Best Practices

This article details the best ways of using Recommendations to increase your conversion rate, basket size and order value significantly. They are based on our 10+ years of eCommerce experience, across thousands of stores.

Logics #

Recommendations come bundled with 20+ logics that lets you convert visitors from any page of the webshop. This is the setup we have seen work the best for most eCommerce stores.

As consumers, we rarely browse a webshop in a neat, predictable path. We jump in from Google or click a link in an AI response, browse a product, go back, open something else, and sometimes forget what we were there for in the first place.

Think of a physical store with eight entrances on the floor level and multiple elevators coming down from the roof. Sounds chaotic — but that is basically what a webshop is.

The positive side is that you can personalise the experience for every one of those entry points. That is why it is so important to optimise every single page of your webshop with inspiration in mind — something interesting needs to be waiting for a visitor regardless of where they land.

You can browse the details on all our Logics here.

Home Page #

The Home Page is the front window into your store, so it should look interesting and dynamic. We often see the lowest direct performance from this page, but it still effectively introduces your catalogue to both new and returning visitors.

Banners should be shown in the order they are listed below, and ideally the first logic should be shown just below your top-banner. Following logics should be shown between other elements like categories, blog posts, instagram-feeds and so on.

The first banner should be at least partly visible above the fold on a standard 13" laptop — meaning visitors should not have to scroll before they notice it exists. Your top hero banner should not take up the full screen height. Even just the top edge of the recommendations banner peeking into view is enough to draw visitors in and encourage them to scroll.

This matters because we tend to behave quite chaotically as users. If something is not immediately visible when we land on a page, there is a very real chance we will never see it at all — we might click into the menu, browse somewhere else, or simply leave. The faster visitors become aware that the sliders are there, the more likely they are to interact with them.

Visitors Recommendations / Recommendations Based on Orders #

These banners excel at kickstarting the purchase flow and help visitors find something interesting fast. They show items tailored to the visitors browsing or existing purchase history to give them a fully personalised experience.

The impact of personalisation here is easy to underestimate. Take a supplement store: a visitor who has been browsing protein powder and creatine will see a homepage built around fitness products, while someone who has been looking at skincare will see creams, serums, and vitamins.

Same homepage, completely different experience — and one that is far more likely to result in an order.

E.g. If they’ve already browsed LEGO trains, Visitor Recommendations will show other similar train packs. If a logged-in customer purchased strawberry flavoured protein powder several times, Clerk.io will prioritise this from other brands or product types.

If you can recognize a customer by their email, e.g. if they are logged in, use Recommendations Based on Orders. Otherwise, use Visitor Recommendations.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 116% in avg. basket size and 8% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Best Sellers #

Highlight your most popular items to kickstart the customer journey. We humans tend to follow the habits of others, so Best Sellers use social proof to give a quick overview of what others are buying on your site.

This banner often shows the same products over long periods of time, as you will naturally have a small selection of items that keep selling well.

Think of a first-time visitor who lands on your homepage with no idea where to start. Best Sellers acts like a “most popular” shelf in a physical store — it immediately gives them a trusted starting point without any effort on their part.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 84.4% in avg. basket size and 33% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Hot Products #

Feature items that are currently in high demand, creating a sense of urgency and encouraging visitors to explore what’s trending. In contrast to Best Sellers, this banner updates frequently, as it reacts to product sales that change significantly in a short period of time.

A fashion store is a good example of where this shines. If a jacket suddenly starts selling three times faster than usual — because a popular creator wore it, or it appeared in a TV show — Hot Products will surface it immediately. Best Sellers would not catch this shift for weeks. For trend-sensitive catalogues, that speed is the difference between riding the wave and missing it entirely.

Seasonality works the same way. As summer approaches, summer dresses start selling more and will naturally rise in the banner. When winter sets in, those dresses are replaced by jackets and knitwear. The banner reflects what customers are actually buying right now — without any manual intervention.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 47% in avg. basket size and 14% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Newest Products #

Showcase the latest additions to your catalogue, keeping customers up-to-date on new releases. By clearly showing that your webshop is evolving, you increase the chance of more customers coming back organically.

For many customers, novelty is part of the appeal. A sneaker enthusiast who checks a store regularly wants to know what just dropped. A hobbyist who follows a niche closely wants to stay on top of what is new in the catalogue. For these visitors, Newest Products speaks directly to that mindset — and for webshops that release new items regularly, it is one of the most engaging banners you can show.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 42% in avg. basket size and 61% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Category Page #

Here, customers are usually navigating towards a specific type of product, without necessarily knowing exactly which one they want.

It is a common misconception that visitors want to browse categories. In reality, most people arrive with something specific in mind. They click into a category because they are not entirely sure of the exact product, but they know the type of thing they are looking for.

Very few visitors have the patience to scroll through many category pages to find what they want. The faster you can surface the best options within that category, the higher the chance they convert.

Many category pages contain hundreds or even thousands of products — far more than any visitor will browse patiently. A large portion of these visitors also arrive directly from Google, having searched for something like “shoulder pads” or “running shoes.”

They land on the category without necessarily knowing which product is right for them. Showing bestsellers or trending items at the top does the same job as reviews: it tells a visitor that other people have already made this decision and it was the right one.

Imagine buying a gift for a friend who asked for an American football helmet, and you know nothing about the sport. Seeing the most popular helmets in that category is enormously reassuring. It removes the paralysis of too many choices and gives a clear starting point.

Recommendations should be shown just below the category description and/or subcategories, so it’s the first thing visitors see when they start browsing categories.

Best Sellers / Hot Products in Category #

Present top-selling and in-demand items specific to each category, helping customers quickly identify popular choices within the category they’re exploring.

The best logics for you generally comes down to your type of business. As a rule of thumb, Hot Products work best for trend-based stores like fashion or sport stores, where Bestsellers work well for stores with repurchasable products like supplements or foods.

Both logics provide a great way for your customers to find the right items quickly, which increases your conversion rate.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 26% in avg. basket size and 31% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Product Page #

This is often where customers arrive directly from search engines or AI conversations, so it is crucial to make it easy to buy, and inspire them to continue into the site.

When a visitor lands on a product page, they are usually in one of two mindsets: either they did not find quite the right product and are looking for something similar, or they found the right one and might want accessories to go with it.

Clerk.io has two unique banners that cater to both at the same time.

Best Alternative Products #

Provide options that are similar to the current product, catering to those who may want this type of item but with different features or price. It excels at increasing conversion rate by helping visitors find the right initial product to buy.

Most of the time, a visitor lands on a product page because they are interested in that type of product — but something is not quite right. Maybe it is out of stock in their size. Maybe it is 20 euros over budget. Maybe the colour is wrong. Without alternatives, they bounce — and likely find the same product on a competitor’s site.

With a well-placed alternatives banner, they stay. They see the same jacket in a different colour, or a similar model at a lower price point, and they buy it within seconds — without ever having to leave.

Visitors who don’t know your catalogue well are especially at risk of bouncing. They have no idea that you have 15 variations of the product they were looking at. Alternatives makes that visible immediately.

Bounce rate is worth taking seriously beyond just the lost sale. When a visitor bounces, it also sends a signal to search engines and AI tools that your page was not a good match for what they were looking for. Over time, a high bounce rate can hurt your external rankings — meaning fewer visitors arrive in the first place.

Reducing it is therefore doubly valuable: you convert more of the traffic you already have, and you protect your ability to attract new traffic in the future.

It is also worth noting that many consumers are willing to pay slightly more for products if it means getting everything from one store, rather than having to hunt across multiple sites.

The alternatives banner is what makes that possible.

This should be the first banner shown on the product page, and ideally visible above the fold on a standard 13" laptop — so visitors see their options without having to scroll.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 41% in avg. basket size and 28% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Best Cross-Sell Products #

Suggest products that complement the current product, encouraging customers to add additional items to their purchase. This excels at increasing avg. basket size, by clearly showing the best matching items they can buy with their initial product.

Consider someone buying a tent for their first camping trip. They found the right tent, they are happy with it, and they are about to check out. What they have not thought about yet is the sleeping bag, the inflatable mat, the headlamp, or the mosquito repellent that will determine whether this trip is enjoyable or a disaster. A well-placed cross-sell banner shows all of this automatically — and saves them from a very uncomfortable weekend.

The economics here are worth understanding. Shipping, customer service, and fulfilment costs are essentially covered by the first product a customer buys.

Every additional item added to the same order costs you very little extra — and goes almost directly to your bottom line. Cross-sell is the most direct tool you have for growing that number.

It can also lead to higher conversion rates, by showing visitors that they can get everything from one store, rather than having to buy from multiple different ones.

Many webshops are built around exactly this promise — that you can get everything you need for swimming, fitness, cycling, or any other activity all in one place. Cross-sell is what makes that promise visible on the product page. If a visitor cannot see that you stock everything they need, they will assume you do not — and go looking elsewhere.

This should be the second banner shown on the product page, ideally just below the alternatives banner.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 50% in avg. basket size and 4% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Add-To-Basket #

The Add-To-Basket, also called Powerstep, is a key place for increasing your avg. basket size.

When a customer adds a product to their cart, most webshops do one of two things: leave them on the product page wondering what to do next, or send them straight to the cart. Neither is helpful.

Amazon has used a middle step — a dedicated page between adding to cart and checking out — for over 20 years with remarkable success.

The powerstep serves three purposes: confirming that the product was added, making it easy to go to checkout, and showing the next best products to buy. It can be implemented as a pop-up, sidecart or full page.

We recommend the full page approach. It gives you room to show multiple banners in a clear, easy-to-browse layout — and because there is more space, visitors are more likely to notice and interact with the recommendations before heading to checkout.

Structure it like Netflix’s homepage: the most relevant content at the top, getting progressively more general as the visitor scrolls. Start with the most specific recommendation and work outward toward broader inspiration.

If you prefer a lighter implementation, a pop-up works too — but focus on Best Cross Sell Products alone. Given the limited screen space, one highly relevant recommendation performs far better than several competing ones.

Ideally, each logic should be shown in the below order.

Best Cross Sell Products #

Present products that best complement the item just added to the basket. This is the most crucial banner as it is highly relevant to the product that a customer was interested enough in to add it to the cart.

For example, a visitor who just added shoulder pads to their cart might be shown a practice jersey, knee pads, and a skull cap — items they genuinely need and might not have thought to search for.

You might wonder whether it makes sense to show cross-sell products again here, given that they were already shown on the product page. It absolutely does. There is a well-known principle in marketing — often called the Rule of 7 — which holds that a customer typically needs to encounter a product multiple times before deciding to buy it. Some estimates put the number even higher today, given how much content people are exposed to.

The logic is simple: the more times someone sees a product in a relevant context, the more familiar it becomes — and familiarity builds trust. A customer who ignored the mosquito repellent shown on the product page for the tent they were buying might notice it again here, at the exact moment they are about to finalise their order, and add it without a second thought. Every additional exposure is another chance to convert.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 39% in avg. basket size and 22% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Visitor Recommendations / Recommendations Based on Orders #

Suggest items based on the visitor’s browsing or purchase history, increasing the relevance of recommendations.

As with the Homepage, use Visitor Recommendations for anonymous visitors, and Recommendations Based on Orders for known customers.

Showing personalised recommendations here makes sense even though the visitor may have already seen them on the homepage. By this point in the journey, they have revealed more about their intent — they have browsed specific products and added one to their cart. The recommendations generated now are more informed than the ones shown when they first arrived, making this a genuinely different and often more relevant selection.

It is also worth remembering that many visitors never see the homepage at all. They land directly on a product page or category from a search engine or an AI response, browse, and add something to their cart — all without ever visiting the homepage. For these visitors, this is the first time they are seeing personalised recommendations. That makes this banner even more important to get right.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 108% in avg. basket size and 36% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Best Sellers #

Show items that most customers are buying on the webshop. This uses social proof to inspire other customers to buy something they might not have realised was available in your catalogue.

By this point in the journey, the visitor has found at least some of what they came for — maybe all of it. But that does not mean they have seen everything you sell. A customer who came in specifically for a tent has likely only browsed camping gear — they may have no idea that you also stock a great range of trail running shoes or water filters. Best Sellers introduces them to the broader catalogue at the exact moment they are most engaged.

The customer is happy with what they found, their guard is down, and they are still in buying mode — which makes this exactly the right moment to show them something they did not know they wanted.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 100% in avg. basket size and 52% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Best Sellers on Sale #

If you have not been able to sell based on relevance in the first banners, you can try to sell based on discount in the last one. The visitor is still in buying mode — and most people find it hard to say no to a good deal on something they recognise.

This banner sits at the bottom of the powerstep for a reason. Following the Netflix approach, you start at the top with what is most relevant — the exact accessories that go with what was just added. You move through personalised picks and broad bestsellers. By the time a visitor reaches this banner, relevance alone has not been enough to trigger an extra purchase.

That is when price takes over. A visitor who scrolled past the mosquito repellent, the hydration pack, and the bestselling trail shoes might still stop for a quality sleeping bag at 30% off. They were not looking for a discount — but a good one on a product they recognise is hard to ignore.

Selling on relevance always comes first because that is where your margins are highest. Best Sellers on Sale is your last line of offence — and for visitors who make it this far, it often works.

Use the Best Sellers logic but with an added filter showing only products on sale.

Cart Page #

This is the final step where you have a chance to sell additional products before customers check out.

Think of it like the checkout lane at a supermarket. You did not plan to buy gum or chocolate — but it is right there while you are waiting, and it is easy. That is exactly what the cart banner does, at exactly the right moment in the buying journey.

An important distinction from the product page and powerstep: the recommendations here are not based on a single product. They are generated from everything currently in the cart. Whether the visitor has added one item or ten, Clerk.io produces a unique combination of suggestions that fits the full picture of what they are buying. The more they have added, the more tailored the recommendations become.

Best Cross Sell Products #

Recommend affordable add-on items that customers are likely to add to their order before checkout.

The AI-powered nature of this banner surfaces connections that no human merchandiser would predict. A customer who added shoulder pads and knee pads to their cart is very likely to also need thigh pads, football belts, and a practice jersey — items they may not have thought to search for, but that clearly belong in the same order.

And in one real example on a DIY webshop, a customer who added a toilet seat to their cart ended up buying a full toilet from the cart cross-sell banner. It sounds absurd — but that is precisely the point.

Customers often behave in ways that defy obvious logic, and an AI that learns from millions of orders will catch these patterns and show the right products automatically.

Focus on cheaper products relative to the prices in your store. On a sports webshop where the average product costs 80 euros, items like socks, water bottles, or sweatbands are exactly the kind of low-friction additions that convert well at checkout. The goal is products that are easy to say yes to without much deliberation.

This should be shown underneath the cart after the Checkout button, so it’s still easy to place the order.

Impact: On average, webshops see an increase of 91% in avg. basket size and 38% in avg. order value for orders impacted by this banner.

Blog Page #

Content pages like blogs, news, articles, and landing pages can help convert visitors into buyers.

These pages often gain more SEO traction over time as they gather links, shares and traffic, so it’s important to keep them relevant with updated product recommendations.

Blogs are one of the best ways to attract visitors from Google — people search for problems and concepts, not just products. A post about hydration tips or post-workout recovery will bring in visitors who are not yet thinking about buying, but who have exactly the right intent.

The risk is that without product recommendations, those visitors read your content and go straight back to Google to buy the relevant products — possibly from a competitor.

A banner showing the products most relevant to each specific article keeps them on your site and gives them an easy path to purchase.

It is important that these recommendations are dynamic rather than manually curated. Blog posts often take months to rank in search engines and AI tools — and by the time meaningful traffic arrives, the products you originally picked may be out of stock, discontinued, or simply no longer relevant. Manually added recommendations leave empty spaces that never convert.

With dynamic recommendations, this is never a problem. The banner always reflects what is actually in stock and relevant at the moment each visitor reads the article — whether that is three days after it was published or four years later.

Banners should ideally be placed somewhere relevant in the middle of the blog post, so visitors see them while reading. Alternatively they can be shown after the blog text.

Products Related to a Page #

Suggest products that are uniquely relevant and in stock for each blog post or article, guiding readers towards items that are related to the page they are reading.

This logic fully adapts to each post. A visitor reading a hydration tips article will see water bottles, electrolyte supplements, and hydration packs. A visitor reading the same blog site’s recovery article will see foam rollers, protein powder, and ice baths.

The banner updates automatically based on the content of each page — no manual curation needed.

It also does not matter when the visitor arrives. Whether someone finds a blog post three days after it was published or four years later, the recommendations shown will reflect what is actually in stock and relevant at that moment.

Often, visitors will find your blog when they are looking for answers or solutions to problems, so being able to explain these solutions and tie them in with your products, is a fantastic recipe for extra conversions.

Categories Related to a Page #

Highlight product categories related to the content, making it easier for visitors to continue into your site to explore broader product ranges.

Where Products Related to a Page surfaces specific items, this logic surfaces the categories they belong to — giving visitors an easy way to keep browsing once they finish reading.

Consider a blog post about choosing the right running shoes. The products banner might show three or four specific shoe models. The categories banner alongside it could link directly to Running Shoes, Running Apparel, and Sports Nutrition — inviting the visitor to explore the full range rather than choosing from a short list.

This works especially well for visitors who are still in research mode. They may not be ready to buy a specific product yet, but a well-placed category link gives them a clear path deeper into the site — and keeps them away from going back to search.

Customer Login Pages #

The customer login area is valuable for returning customers, especially in B2B. Place these logics prominently on the account dashboard to help customers quickly reorder their usual items.

B2B purchasing tends to follow predictable patterns. A business buying office supplies, catering products, or cleaning materials typically orders the same things month after month. Making that process as frictionless as possible — ideally one click to reorder the usual — is genuinely valuable to those customers and keeps them coming back.

At the same time, the predictability of B2B purchasing is both a strength and a limitation. Because customers tend to stick to what they know, they are rarely incentivised to explore what else you offer. They may not even be aware that you stock products that would genuinely improve their operations.

This is where the combination of Order History and Recommendations Based on Orders becomes powerful.

Order History #

Use the logic Customer Order History to display a clear overview of previously ordered products, making it easy to reorder frequently purchased items.

Think of a purchasing manager who logs in every month to restock the office kitchen. Seeing their usual coffee, milk, and snacks laid out clearly — ready to add to cart with a single click — saves time and removes friction. For B2B customers who place regular, predictable orders, this is one of the most practical features you can offer.

It works equally well for B2C. A customer who buys the same brand of protein powder every four weeks, or reorders contact lens solution on a regular cycle, benefits from the same convenience. A quick login, a glance at their order history, and they are done.

Recommendations Based on Orders #

Use Recommendations Based on Orders to show personalised product suggestions based on the customer’s purchase history.

This is where you can expand what B2B customers buy from you. A business that has been ordering coffee and filtered water every month may not realise you also stock the descaler their coffee machine needs, or the recycled cups that reduce their costs. Recommendations Based on Orders surfaces exactly these kinds of additions — relevant, useful, and easy to say yes to.

For B2C customers the same principle applies. Someone who regularly buys running shoes might not have considered the trail running range you just expanded. A customer who orders skincare products monthly may not know you now carry the SPF moisturiser that pairs perfectly with what they already buy. Recommendations Based on Orders keeps their experience feeling fresh and relevant, even for customers who think they already know exactly what they want from you.

It is the difference between a customer who orders the same basket forever and one who gradually grows their relationship with your store.

Streamline Designs #

Recommendations should fit snugly into your existing webshop design, and it should be easy for visitors to find and interact with them.

Headlines #

Make sure that you use clear and descriptive headlines for all your Recommendations. When visitors understand what they are seeing, they are much more likely to interact with Recommendations.

E.g. a vague title could be “Related Products”. This does not tell the visitor what kind of relation they are browsing. Is it similar items, accessories or something else entirely?

A good title for your alternatives could be “Great alternatives for this” as it’s now clear that they should expect similar items to what they are browsing.

When using Clerk.io’s Setup Guides, each element has a good predefined English headline to get you started.

Sliders #

Recommendations can be styled in any way you want to, but we recommend using our built-in sliders functionality.

These make it easy for you to display many products without taking up too much space, by letting customers use the slider-arrows to see more products.

If you build your own custom sliders, we highly recommend showing a full new row of products for each click on a slider arrow. A common pattern we see on many webshops is a slider that shifts just one product per click — so if you are showing four products at a time, a visitor has to click four times just to see the next set. Most will not bother.

Showing an entirely new row with each click means the visitor sees far more of your recommendations with far less effort. The fewer clicks it takes to browse, the more products get seen — and the higher the chance that something converts. Always aim to reduce friction wherever you can.

Branding #

Sliders should follow your brand style to become an integrated part of your site. Default designs can be tailored using either our Design Editor, or with code designs.

In most cases, it is possible to make Clerk.io’s product cards look exactly like the product cards on the rest of your webshop. As long as you sync the attributes your cards rely on — colours, sizes, badges, labels, or anything else displayed on the card — the design can be matched precisely.

The remaining work is mostly about ensuring that headlines, fonts, and spacing align with your existing style.

You do not need to do this manually. There are two AI-assisted ways to get help:

• Ask Clerk.io is a dedicated AI assistant that can handle virtually anything on your store — including replicating your existing design and pushing it directly into your Clerk.io setup.
• The AI Design Editor is built into the code design editor in my.clerk.io. It lets you describe the changes you want in plain language and applies them to the code in real time, making it easy to iterate visually without leaving the editor.

Both options remove the need to write code yourself — Ask Clerk.io is the broader tool, while the AI Design Editor is purpose-built for design work and lets you see changes as they happen.

The most important elements to streamline are:

• Font family
• Font size
• Font color
• Button color

Visibility #

We as consumers get more and more impatient when using the internet. This means that we get used to seeing things we like quickly, or we tend to return to search engines like Google to find the next website.

That’s why your Recommendations banners should be partly visible from the get-go. The first banner on a page should ideally be placed visibly above the fold, which means that visitors can see them without scrolling down on a standard 13" laptop.

By showing at least the top of the headline, many more visitors will scroll down to see the Recommendations, which will lead to more conversions.

Optimize Regularly #

Clerk.io’s AI keeps recommendations up-to-date based on customer behaviour at all times, but there will be cases where a human touch is needed to take your results to the next level.

Analytics #

This dashboard helps you identify banners you can actively improve if they are not providing you with a good return on investment.

E.g. you might see that your Product Page Alternatives are not performing as expected — they have half as many orders as complementary products, but the same views.

Inspecting your product page, you realise that the Alternatives are placed far down on the page, almost by the footer, meaning that very few customers ever interact with them.

Another example could be that your Best Sellers in Category have a low ROI of just 2x and you want to double this. As a clothing store, you decide to try using Hot Products in Category instead.

Over the next month the ROI increases to 5x, because customers are more sensitive to trends with your catalogue.

Reviewing this dashboard regularly allows you to find the best places to spend your time, when you want to optimise results even further.

Merchandising #

When you have specific marketing goals, like promoting your own whitelabel products or clearing your inventory of low-stock items, use Merchandising to quickly influence your Recommendations everywhere.

A common use case is margin optimisation. Clerk.io’s AI will naturally surface the products most likely to convert — but that does not always mean the products you earn the most from. By syncing your product margins and creating a boost campaign, you can shift the balance toward higher-margin items without overriding the AI’s relevance logic. Visitors still see great recommendations — the store just earns more from each order.

Another common use case is inventory management. If you are overstocked on a specific product, a short-term boost campaign increases its visibility across all relevant recommendation banners until stock normalises — without needing to run a sale or change the price.

The same logic works in reverse. If a product is nearly out of stock and you want to slow down how often it appears before it sells out entirely, a suppression campaign can quietly reduce its priority across your recommendations.

It takes less than 5 minutes to set up campaigns that tell Clerk.io to focus on the products that matter most to you right now.