or are out of stock from appearing in the commerce search.

💪 This rule is effective for all types of sorting on the search results pages.

Under the “Hide product” section, you can set up the conditions for hiding the rule by deciding on which attribute of the product can activate the rule.

You can add maximum 7 set of conditions and 3 product attributes for each condition.

Click “+ Add” to add new condition and “+ Add another set of conditions” when you want this rule to have multiple sets of conditions.

Filtering Products

We have introduced a new "Filter" rule to our app that allows you to refine product searches and showcase specific products.

During the Christmas season, as a store owner selling women's dresses, you want to highlight your dresses with red and green colors to attract customers looking for festive attire. With our new Filter rule, you can easily refine your product searches and limit the display of dresses to only those with red and green colors. This will increase the visibility of your Christmas-themed dresses and help boost sales during the holiday season.

💪 This rule is effective for all types of sorting on the search results pages.

Under the “Filter product” section, you can set up the conditions for hiding the rule by deciding on which attribute of the product can activate the rule.

You can add a maximum of 5 sets of conditions and 3 product attributes for each condition.

Click “+ Add” to add new condition and “+ Add another set of conditions” when you want this rule to have multiple sets of conditions.

Step 4: Review & Finish

To create a rule for your front store, click on the "Review & Publish" button and ensure that your settings are correct. Once you have confirmed everything, select "Publish" to enable and apply the rule immediately.

If you need to make further adjustments before publishing the rule, you can choose to "Save as draft." In this case, the rule will not be enabled and will not apply to your store until you decide to enable it later on.

Creating rule for all search terms

💡 By applying the global rule for all search terms, any products that match the conditions of this rule will be boosted, demoted, or hidden as long as they are included in the search results when shoppers search for products on your store.