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Q2/2023 of Boost Commerce was buzzed with excitement from rebranding Boost Product Filter & Search (now known as Boost AI Search & Discovery) and the release of AI-enhanced eCommerce search and product recommendation for Shopify stores. After that grand update, we've been hard at work in Q3, cooking up some remarkable updates to elevate your experience and help you boost sales in the upcoming BFCM.
Let's dive right into the exciting changes we've made to our platform.
The Search Menu Has Been Restructured
We understand the importance of a seamless search experience on your storefront, so Shopify storefront search is the top priority of the Boost app. This quarter, we've revamped our Search menu, making it a powerful portal for optimizing and controlling every facet of your search features.
There are only 2 sub-menus under Search now.
No more toggling between a dozen sections! Our new structure brings all the essential search functionalities under two categories:
- Standard Search: Here, you'll find all the basic settings for the storefront search UI/UX, such as the Relevance settings, Instant search widget, and Search page display. Manual settings for Redirects, Synonyms, Stop words, and Suggestion dictionary can also be found here. Standard Search is an excellent tool to enhance a smoother user experience. It's perfect for those who want to keep things simple yet effective.
- Advanced Search: This section is where the magic happens. It houses all the advanced features, including our cutting-edge AI-powered capabilities. To unlock the full potential of these advanced features, simply subscribe to the relevant add-ons. Semantic Search with a preview will be rolled out soon to spill the tea. This upgrade combines keyword matching with context matching to provide the best-matched results.
With this streamlined menu, navigating through the search settings to manage and harness the potential of our search engine has never been more straightforward.
Setting Up Product Recommendation Is Less Confusing Now
Product Recommendation is a brand-new feature in our April release. After that, we got your feedback about the setup flow. We appreciate that and are very excited to tell you we've implemented these comments.
Our Product Recommendation feature is now more user-friendly than ever. We've made two significant improvements to ensure you get the most out of this fantastic tool.
- Simplified UI: We've designed a clean and intuitive user interface that will guide you seamlessly through the four-step setup process. Configuring your recommendations just the way you want them is a breeze.
Page and type selection is packed in one screen so you can easily see which recommendation types are available on which page.
We also made the Widget design screen more straightforward with the control menu on the left (to switch between Widget layout and Widget title) and the detailed settings on the right.
- Plain Widget Placement Guidance: Our instructions for widget placement are now crystal clear, concise, and easy to follow. You'll have your recommendations up and running in no time, even if you're new to the game.
We're all about simplifying your experience and giving you the tools you need to succeed.
App Impact & Recommendation Analytics: Data-Driven Decisions
Making informed decisions for your eCommerce business is crucial, and our new analytics features are here to help.
- App Impact Analytics: Dive into the metrics that matter most. Get a comprehensive view of how our app is impacting your store's revenues. Track total revenue, conversion rate, order count, average order value (AOV), and revenue per visitor. It's your toolkit for optimizing your eCommerce strategy.
- Recommendation Analytics: Stay on top of your Recommendation widget performance across your store. This dashboard comes with four sections: Overview, Page Performance, Widget Performance, and Product Performance. It's your window into the effectiveness of your product recommendations.
With these analytics, you'll be equipped to make data-driven decisions that can significantly boost your eCommerce game.
New Recommendation Type And Fallback Models For AI-Powered Widgets
In some verticals like FMCG, Food & Beverage, or Grocery, shoppers often have a basket full of items they purchase repeatedly. Whether it's a weekly grocery run or stocking up on essential household items, the convenience of getting a list of recently bought items is significant. That's where Recently Purchased Recommendations come into play.
Our Recently Purchased Recommendations are like your virtual shopping assistant. They analyze your shoppers' purchase history and instantly suggest items that the shoppers have already bought recently.
The new recommendation widget can be placed on the Homepage, Product, Collection, and Cart pages. However, it won’t appear on guest shopping mode because we need shoppers to log into their profile to determine their shopping history.
Also, some of the Boost users might not see the Recently Purchased recommendation yet since we are rolling it out to a group to get feedback and optimize the model. However, we promise to make it public very soon.
Besides new recommendation types, Boost has made an upgrade for our AI-powered widgets (including Frequently Bought Together and Related Items) with a fallback model. When it comes to AI and ML, it takes time for the models to get enough data and train themselves. Therefore, a fallback model is necessary to fill in the blank when the AI models are preparing on the backstage.
When setting up AI-based recommendation types, Boost users can choose a Secondary algorithm that will be put into use in case of insufficient data for the Primary algorithm powered by AI.
Clone Setting In Visual Editor: A Time-Saving Marvel
Time is precious, and we're here to help you save it. Our new Visual Editor feature now allows you to effortlessly clone all visual design settings between themes. Once you click Clone setting and Choose a theme, all your settings will be replicated from one theme to another, eliminating the need to recreate your work.
Here's the scoop: we're talking about the visual editor here, nothing else. It doesn't touch your app embed or app block settings and won't trigger a complete theme setup either. Your other feature settings will remain untouched, allowing you to maintain that unique touch in your store's aesthetics while giving you the freedom to explore new themes efficiently.
More Themes Are Supported In Boost 3.0
When Boost 3.0: AI-powered was made public in April, one of its main drawbacks was the limited number of supported themes. As a result, we have worked day and night to increase this number.
Now, 12 themes can integrated seamlessly with Boost AI Search & Discovery. With these supported themes, we'll auto-match the search, filter, and product item layouts so shoppers have a consistent shopping experience.
For unsupported themes, don't worry as the Boost app still works well. However, we’ll apply a default search, filter, and product items layout. You can adjust it in the Edit visual design within the theme menu.
What's Next
We hope you're as thrilled about these Quarter 3 updates as we are! Our team is dedicated to continuously improving our platform to help you succeed in the competitive world of eCommerce. If you have any questions or need assistance with these new features, don't hesitate to reach out to our support team.
Happy selling, and here's to your continued success!
