How to create a list of complementary items

Welcome to creating a list of complementary items

This guide will provide you with a simple step-by-step guide to creating a list of complementary items.

The XO platform allows you to build a list of complementary items based on product IDs. This will allow you to automatically push in your recommendation specific to complementary products on a product page. 

 

Scenario 

We will base the scenario on a specific example, using an XO demo account. 

Here, our brand is a fashion site. We would like to recommend specific “looks” to our users based on the product that they are visualising. For instance, if a user is looking at a t-shirt, the recommendation area should push them the complementary products that go with this specific look such as matching trousers, belt, socks and shoes.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1

Log in to the XO platform and click on “Catalog” and “complementary items” from the left-hand side menu.  Click on “Add complementary item list” to get started.

 

Step 2

Next add a new list and name it  – for the purpose of this example we’ll name ours “complementarytest”. Select a delimiter or mark to separate each item  such as a “;” or “,”. 

 

Step 3

Copy and paste (or enter manually) the list of ids for your list.

• For each line you add, the first ID is the reference item, the item the user is viewing on your site
• All subsequent ids are your complementary items

Please note that the order in which you set the complementary items is important because the recommendation will follow the same order.

 

Step 4

We will now see how to use this list within your widgets. 

Start by creating a new variable by accessing: Developpers > Variables

 

Step 5

Fill out the fields as follows:

NAME	Name your variable exactly as you have named your complementary items list after the “$” sign. This means using the same spelling and same capital or lower characters
CATEGORY	ITEM (As this variable is item based (it looks for specific products))
SOURCE	Select the variable that refers to your product ID E.g: $ProductID
ATTRIBUTE	Type in “related.” Followed by your list name as such: related.YourListName E.g: related.complementarytest
VARIABLE TYPE	Select “list” from the choices as this variable will look for a list of IDs to return.
LIST TYPE	Select “Items”

 

 

You  can now save your variable. 

 

Step 6

You are now ready to use the item list you have just created.

Go to the widget you wish to apply your complementary items strategy to.

 

Step 7

Add a trigerring rule on the widget as shown below: if complementarytest exists then show widget.

 

Step 8

Filter on the merchandising by adding your variable into the “required item” field as shown below:

You can now save the widget.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now know how to create a merchandising strategy applying XO TAGs.

Let us know in the comment section if there are other test scenarios you would like us to create how-to guides for.

Enjoy your XO experience 😊

Should you encounter any difficulty setting up these lists on your own please don’t hesitate to contact us by clicking here or clicking the submit a case link on the Support Centre and choosing “I have a question” from the list of use cases.

 

Next steps

 To test: go to a product page that exists in your list and for which you have complementary items.

 

 

Your feedback is important to us, please take a moment to let us know if you found this article helpful by clicking "Yes" or "No" in the "Was this article helpful?" section below or by adding a comment.