Gardening is a seasonal, hobby-focused vertical with products ranging from tools and seeds to décor and care supplies. Purchases are often project-based, such as spring planting or a patio upgrade, and depend on climate, experience level, and garden type.
This article shows how to use Smart Recommender in Insider One to inspire and complete those projects. It includes an A/B test walkthrough for project cross-sells and strategies for each page type.
Before you start: Make sure your product catalog includes the attributes this article filters on, such as Category, Season, Garden Type, and Kit ID. Create missing custom attributes on the Product Attributes page and mark them as filterable.
What you can achieve with Smart Recommender
Seasonal inspiration
Show timely collections, such as Spring Starters or Fall Prep, on the homepage.
Starter kits for new gardeners
Recommend beginner kits, such as Balcony Garden Basics or Herb Garden Essentials, to first-time buyers.
Project cross-sells
Surface add-ons such as tools with soil or planters with seeds on product and category pages.
Re-engagement
Show inactive customers trending or personalized products tied to their past interests.
Checkout add-ons
Suggest gloves, fertilizer, or watering cans on the cart page to raise average order value (AOV).
Affinity-based recommendations
Use Attribute Affinity to prioritize products by planting season, plant type, or garden environment.
A/B testing
Test widget placement, design, and algorithms to find what drives clicks, conversions, and repeat visits.
Walkthrough: Boost AOV with project cross-sells
Gardening purchases are often part of a larger project, such as starting a container garden. Showing related items at the right moment raises AOV.
This walkthrough tests two cross-sell strategies on plant product detail pages:
Variant A: Recommend pots.
Variant B: Recommend soil.
Step 1: Create the recommendation strategies
Navigate to Recommendation Strategies and click Create. Configure the first strategy as follows:
Select Product Detail Page as the page type.
Select Purchased Together as the algorithm.
Enter the number of products to recommend.
Exclude products purchased in the last four weeks.
Add a filter for the category attribute: Category + is + Pots.
Create the second strategy with the same settings and change only the category filter:
Category + is + Soil.
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.
Select the integration method for the widget.
On the Segments step, select customers with a low AOV under Purchasing Behavior and set your threshold.
On the Rules step, use Page Rules to target the product detail pages of plants.
On the Design step, assign one strategy to each variant and set the traffic allocation for each variant.
Click Edit Design to open the Advanced Product Card Designer and customize your product cards.
Select the locales and stores where the campaign appears.
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
Navigate to Smart Recommender Analytics.
Find your campaign in the Campaign and Variant Metrics table. When the test period ends, click the campaign name.
Compare Direct Revenue, Average Order Value (AOV), and Conversion Rate for the two variants. This shows whether pots or soil raise AOV more for low-spending customers.
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 pairings, such as gloves with tools or fertilizer with soil.
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
Seasonal picks
Show the most viewed products of the current season.
Create a strategy with the Most Popular algorithm.
Turn on the Enhance recommendations based on Attribute Affinity toggle.
Add the filter Season + is + Fall.
If you do not have a Season attribute, create it on the Product Attributes page and tag each product.
Tip: A/B test seasonal visual cues (icons, colors) or the widget position (top of page versus below banners).
Gardening starter kits
Help new gardeners get started with kits that include tools, soil, and beginner-friendly seeds.
Create a strategy with the Top Sellers algorithm.
Add the filter Category + is + Starter Kits.
Target new users on the Segments step.
Note: To recommend the rest of a kit, create a custom attribute called Kit ID on the Product Attributes page and give every item in a kit the same value (for example, Starter Kit 01).
Tip: A/B test headlines such as "Your Garden Starter Kit" and "Ready to Start Planting?"
Recently viewed items
Remind returning shoppers of plants, tools, or planters they explored earlier.
Create a strategy with the Recently Viewed algorithm.
Exclude products the user already purchased.
Target returning users on the Segments step.
Note: Recently Viewed and User Based rely on each user's past behavior. Target returning users so these widgets always have data to show.
Tip: A/B test Recently Viewed against User Based.
Product detail page
Picks based on recent browsing
Show each shopper products that match their most recent interactions, such as fertilizer after they view tomato seeds.
Create a strategy with the User Engagement algorithm.
Exclude recently purchased products.
Tip: Try headlines such as "Continue Your Gardening Project."
More for your garden type
Show more items for the same environment, such as balcony, indoor, or outdoor gardens.
Create a strategy with the Trending Products algorithm.
Add two filters: Garden Type + matches the item they're currently viewing, and Category + contains + the category they're currently viewing. Connect them with an OR connector.
If you need a Garden Type attribute, create it on the Product Attributes page.
Tip: Use the garden type in a dynamic widget title, such as "More for Your Balcony Garden."
Category page
Gardening deals in this category
Show the most discounted products in the category the shopper is browsing, such as pots on the pots page.
Create a strategy with the Highest Discounted algorithm.
Add the filter Category + matches + the category they're currently viewing.
Leave Attribute Affinity off.
Tip: Add badges such as "25% Off" and A/B test the widget at the top versus the bottom of the page.
Trending in this category
Show the products gaining the most interest this week in the current category.
Create a strategy with the Trending Products algorithm.
Add the filter Category + contains + the category they're currently viewing.
If your categories are hierarchical, select the Expand the category filter to include recommendations from the next category if there aren't enough products to display checkbox, so the widget still fills when the current category has few products.
Turn on the Enhance recommendations based on Attribute Affinity toggle.
Tip: A/B test headlines such as "Trending Right Now" and "Popular with Gardeners."
Cart page
Complete the gardening set
Suggest add-ons such as fertilizer, gloves, or soil enhancers.
Create a strategy with the Most Popular algorithm.
Add the filter Category + is one of + Fertilizer, Soil, Gloves, Pots.
Leave Attribute Affinity off.
Tip: A/B test copy such as "Do Not Forget These Essentials" and "Complete Your Garden Kit."
Reach free shipping
Show products that help shoppers reach your free shipping threshold.
Create a strategy with the Checkout Recommendation algorithm and set the spend threshold (for example, 100 USD).
No filters are required. Attribute Affinity is optional.
Tip: Use copy such as "You are 20 USD away from free shipping." If you do not offer free shipping, use Purchased Together instead.