--- title: "Smart Recommender for Car Rental Verticals" slug: "smart-recommender-for-car-rental-verticals-1" description: "Smart Recommender for car rental helps Insider One customers recommend vehicles, premium upgrades, and rental add-ons such as insurance and GPS." updated: 2026-10-20T14:59:34Z published: 2026-10-20T14:59:34Z canonical: "academy.insiderone.com/smart-recommender-for-car-rental-verticals-1" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://academy.insiderone.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Smart Recommender for Car Rental Verticals Car rental is a convenience-driven, trip-specific vertical. Travel dates, destination, budget, car type, and last-minute changes shape bookings, and renters compare vehicles and extras such as insurance, GPS, or child seats. This article shows how to use Smart Recommender in Insider One to upsell higher-value vehicles, cross-sell extras, and encourage repeat bookings. It includes an A/B test walkthrough for add-on cross-sells and strategies for each page type. > [!NOTE] > **Before you start:** Make sure your product catalog includes the attributes this article filters on, such as Category, Car Class, Pick-up Location, and Add-on Category. Create missing custom attributes on the **Product Attributes** page and mark them as filterable. ### What you can achieve with Smart Recommender #### Premium vehicle upsells Highlight premium or larger cars available for the renter's dates and location. #### Convenience add-ons Show GPS, child seats, or insurance during booking. #### Drop-off suggestions Suggest convenient drop-off locations if they exist as items in your catalog. #### Win back inactive renters Show personalized offers tied to past rentals. #### Last-minute upgrades Recommend a larger or electric vehicle at checkout. #### Vehicles by trip type Use Attribute Affinity to match compact cars to city trips or SUVs to family holidays. #### Budget-friendly options Highlight discounted cars for price-sensitive renters. #### A/B testing Test placements, bundles, and pricing formats for upgrades and add-ons. ### Walkthrough: Boost booking value with add-on cross-sells Insurance, GPS, and child seats are often last-minute decisions that add meaningful revenue. This walkthrough tests which add-on type adds more value at checkout. It tests two strategies on the checkout page: - **Variant A:** Recommend insurance packages. - **Variant B:** Recommend in-car extras such as GPS, child seats, or Wi-Fi. **Note:** In this article, average order value (AOV) in Smart Recommender Analytics represents the average booking value per order. #### Step 1: Create the recommendation strategies Navigate to **Recommendation Strategies** and click **Create**. Configure the first strategy as follows: 1. Select **Cart Page** as the page type. 2. Select **Purchased Together** as the algorithm. 3. Enter the number of products to recommend. 4. Exclude add-ons the renter already selected. 5. Add a filter for the category attribute: Category + is + Insurance Packages. Create the second strategy with the same settings and change only the category filter: 1. Category + is + In-Car Extras. **Note:** Keep every other setting identical between the two strategies. If more than one setting changes, you cannot tell which change caused the difference in results. #### Step 2: Launch the campaign Navigate to **Web Smart Recommender** and click **Create**. 1. Select the integration method for the widget. 2. On the **Segments** step, select customers with a low AOV under **Purchasing Behavior** and set your threshold. 3. On the **Rules** step, use **Page Rules** to target the vehicle booking checkout page. 4. On the **Design** step, assign one strategy to each variant and set the traffic allocation for each variant. 5. Click **Edit Design** to open the **Advanced Product Card Designer** and customize your product cards. 6. Select the locales and stores where the campaign appears. 7. Review the campaign details, confirm that every setting matches your goal, and click **Launch**. **Note:** Every attribute you show on a product card must exist in your product catalog. To show more information, create custom attributes on the **Product Attributes** page. #### Step 3: Track campaign metrics 1. Navigate to **Smart Recommender Analytics**. 2. Find your campaign in the **Campaign and Variant Metrics** table. When the test period ends, click the campaign name. 3. Compare Direct Revenue, Average Order Value (AOV), and Conversion Rate for the two variants. This shows whether insurance or in-car extras add more value per booking. 4. If one variant clearly wins, set its traffic allocation to 100% so every visitor sees the better strategy. After you find a winner, test other add-ons, such as roadside assistance or fuel plans. #### Step 4: Optimize your campaigns After the campaign has run long enough to collect data, use **Smart Recommender Analytics** to improve it: - **Engagement funnel:** Review product impressions, click-through rate, add-to-cart rate, and conversion rate to see where shoppers drop off. - **Campaign and variant performance:** Compare AOV, Conversion Rate, and Direct Revenue in the **Campaign and Variant Metrics** table, then refine or scale the winning variant. - **Product-level impact:** Open **Top 100 Product Analytics** to see which recommended products perform best. Give extra visibility to strategic products that perform below expectations. - **Category trends:** Use **Category Analytics** to find the categories that drive the most conversions, and decide whether to prioritize them or promote weaker ones. ### Use cases by page type #### Home page ##### Popular cars for your trip Show the most viewed vehicles at the renter's pick-up location. 1. Create a strategy with the **Most Popular** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Pick-up Location + is + your target location. 3. Turn on the **Enhance recommendations based on Attribute Affinity** toggle. This prioritizes preferred car types, such as SUVs or compacts. ##### Premium deals Feature limited-time offers on premium cars. 1. Create a strategy with the **Trending Products** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Car Class + is + Premium. **Tip:** Try headlines such as "Upgrade Your Ride." #### Product detail page ##### Better alternatives Suggest similar vehicles in a higher class. 1. Create a strategy with the **Similar Products** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Car Class + is one of + Premium, Luxury. **Tip:** Try headlines such as "Drive in More Comfort." ##### Trip essentials Recommend extras that suit the selected vehicle. 1. Create a strategy with the **Complementary Products** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is + Extras. **Tip:** Try headlines such as "Complete Your Journey." #### Category page ##### Best value in this category Show the most discounted vehicles in the class the renter is browsing. 1. Create a strategy with the **Highest Discounted** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + matches + the category they're currently viewing. 3. Leave Attribute Affinity off. ##### Top picks for families Show the most booked family vehicles, such as SUVs and vans. 1. Create a strategy with the **Top Sellers** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is one of + SUV, Van. 3. Turn on the **Enhance recommendations based on Attribute Affinity** toggle. #### Cart page ##### Add-ons before checkout Show popular add-ons such as insurance or GPS. 1. Create a strategy with the **Most Popular** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is one of + Insurance, GPS, Extras. ##### Vehicle upgrades Suggest the upgrades other renters added to similar bookings. 1. Create a strategy with the **Purchased Together** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is + Upgrades. **Tip:** Pair the widget with copy such as "Upgrade to a premium car for 30 USD more." ### Related articles - [Algorithm Descriptions](https://academy.insiderone.com/docs/algorithm-descriptions) - [Recommendation Strategies](https://academy.insiderone.com/docs/smart-recommender-recommendation-strategies) - [A/B Test Recommendation Strategies](https://academy.insiderone.com/docs/ab-test-recommendation-strategies) - [Smart Recommender Analytics](https://academy.insiderone.com/docs/smart-recommender-analytics)