7 Must-have Features of a Product Recommendation App

There are certain features of a product recommendation app you must look out for before deciding if an app is worth it or not. 

Why is this important? 

Firstly, you wouldn’t want to invest your money into a costly recommendation app that doesn’t yield meaningful results. That alone can frustrate you out of business. 

Secondly, the wrong product recommendation app can make your website’s cart abandonment rate surge, which you wouldn’t want. 

In fact, the wrong app can ruin your website’s user experience, chasing potential customers away. 

So to avoid all these, you must choose the right product recommendation app. In this post, we will review what features make for a great product recommendation app. 

But first, what are product recommendation apps? 

What Are Product Recommendation Apps and Why Are They Important? 

Product recommendation apps are apps that are capable of recommending relevant products to customers based on a number of criteria. 

One such criterion is buying history. If a customer has been consistently buying a particular category of product from your store, chances are that they will buy it again – or go for something similar – on their next visit. 

So suggesting a related product to them will likely lead to sales. 

Other criteria include geo-location, gender, purchase history, and what other shoppers are buying.

Benefits of A Product Recommendation App on Shopify 

Implementing product recommendations on Shopify costs money. So is it worth it? Definitely! Here are some reasons why: 

• More sales: When you make it easy for customers to find products they like, they will naturally give you more patronage. 
• Less ad spends: If you have the right product recommendation strategy in place, you will spend less on ads. 
• Better customer retention: Personalizing shoppers’ experience by recommending products they like will make them come back many more times to your store. 
• Improved conversion rate: Smart product recommendations shortens shoppers’ buying journey, leading to faster conversion. 

7 Must-have Features of a Product Recommendation App

Now you’ve seen what product recommendation apps are all about and the benefits they offer, it’s about time you picked one for your store. But how do you know the right one to pick? 

While there is no particular approach to picking the right app, checking out for certain key features will make your job a lot easier. 

That being said, here are 9 important features to look out for when choosing a product recommendation app for your store. 

1. AI-powered recommendation 

Setting up and running a product recommendation campaign on your Shopify website all by yourself can be immensely time-consuming. It could even result in burnout. 

This is because you’d have to manually track shoppers’ purchase history, their interaction with your site, browsing patterns, and dozens of other metrics. 

All those can be overwhelming. But leveraging an AI-powered recommendation system will make your work a whole lot easier. 

An AI-driven recommendation system can analyze the profile of prospects on your site and then smartly suggest products they will likely want to buy. These systems are also capable of tracking trending products on the web and using the data to create smart recommendations. 

So, before settling for a recommendation app, be sure to check if the app offers intelligent AI-driven recommendation. 

2. Smart Product Bundles 

A good recommendation app should be able to create smart product upsell and cross-sell bundles. Why is this important? 

There are certain rules to follow when upselling or cross-selling a potential customer. In the case of upselling, suggested products should at most have a 50% markup of the original product. For example, if a customer buys (or is looking to buy) a product worth $100, the product you suggest should be worth $150 or less. 

For cross-selling, suggested products should cost less (ideally 50% less) than the original product. 

Whatever app you settle for should be able to create these product bundles with little support. 

3. Trending Product

Trending products is probably one of the easiest forms of product recommendation. And it works pretty well. It’s the practice of recommending popular products shoppers are buying or looking for. 

A good recommendation app should have the ability to find trending products and suggest them to shoppers. And it should be able to find these products in real time. Recommending products that trended the previous month but have faded off will certainly not add any value to your recommendation campaign.

4. Several Recommendation Types 

It’s a bad idea to only rely solely on trending products as a form of recommendation. You’d miss out on several opportunities to make sales. 

As such, it’s important to use an app that is capable of creating several types of recommendations. These include frequently bought together, recently viewed, post-purchase cross-sells, add-on recommendations, personalized recommendations, people also viewed, etc. 

In fact, the more recommendation types the app can create, the better your chances of converting visitors into shoppers.  

5. Smart Bundle Discounts 

Another important feature a good recommendation app should have is the ability to create smart bundle discounts for upsells and cross-sells. 

Why is this important? 

More often than not, shoppers don’t respond to upsell and cross-sell offers unless you motivate them. And the best form of motivation that gets their attention any day any time is with discounts. 

A good recommendation app should be capable of tying recommendation offers with irresistible discounts that drive sales and yet don’t hurt your profits. 

6. Unlimited customization 

Unlimited customization is another must-have feature of a good recommendation app for Shopify. This means the app should let you add your own recommendation rules and display products where you want. 

In addition, the app should let you customize your recommendation logic and flow in such a way that it fits the unique needs of your store. Plus, it should give you the chance to make changes across channels in real-time. 

7. A/B testing 

Sometimes, you have to try multiple recommendation strategies and test to see which drives the most sales and conversion. This is what A/B testing is all about. 

A/B testing your recommendation campaigns eliminates guesswork. It improves conversion and uplifts your sales. 

Therefore, whatever recommendation app you go for should give you the option of A/B testing your campaigns with ease. 

Conclusion

The right product recommendation app can transform your website’s conversion funnel. With AI integration becoming a priority for e-commerce outfits, the tool your business needs will allow for easy AI collaboration.

Adoric helps you maximize conversions and profit on your Shopify store. Leverage powerful custom campaigns to boost conversions and average order values. Push your best performing products to your home page with the Home Page Bestseller campaign. Ease your visitors’ shopping experience when you display items that are frequently bought together.

From sportswear to fashion, healthcare to travel accessories or pet products, Adoric is your go-to tool for boosting your average order value. Adoric is fitting if you’re looking to improve customer experience, skyrocket conversion rate, boost product discoverability, or just sell more.

Different store owners will have different sales requirements. When choosing the right product recommendation app, a combination of three or more of these features is the sign that you have found the right app.

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