Create a Bundle

Contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) if you want to add the Monetate Dynamic Bundles feature to your account.

Follow the appropriate steps to create either a global bundle, which is available in all your accounts, or a local bundle, which is available only in the account you're currently in.

Creating a Global Bundle

Follow these steps to create a bundle that's available in all your accounts.

  1. Click COMPONENTS in the top navigation bar, select Product Recommendations, and then click the Dynamic Bundles tab.

    Callout of the Dynamic Bundles tab on the Product Recommendations Overview page

  2. Click CREATE A BUNDLE.

    Callout of the CREATE A BUNDLE button on the Dynamic Bundles list page

  3. Select the option on the Recommendation Permission modal to make the bundle global, and then click CONTINUE.

    You cannot change the permission after you click CONTINUE.

    Callout of the 'I would like to use this recommendation in all accounts' option and of the CONTINUE button on the Recommendation Permission modal for a new bundle

  4. Name the bundle. Click the placeholder title, type the name into the text field, and then click the green checkmark.

    Animated demonstration of a user clicking the placeholder name for a bundle, typing 'Cold Weather Outerwear and Accessories' into the text field, and then clicking the green checkmark button to save the name on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  5. Select one of the following options from Recommendation algorithm:
    • Purchased and Also Purchased — Populates with products from the account's default product catalog that other customers most frequently purchased along with the product(s) that meet the criteria that you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle
    • Viewed and Also Viewed — Populates with products from the the account's default product catalog most frequently viewed after viewing the product(s) that meet the criteria that you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle
    • Viewed and Later Purchased — Populates with products from the account's default product catalog most frequently purchased by customers who viewed the product(s) that meet the criteria that you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle
    • Items Frequently Bought Together — Populates with the second-most–purchased items based on the Purchased and Also Purchased rankings, with purchases counted across sessions
    • Subsequently Purchased — Populates with products that other customers purchased after they bought the product(s) that meet the criteria you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle, and taking into account the order in which those other products were purchased

    Callout of the 'Recommendation algorithm' selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  6. If your Monetate implementation has at least one market set up and you selected either Purchased and Also Purchased or Viewed and Also Viewed in the previous step, then take the following actions:
    1. Select the source of the data that the algorithm considers.
      • [current account] only — The algorithm considers only data from the account in which you're creating the bundle
      • All [retailer] accounts — The algorithm considers data from all accounts within your Monetate implementation
      • Specific Market — The algorithm considers data from the market you select

      Callout of the 'Select where your data comes from' selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

    2. If you selected Specific Market in step 6a, then choose an option from Select a Market.

      Callout of the Select a Market selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  7. If you selected Purchased and Also Purchased in step 5 and if Offline Purchases Data is set as the default on the Global Settings tab, then select Online purchases only, Offline purchases only, or Online and offline purchases from Including.

    Callout of the Including selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  8. Select from Base Recommendation on the type of customer behavior or other context on which to base the recommendations.

    If you select Item group ID(s) in custom variable, which allows you to base recommendations on the item_group_id value(s) in a custom variable passed at run time, be aware that the first item_group_id value of the custom variable that you input into Custom Variable in step 10b is used as the context item for the bundle instead of the product the customer is viewing.

    Callout of the 'Base Recommendation on' selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  9. If you selected Item(s) purchased in previous sessions or Last item purchased in any session in step 8 and if Offline Purchases Data is set as the default on the Global Settings tab, then select an option from Data Includes:
    • Online purchases only — Offline purchases aren't included in the customer purchase history
    • Online and offline purchases — offline purchases along with online purchases are included in the customer purchase history

    Callout of the Data Includes selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  10. If you selected Item group ID(s) in custom variable in step 8, then take the following actions.
    1. Optionally, select Pin products in custom variable to front of recommendation results if you want the products corresponding to the item_group_id value(s) derived from the custom variable to appear in the Dynamic Bundles slider before the products derived from the bundle's product categories.

      Callout of the 'Pin products in custom variable to front of recommendation results' setting on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

    2. Type into Custom Variable a custom variable that your site passes to Monetate using either the setCustomVariables method call in the Monetate API implementation or the monetate:context:CustomVariables in the Engine API implementation.

      The custom variable value can contain a comma-separated list of up to five item_group_id values.

      Callout of the 'Custom Variable' field on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  11. Select from Lookback Period how much historical data should be considered when determining the recommended products.

    Callout of the Lookback Period selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  12. Leave Randomize Results set to NO.

    Callout of the Randomize Results toggle on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  13. Configure at least two and no more than six product categories, and then, as necessary, arrange their order. See Configuring Product Categories for more information.

    The 'Define the Bundle' section of the Dynamic Bundle configuration page. Two placeholder product categories are present.

  14. As necessary, configure one or more filters to further refine the products included in the bundle. Click ADD FILTER, select an option from SELECT ATTRIBUTE, and then complete the filter equation. Repeat this step as necessary to add as many filters as you believe the bundle needs. For more information see Filter Best Practices for Bundles as well as Filters in Recommendations.

    Animated demonstration of a user clicking ADD FILTER, searching for and selecting the Size attribute, leaving the operator set to EQUALS, then clicking USE DYNAMIC VALUE, and finally selecting the SIZE OF PRODUCT THAT RECOMMENDATION IS BASED ON option for the value

  15. Click SAVE.

    Callout of the SAVE button on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

Creating a Local Bundle

Follow these steps to create a bundle that's available only in the account you're viewing.

  1. Click COMPONENTS in the top navigation bar, select Product Recommendations, and then click the Dynamic Bundles tab.

    Callout of the Dynamic Bundles tab on the Product Recommendations Overview page

  2. Click CREATE A BUNDLE.

    Callout of the CREATE A BUNDLE button on the Dynamic Bundles list page

  3. Select the option on the Recommendation Permission modal to make the bundle local, and then click CONTINUE.

    You cannot change the permission after you click CONTINUE.

    Callout of the 'I plan to use this recommendation in [the current account] only' option and of the CONTINUE button on the Recommendation Permission modal for a new bundle

  4. Name the bundle. Click the placeholder title, type the name into the text field, and then click the green checkmark.

    Animated demonstration of a user clicking the placeholder name for a bundle, typing 'Cold Weather Outerwear and Accessories' into the text field, and then clicking the green checkmark button to save the name on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  5. Optionally, select a Recommendations dataset that you previously uploaded that contains the curated product collection that you want to use in the bundle.

    Callout of the Recommendations dataset selector in the 'Define optional manual curation' section for a local bundle on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  6. If the account has multiple product catalogs, select the one you want to use.

    Callout of the 'Select the catalog to use with this bundle' selector for a local bundle on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  7. Select one of the following options from Recommendation algorithm:
    • Purchased and Also Purchased — Populates with products from the account's default product catalog that other customers most frequently purchased along with the product(s) that meet the criteria that you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle
    • Viewed and Also Viewed — Populates with products from the the account's default product catalog most frequently viewed after viewing the product(s) that meet the criteria that you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle
    • Viewed and Later Purchased — Populates with products from the account's default product catalog most frequently purchased by customers who viewed the product(s) that meet the criteria that you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle
    • Items Frequently Bought Together — Populates with the second-most–purchased items based on the Purchased and Also Purchased rankings, with purchases counted across sessions
    • Subsequently Purchased — Populates with products that other customers purchased after they bought the product(s) that meet the criteria you select from Base Recommendation on when configuring the bundle, and taking into account the order in which those other products were purchased

    Callout of the 'Recommendation algorithm' selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  8. If your Monetate implementation has at least one market set up and you selected either Purchased and Also Purchased or Viewed and Also Viewed in the previous step, then take the following actions:
    1. Select the source of the data that the algorithm considers.
      • [current account] only — The algorithm considers only data from the account in which you're creating the bundle
      • All [retailer] accounts — The algorithm considers data from all accounts within your Monetate implementation
      • Specific Market — The algorithm considers data from the market you select

      Callout of the 'Select where your data comes from' selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

    2. If you selected Specific Market in step 8a, then choose an option from Select a Market.

      Callout of the Select a Market selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  9. If you selected Purchased and Also Purchased in step 7 and if Offline Purchases Data is set as the default on the Global Settings tab, then select Online purchases only, Offline purchases only, or Online and offline purchases from Including.

    Callout of the Including selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  10. Select from Base Recommendation on the type of customer behavior or other context on which to base the recommendations.

    If you select Item group ID(s) in custom variable, which allows you to base recommendations on the item_group_id value(s) in a custom variable passed at run time, be aware that the first item_group_id value of the custom variable that you input into Custom Variable in step 12b is used as the context item for the bundle instead of the product the customer is viewing.

    Callout of the 'Base Recommendation on' selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  11. If you selected Item(s) purchased in previous sessions or Last item purchased in any session in step 10 and if Offline Purchases Data is set as the default on the Global Settings tab, then select an option from Data Includes:
    • Online purchases only — Offline purchases aren't included in the customer purchase history
    • Online and offline purchases — offline purchases along with online purchases are included in the customer purchase history

    Callout of the Data Includes selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  12. If you selected Item group ID(s) in custom variable in step 10, then take the following actions.
    1. Optionally, select Pin products in custom variable to front of recommendation results if you want the products corresponding to the item_group_id value(s) derived from the custom variable to appear in the Dynamic Bundles slider before the products derived from the bundle's product categories.

      Callout of the 'Pin products in custom variable to front of recommendation results' setting on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

    2. Type into Custom Variable a custom variable that your site passes to Monetate using either the setCustomVariables method call in the Monetate API implementation or the monetate:context:CustomVariables in the Engine API implementation.

      The custom variable value can contain a comma-separated list of up to five item_group_id values.

      Callout of the 'Custom Variable' field on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  13. Select from Lookback Period how much historical data should be considered when determining the recommended products.

    Callout of the Lookback Period selector on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  14. Leave Randomize Results set to NO.

    Callout of the Randomize Results toggle on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

  15. Configure at least two and no more than six product categories, and then, as necessary, arrange their order. See Configuring Product Categories for more information.

    The 'Define the Bundle' section of the Dynamic Bundle configuration page. Two placeholder product categories are present.

  16. As necessary, configure one or more filters to further refine the products included in the bundle. Click ADD FILTER, select an option from SELECT ATTRIBUTE, and then complete the filter equation. Repeat this step as necessary to add as many filters as you believe the bundle needs. For more information see Filter Best Practices for Bundles in this documentation as well as Filters in Recommendations.

    Animated demonstration of a user clicking ADD FILTER, searching for and selecting the Size attribute, leaving the operator set to EQUALS, then clicking USE DYNAMIC VALUE, and finally selecting the SIZE OF PRODUCT THAT RECOMMENDATION IS BASED ON option for the value

  17. Click SAVE.

    Callout of the SAVE button on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

Configuring Product Categories

A Dynamic Bundles slider can contain no fewer than two products and no more than six. Each product category that you configure in a bundle returns one item.

Furthermore, the order of the product categories that you configure in the bundle defines the order in which the products appear in the slider. When configuring a bundle, you can rearrange the order of the product categories that you include.

Follow these steps to configure a product category.

  1. Name the category. Click the pencil icon, type the category's name, and then click the green checkmark.

    Animated demonstration of a user click the pencil icon, typing 'Coats' into the Product Category Name field, and then clicking the green checkmark to save the name

  2. Add a filter based on a product catalog attribute.
    1. Click ADD FILTER and then select an attribute.

      Animated demonstration of a user clicking the ADD FILTER button, expanding the SELECT ATTRIBUTE list, searching for attributes that contain 'product,' and then selecting 'Product Type'

    2. Select the operator.

      Expanded view of the operator options for a bundle's product category

    3. Either input one or more static values, or click USE DYNAMIC VALUE and then select an option. See Static and Dynamic Values in Filters in Recommendations for more information.

      Animated demonstration of a user typing the static value 'puffer jackets' into the values field for a bundle product category filter

    4. As necessary, repeat steps 2a through 2c to add additional filters to the product category.

      Filters in a product category can only be combined using AND logic.

      A bundle product category with two filters joined by AND logic

  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to create at least one more product category and no more than six total product categories.
  4. As necessary, drag and drop each product category to rearrange their order.

    Animated demonstration of a user dragging and dropping various product categories to rearrange their order

  5. Click SAVE.

    Callout of the SAVE button on the Dynamic Bundle configuration page

Filter Best Practices for Bundles

Keep in mind this guidance when creating not only product category filters but also bundle-level filters:

  • Don't use any dynamic value option other than <attribute> of Product That Recommendation Is Based On.
  • If you want to filter based on viewed products or carted products to cover more of the products in the catalog, then select one of the options from the VIEWED or CARTED categories of Base Recommendation on, and then use the <attribute> of Product That Recommendation Is Based On dynamic value option in a filter.

No matter if they're set on the Global Settings tab of the Product Recommendations page, at the bundle level, or at the product category level, filters that have static values are all applied simultaneously. So too is a filter with the <attribute> of Product That Recommendation Is Based On dynamic value option.

Contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) if you need assistance creating filters that meet your goals.

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