Manage Product Relationships in BetterCommerce

Overview

The Product Relationships feature in BetterCommerce enables businesses to create strategic associations between products to enhance the shopping experience and drive sales. Commonly used for cross-selling, upselling, and managing product lifecycle transitions, these relationships are displayed on the Product Detail Page (PDP) and Basket Page. Associations can be configured manually for curated merchandising or automatically using rule-based logic.

Setting Up Relationship Types

Before linking products, administrators must define Relationship Types to categorize the nature of product associations.

Steps to Create a Relationship Type

1. Navigate to the Relation Types Section
   From the main dashboard, go to Settings → Relation Types.

   

2. Add a New Relation Type
   Click Add Relation Type.

   

3. Configure the Relation Type
   Provide the following details:

   • Name: The display label shown on the storefront (e.g., "You May Also Like").

   • Code: A unique backend identifier (e.g., you_may_also_like).

     Click Save to create the relationship type.

Common Relationship Types

• You May Also Like (Cross-sell)
• Frequently Bought Together
• Upgrade Suggestions (Upsell)
• Replacement Product

Configuring Related Products

Manual Configuration

Manual configuration allows merchandising teams to hand-pick related products based on strategic or campaign-driven goals.

Steps for Manual Configuration

1. Access Product Details
   Navigate to Products → Select a product to open its details.

2. Go to Associations
   In the product detail view, go to the Associations tab → Related Products.

3. Add Related Items
   Click Add Related Items and, in the popup:

   • Select a Relationship Type (e.g., You May Also Like).
   • Add a Label for PDP display.
   • Use filters (e.g., Category, Stock Code) to search for products.
   • Select the desired SKUs and click Save.

   

Automated Configuration

Automated configuration generates product associations based on predefined rules, streamlining the process for large catalogs.

Steps for Automated Configuration

1. Define a Relationship Type
   Ensure a relevant relationship type is created (as described above).

2. Access Product Associations
   Navigate to Products → Select a product → Go to Associations → Related Products.

3. Set Up Automated Rules
   Choose Automated Configuration and define:

   • Rule Type: e.g., Same Brand, Sub-brand, Category.
   • Sort By: e.g., Newest First, Bestsellers.
   • Max Products: Specify the maximum number of related products to display.
     Click Save to apply the rules.

   

Configuring Product Replacement

The Replacement Product feature ensures continuity when a SKU is discontinued by linking it to a new version.

Steps to Set Up a Replacement Product

1. Create a Replacement Relation Type
   Navigate to Settings → Relation Types.
   Click Add New and set:

   • Name: Replacement Product
   • Code: replacement_product (or a suitable identifier).
     Click Save.

   

2. Open the Discontinued Product
   Navigate to Products → Select the SKU to be discontinued.

3. Add the Replacement Product
   Go to Associations → Related Products.
   Choose Replacement Product as the relation type, then:

   • Click Add Replacement Product.
   • In the popup:
     • Set the Replacement Launch Date.
     • Set the End-of-Life (EOL) Date for the current product.
     • Search for the new SKU by Category or Stock Code.
     • Select the replacement SKU and click Save.

   

The system will automatically display the replacement product on the PDP starting from the specified launch date.

Use Cases

• Upselling: Promote higher-value alternatives, such as premium editions or larger sizes.
• Cross-selling: Suggest complementary products, like accessories or add-ons.
• Product Lifecycle Continuity: Seamlessly transition customers to replacement products when SKUs are discontinued.

Best Practices

• Strategic Associations: Align product relationships with merchandising goals to maximize conversions.
• Clear Labeling: Use descriptive labels for relationship types to enhance customer clarity on the PDP.
• Limit Automated Results: Set reasonable limits on automated configurations to avoid overwhelming customers with too many suggestions.
• Test Configurations: Validate manual and automated associations to ensure relevance and accuracy on the storefront.

Summary

The Product Relationships feature in BetterCommerce enables businesses to create strategic product associations for upselling, cross-selling, and lifecycle management. By defining relationship types (e.g., You May Also Like, Replacement Product), administrators can manually curate associations or use automated rules based on attributes like brand or category. Replacement products ensure seamless transitions for discontinued SKUs. These configurations enhance customer engagement, improve conversion rates, and streamline merchandising strategies across the Product Detail Page and Basket Page.

For additional support, contact the BetterCommerce support team or refer to the platform’s help documentation.