All articleseCommerce Marketing Product Recommendations: how to use it to sell more Chiara AlgarottiInternational Outreach Specialist Picture this.A customer (letās call him John) lands on your online store looking for a motorbike helmet for his daughter.The second he lands on the site, he sees among the featured products an economic helmet with a very basic design, so he clicks on it.As he reads about its features, he realizes thereās a string of recommended products, including helmets for kids. Among them, he sees one with kitties on it he knows his daughter will love.Itās more expensive, but heās okay with it; he adds it to the cart without thinking about it too much.Besides, when heās about to pay, right at the end of the checkout process, some motorbike gloves for kids that match the helmet pop up, and he adds them to the cart too.The result?John has found a helmet and a pair of gloves that are perfect for his daughter, so heās thrilled about it (even if he has spent a lot more than he had anticipated).Thatās the beauty of product recommendation.A strategy that a priori might seem really simple, but thereās actually a lot to it.And the best thing is, if you know how to apply it to your eCommerce, it can help you please your customers and sell more.Would you like to know how?Well, hereās our recommendation: read this post carefully and youāll learn how. šTable of Contentsš 7 ways to boost conversions with product recommendationsā 1. Use the power of social proofā 2. Offer and recommend the user complementary productsā 3. Special offers recommendationsā 4. Recommend Seasonal productsā 5. āOther users have also viewed…āā 6. Product Recommendation: Bundlingā 7. Personalized product recommendationsš Where can you include product recommendations in your store?š Recommend products with your Site Search Engineš 7 ways to boost conversions with product recommendationsWe can identify two main benefits to product recommendation as a strategy in the story we just told you:Improving customer experience.Increasing your average checkout price.Bear in mind weāve talked about a āstrategy.āThe thing is that, in order for you to be able to make the best of product recommendation, there are certain techniques you should know.Letās see them.ā 1. Use the power of social proofHow many millions of people could have read The Da Vinci Code only because it was a bestseller?In the end, itās inevitable; nothing is as reassuring as social proof.Letās be honest; if we see that a product is popular we think āIf that many people are buying it, there must be a reasonā. And that increases our chances of including it in our cart.So go ahead and take advantage of this to give your most popular products visibility:Including a āMost Soldā section on your homepage or even in categories sites.Adding a āBestsellerā label to the product card.In this case, this store has chosen to include them in its ārelated productsā section, adding a āBest Sellerā tag.ā 2. Offer and recommend the user complementary productsDo you remember John (from the beginning of this post) ended up buying a more expensive helmet and some gloves he hadnāt even considered?Well, that example contains 2 of the most popular strategies to increase any eCommerceās average ticket price:Up-selling: you recommend a customer a better product than the one he has in mind at a higher price. For instance, youāre looking at an iPhone 7 product card and among the recommended products thereās an iPhone 10.Cross-selling: products that complement the one a customer has bought (or is about to). In the case of the iPhone, we could suggest the user to buy a matching case or a pair of AirPods.And⦠no; we did not come up with this idea ourselves.If you look closely, Appleās product cards include a āCompatible Accessoriesā section.By the way, if youād like to learn more about this strategy, make sure you check out this post.ā 3. Special offers recommendationsAnother really interesting option is to recommend the products you have on sale.Very frequently, itās the case that a customer hadnāt considered getting a specific product, but then they see itās on sale and think: āWell, I guess I could take advantage of this offer and get it now at a cheaper price; I donāt want to miss out on this offer.ā The scarcity trigger in action. šThe best thing is that product recommendation is a very adjustable resource. Recommendations can be displayed:On the homepage (on a banner, on a specific tab of the browsing menu barā¦).On product listings.In newsletters.Try different options to see where you get a higher conversion.ā 4. Recommend Seasonal productsA way of anticipating your customerās needs is including seasonal products in your recommendations.For example, think about the famous āBack to schoolā one.If you sell backpacks or school supplies, surely a fair amount of your customers will come searching for those products. So, why not make it easy for them and include them among your featured products on the homepage?Another pretty curious example.See how Amazon Spain has made the best of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage season to highlight product categories that relate to the journey (backpacks, shoes, foot care products, etc.)ā 5. āOther users have also viewed…āThis recommendation indicates which product sites have been visited by other buyers.Something similar to what we see on IKEAās website when we go on the product card of one of their planters.This strategy reinforces social proof; the user sees that certain specific products are attractive to other users and that builds up trust.But, what if we take it up a notch?For example, in addition to showing them that other people are also viewing such products, you can let them know there are only a few items left in stock.Itās like saying: āWatch out, this is a very popular product and if you donāt hurry up, you could miss out on itā.Once more weāre taking advantage of the scarcityās psychological trigger we mentioned above.ā 6. Product Recommendation: Bundling Letās see another frequent and effective way of recommending products: kits.This strategy, known as product bundling, consists in grouping different complementary products and offering them in a single bundle.This works well because:The user doesnāt have to choose: by offering them a āclosed packā, they donāt have to spend a while comparing product cards to decide which to get.It makes the purchase process more efficient: by only clicking once, they can add all the products in the bundle to their cart.It reduces the price: even if itās not a rule of thumb, the usual thing is getting the full kit at a cheaper price than getting all the products separately.For example, if youāre looking at a desktop on Amazon, right below youāll be offered a mouse, trackpad and keyboard bundle. ā 7. Personalized product recommendationsSo far, everything weāve seen involves general recommendations, identical to all users.But now, we go one step beyond with personalized recommendations.These suggestions, as you can tell, vary automatically from customer to customer (which is known as dynamic content).Every user is offered personalized results based on:Their purchase history.The products theyāve viewed.Their demographics.Etc.The following is an example of dynamic recommendations on Amazon, based on previous purchases made by the user and on the products theyāve viewed in the past.š Where can you include product recommendations in your store?The most common thing is to find these suggestions in product cards.And even if theyāre a good spot (almost a mandatory one) to add them, weād still fall short. You can also include them:On the homepage: use the homepage to add those bestsellers, new arrivals, special offers, and all those products you want to push in order to favor your sales strategy.Via e-mail: use e-mail marketing to send your subscribers messages recommending products according to the season. You can also send them dynamic content with personalized recommendations. āHave you recently purchased these trendy shoes? Then, you might be interested in these onesā¦ā.Checkout page: before the person completes checkout, you could show them other complementary products to the one in their cart.Category page: you can add the best-selling products from each category at the beginning of the page as a way of guiding the user through their purchase.Error page: did you know that error-404 pages can be personalized? Make the best of them to include some of your best-selling products and avoid having customers who come across faulty links leave your website.As you can see, thereās plenty of spots.However, thereās one more spot that few eCommerces consider; one that can help you boost conversion.š Recommend products with your Site Search EngineYou didnāt see that one coming, did you?Well, with an internal search engine, you can:Feature the products you want to advertise the most.Offer personalized results based on each userās behavior.Display banners with offers.A smart search engine such as Doofinder offers all these features.Thanks to all these features (among many others), the stores that use it have seen their sales improve between 10% and 20%.So hereās one more recommendation for you⦠Go to this 30-day free trial and see for yourself. š FREE EBOOKS Increase your eCommerce sales by 20%The 10 largest eCommerce sites in the worldHow to start an online shop from scratch