Troubleshoot Algorithm Issues

If you encounter any issues with Smart Recommender Algorithms, you can refer to the following troubleshooting:

• Algorithms Enablement
• Feed Management Type
• System Rules
• The Number of in_stock Products
• Algorithms API

Algorithms Enablement

Make sure that the relevant algorithms are enabled for your account. If you require additional assistance, contact the Insider One team.

Feed Management Type

The feed management type determines how the website is structured and which algorithms can be used effectively. Check below the mandatory attributes of each management type:

System Rules

• Insider maps the products and assigns an item ID for each product. These item IDs should match the line item numbers if you have already integrated “Insider Object - Transaction Object”. Refer to Transaction Object properties to see the key and property format for the ID. Item IDs should be matched correctly to display the correct revenue on the Insider Platform.
• Insider maps the products that have different sizes, and a variant ID is assigned for each size. The unique product ID should be the same for each product. The item ID should not be changed based on the product size. For example, if a product comes in Medium and Large sizes, it should have only one Item ID, and the size should be defined as a variant by Insider. Pay attention to this if you have products with size options, and follow the instructions.

• If the add-to-cart button rule is not integrated via Insider Object, Insider maps it using website scraping. However, this rule may not work as desired if any changes occur on the button. In this case, you should submit a request (Integration Support > I need help with IO, JS, SDK integration) on the Insider Help Center and inform the Insider One team.
• Insider maps the pages where you can place Smart Recommender widgets using website scraping. If this rule is not integrated via Insider Object, changes to the product page might not work as desired. You should submit a request (Integration Support > I need help with IO, JS, SDK integration) on the Insider Help Center and inform the Insider One team.
• Insider maps the price and stock information using website scraping. If this rule is not integrated via Insider Object, any changes to the product page may cause this rule to function incorrectly. You should submit a request (Integration Support > I need help with IO, JS, SDK integration) on the Insider Help Center and inform the Insider One team.

The Number of in_stock Products

• Check the number of in_stock products. If the number of in_stock products is less than 100, the algorithms do not work. For complementary and substitute algorithms, Insider needs 100 products with category information. 
• Check if the in_stock products have analytics attributes.
  • Get 100 for the in_stock items.
  • In the results, search for “analytics”.
  • In analytics, the presence of a field indicates that the algorithms requiring data can function. For instance, if there are pageviews, it suggests that algorithms like the most popular items algorithm can operate effectively (assuming there are enough in-stock products). 
  • Refer to the table below to view the number of events or available products needed for each algorithm type:

Algorithms API

If there's a genuine issue, the algorithm API shouldn't produce recommendations or resort to the fallback algorithm for all results.

Check the "types" field in the response body, which contains abbreviations and numbers. When the fallback returns, it returns an answer with the abbreviation of the fallback algorithm, so this area doesn't stay empty. You can tell whether the response came from the main algorithm or the fallback by the abbreviation in the "types" field. This indicates that the algorithm is functioning correctly.