--- title: "Smart Recommender for Grocery Verticals" slug: "smart-recommender-for-grocery-verticals" description: "Smart Recommender for grocery helps Insider One customers recommend everyday staples, meal pairings, and diet-based alternatives to grow basket size." updated: 2026-10-20T13:53:41Z published: 2026-10-20T13:53:41Z canonical: "academy.insiderone.com/smart-recommender-for-grocery-verticals" --- > ## 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 Grocery Verticals Grocery is a high-frequency, essentials-first vertical shaped by habits, recurring needs, dietary preferences, and budget. Customers reorder the same items weekly or monthly, while also exploring promotions, planning meals, and adding impulse items. This article shows how to use Smart Recommender in Insider One to support reorders, meal planning, and discovery. It includes an A/B test walkthrough for grocery 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 and Diet (for example, vegan or gluten-free). Create missing custom attributes on the **Product Attributes** page and mark them as filterable. ### What you can achieve with Smart Recommender #### Everyday favorites on the homepage Remind users to restock frequently purchased items, like milk, eggs, or coffee, based on their typical buying cycle. #### Meal bundles Suggest ready-to-buy bundles such as "Taco Tuesday" or "Breakfast Staples" to simplify planning. #### Staple cross-sells Recommend items that go together, such as pasta with sauce, on product pages. #### Re-engagement Show inactive shoppers picks from past purchases, seasonal produce, or current promotions. #### Impulse add-ons at checkout Suggest chocolates, snacks, or drinks on the cart page. #### Diet-based personalization Use Attribute Affinity with diet tags such as vegan, keto, or gluten-free. #### Budget-friendly discovery Highlight discounted products for price-sensitive shoppers. #### A/B testing Test placement, bundle size, and discount messaging. ### Walkthrough: Boost AOV with grocery cross-sells Grocery orders are often part of a weekly routine, so suggesting related items at the right moment raises average order value (AOV). This walkthrough tests two cross-sell strategies on grocery product detail pages: - **Variant A:** Recommend fresh produce. - **Variant B:** Recommend pantry staples. #### Step 1: Create the recommendation strategies Navigate to **Recommendation Strategies** and click **Create**. Configure the first strategy as follows: 1. Select **Product Detail Page** as the page type. 2. Select **Purchased Together** as the algorithm. 3. Enter the number of products to recommend. 4. Exclude products purchased in the last four weeks. 5. Add a filter for the category attribute: Category + is + Fresh Produce. Create the second strategy with the same settings and change only the category filter: 1. Category + is + Pantry Staples. **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 grocery product detail pages. 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 fresh produce or pantry staples raise AOV more for low-spending customers. 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 pairings, such as dairy or bakery items. #### 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 ##### Your everyday favorites Show returning shoppers the products they are most likely to buy again, based on their behavior. 1. Create a strategy with the **User Based** algorithm. 2. Turn on the **Enhance recommendations based on Attribute Affinity** toggle. 3. 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. ##### Fresh picks of the week Show what is gaining popularity this week, such as seasonal fruit or popular snacks. 1. Create a strategy with the **Trending Products** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is one of + Fresh Produce, Snacks. 3. Target returning users on the **Segments** step. **Tip:** Use dynamic widget titles such as "Trending This Week." #### Product detail page ##### Meal ideas around this item Recommend items that complete a meal, such as tomato sauce and parmesan next to pasta. 1. Create a strategy with the **Complementary Products** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is one of + Sauces, Cheese. **Tip:** Try headlines such as "Make the Perfect Pasta Night." ##### Diet-friendly alternatives Offer alternatives that match dietary preferences, such as lower-sugar or vegan granola bars. 1. Create a strategy with the **Similar Products** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Diet + is one of + Vegan, Organic, Low Sugar. 3. If you do not have a Diet attribute, create it on the **Product Attributes** page. #### Category page ##### Best deals in this category Show the most discounted items in the category the shopper is browsing, such as snacks. 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. **Tip:** Add discount badges to product cards. ##### Top sellers in this category Show what other shoppers buy most in the same category, such as breakfast cereals. 1. Create a strategy with the **Top Sellers** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + contains + the category they're currently viewing. 3. 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. 4. Turn on the **Enhance recommendations based on Attribute Affinity** toggle. #### Cart page ##### Daily essentials Make sure shoppers do not forget everyday staples such as coffee, bread, and milk. 1. Create a strategy with the **Most Popular** algorithm. 2. Add the filter Category + is one of + Coffee, Bread, Dairy, Snacks. 3. Leave Attribute Affinity off. ##### Reach free delivery Show items that help shoppers reach your free delivery threshold. 1. Create a strategy with the **Checkout Recommendation** algorithm and set the spend threshold (for example, 75 USD). 2. No filters are required. Attribute Affinity is optional. **Tip:** Use copy such as "Add 10 USD more for free delivery." If you do not offer free delivery, use **Purchased Together** instead. ### 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)