How to optimise your Personalisation strategy over time
How to refine your widgets, bundles, and Smart Content to improve engagement and revenue
Overview
Once your personalised content is live and performance data begins to build, you can start refining your strategy to improve results. Optimisation is an ongoing process that helps ensure your widgets, bundles, and Smart Content continue to align with shopper behaviour, seasonal trends, and your commercial goals.
This guide outlines the key areas to review, the adjustments that typically deliver the strongest improvements, and how to approach optimisation in a structured and sustainable way.
Reviewing performance trends
Performance trends help you understand how shoppers are interacting with your personalised content over time. Rather than focusing on single data points, look for consistent patterns.
What to look for
- Steady or increasing click-through rates
- Consistent add-to-cart behaviour
- Revenue influenced growing over time
- Seasonal or campaign-driven changes
- Differences between page types
These trends help you identify where adjustments will have the most impact.
Trends over several days or weeks provide a more reliable picture than single-day results.
Optimising widget strategies
Widgets can be refined by adjusting their strategy, placement, or product rules. Small changes often lead to meaningful improvements.
Common optimisation actions
- Switching from broad to more targeted recommendation strategies
- Adjusting product exclusions
- Updating the number of items shown
- Moving the widget higher on the page
- Adding widgets to high-traffic pages that do not yet have them
These adjustments help ensure your recommendations remain relevant and timely.
If a widget has strong views but low clicks, placement or strategy is usually the cause.
Improving Bundle performance
Bundles can significantly increase average order value, but their performance depends on product selection, pricing, and visibility.
Ways to optimise bundles
- Refreshing product combinations
- Ensuring all items are in stock
- Adjusting bundle pricing or incentives
- Moving the bundle block closer to the add-to-cart button
- Creating bundles for high-performing product categories
Bundles benefit from periodic updates to keep them aligned with shopper interest.
Bundles with complementary products typically outperform bundles with substitutes.
Refining Smart Content
Smart Content is most effective when segments are well defined and messages are clear. Reviewing segment performance helps you understand whether your targeting is working as intended.
Optimisation opportunities
- Broadening segments that are too narrow
- Adjusting triggers to match real shopper behaviour
- Updating messages to reflect current campaigns
- Adding fallback content for broader coverage
- Creating new segments based on emerging patterns
Smart Content works best when segments are meaningful and messages are concise.
If a segment has low match rates, the rules may be too restrictive.
Using Segment insights to guide improvements
Segment insights help you understand how different groups of shoppers respond to your personalised content. This can reveal opportunities to create new experiences or refine existing ones.
What segment insights can show
- Which groups engage most with recommendations
- Which groups respond best to bundles
- How new vs returning shoppers behave
- Differences in conversion patterns
- Opportunities for targeted messaging
These insights help you build a more effective and tailored personalisation strategy.
High-performing segments are strong candidates for additional personalised content.
Adjusting placement based on engagement
Placement has a significant impact on performance. If engagement is lower than expected, moving a block higher or closer to key decision points can improve results.
Placement adjustments to consider
- Moving product recommendations above related products
- Placing bundles near the add-to-cart button
- Positioning Smart Content above the fold
- Adding widgets to pages with high traffic but low engagement
Placement changes are quick to test and often deliver immediate improvements.
If a block has low views, it is likely placed too low on the page.
Refreshing content for seasonality and campaigns
Seasonal changes, promotions, and product launches can influence shopper behaviour. Updating your personalised content to reflect these moments helps maintain relevance.
Seasonal optimisation ideas
- Creating seasonal bundles
- Updating Smart Content messages
- Highlighting new arrivals or bestsellers
- Adjusting widget strategies for peak periods
- Adding temporary widgets for campaigns
Keeping content aligned with your trading calendar helps maintain engagement.
Seasonal updates do not require structural changes, only content adjustments.
Establishing an optimisation routine
A consistent review process helps you maintain strong performance without needing constant adjustments.
Suggested routine
- Weekly review of key metrics
- Monthly review of segment performance
- Quarterly review of overall strategy
- Seasonal updates for campaigns and events
This approach keeps your personalisation strategy aligned with your goals and shopper behaviour.
Regular, small adjustments are more effective than infrequent large changes.
Quick optimisation checklist
- Widgets are using the most effective strategies
- Bundles reflect current product availability and demand
- Smart Content segments are matching as expected
- Block placement aligns with shopper behaviour
- Seasonal or campaign updates are applied
- Underperforming content has been reviewed and adjusted
- Segment insights are used to guide new ideas
Use this checklist to maintain a healthy and effective personalisation strategy.
