Optimize for non-Webflow sites

Shopify product recommendations playbook

Updated

Surface personalized Shopify product suggestions to boost AOV and LTV.

These Shopify-specific playbooks let you insert personalized product recommendations directly on your storefront pages. These ideas are powered by Shopify’s native recommendation engine and designed to increase average order value (AOV) and lifetime value (LTV). You can run them as-is, tailor them to your brand, or apply a target audience to control who sees what.

Good to know

These playbooks create an AI Optimize optimization and leverage Shopify’s built-in recommendation system.

How it works

Shopify’s built-in recommendation engine is used to display dynamic, personalized suggestions on storefront pages. The engine automatically analyzes purchase behavior and product data to recommend items most likely to drive conversions.

You can customize which products appear in recommendations using Shopify’s Search & Discovery app. This lets you fine-tune which products are related or complementary — ideal if you want more control over bundles, upsells, or featured items.

This playbook is great for:

  • Upselling related products to increase average order value (AOV)
  • Highlighting premium or subscription versions of a product
  • Showing alternatives for visitors from sources like Google Shopping
  • Promoting seasonal accessories or bundles
  • Recommending complementary items based on what’s already in the cart

How to run this playbook

Before you get started

To use the cart playbook, your cart must contain at least one item while building the variation.

Open your Optimize site in Webflow, then:

  1. Click Optimizations in the Navigation panel
  2. Click New optimization at the top
  3. Go to Explore playbooks and choose one of these playbooks:
    • Recommend Products in Cart
    • Suggest Related Products on a PDP
  4. Choose a page definition that matches the playbook type:
    • PDP playbook — select a product detail page (PDP)
    • Cart playbook — select your cart page
  5. Click Create Playbook Optimization
  6. Select the page element you want to use as the anchor element
  7. Click Insert Before or Insert After
  8. Review the available templates in the Playbook panel
  9. Hover over a template and click Try this template idea
  10. Click Save when you're done

How to customize recommendations

If you haven't already, install the Search & Discovery app. Then access your Shopify Admin interface.

  1. Go to Apps > Search & Discovery
  2. Click Recommendations
  3. Select the product you want to adjust
  4. Go to the Recommendations section
  5. Search for related products to add — products you add are prioritized above the auto-generated ones
  6. Drag to reorder recommendations — products at the top appear first (if in stock)

How to apply an audience (optional)

Each playbook targets a default audience based on the type of playbook:

  • PDP playbook — all visitors (i.e., everyone)
  • Cart playbook — visitors with at least one item in their cart

You can apply an audience to further limit who can see recommendations.

How to pause No Change (optional)

A No Change variation is automatically included when the playbook is created — it shows the base page without the bundle as a control. Since this playbook is meant to boost conversions, you may want to pause No Change so all visitors see the bundle.

Preview and launch

Before launching, preview each variation to make sure everything looks and behaves as expected. Once you're ready, you can launch individual variations or all draft variations at once.

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