Management Center: Action: Display Top Browsed

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Action: Display Top Browsed

Use this action in a Web activity to display in an e-Marketing Spot a list of the top-browsed catalog entries for a category you specify. This type of list can motivate customers to find out more about catalog entries that are driving a lot of interest on the site.
When you activate a Web activity with the Display Top Browsed action, the marketing services record customer browsing activity for catalog entries in the category you specify. Each day, a list of the top-browsed catalog entries is generated. When a customer views the e-Marketing Spot specified in the Web activity, the top-browsed list displays.
Here is an example of a Web activity that uses the Display Top Browsed action:
When a customer views the e-Marketing Spot in the right sidebar of the home page, display a list of the 5 top-browsed catalog entries from the Coffee Makers category:
In the previous example, a customer sees the top-browsed catalog entries from the Coffee Makers category regardless of what they are shopping for.
To make top-browsed lists more relevant, you can:

Choose an e-Marketing Spot for the Web activity that is on category or product display page.

Choose one of the Display options that displays the list only when a customer is viewing the specified category or its subcategories.

Here is an example:
When a customer views the e-Marketing Spot on the category display page, display a list of the 5 top-browsed catalog entries from the Coffee Makers category, but only when the customer is browsing the Coffee Makers category or its subcategories:
In the previous example, if a customer is viewing any category other than Coffee Makers, the Web activity does not display a top-browsed list in the e-Marketing Spot. If you want, you can specify multiple categories for the Display Top Browsed action. As a result, the customer sees a top-browsed list on the category display page for each category you specify.
When Web activity containing the Display Top Browsed action is activated, the result on the storefront might look something like this example:
The JSP file for the e-Marketing Spot defines which pieces of information about the associated catalog entries to display in the top-browsed list. In the previous example, the JSP file displays a numbered list of catalog entries. Each catalog entry contains the thumbnail image for the product, its name, and its offer price, as defined in the Catalogs tool.
Tip: The Madisons starter store provides an example of a top-browsed list displayed in a scrollable e-Marketing Spot that can also display a best-sellers list. See Product Rankings in the Madisons starter store.

Prerequisites for using the Display Top Browsed action
Make sure a site administrator has the site configured to support Management Center marketing features. See Configure marketing for Management Center.

Guidelines for using the Display Top Browsed action
When setting up this action, you can specify the following options:

Option Description
Categories Specify the category for which to display a list of top-browsed catalog entries. You can specify more than one category, but only if you choose one of the following Display options:

Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category

Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category or its subcategories

Display Specify whether the customer must be viewing the category to see the top-browsed list. Options are:

Display a list for the specified category

For this option, customers do not need to be viewing the category to see the top-browsed list. Therefore, you can use an e-Marketing Spot on any page. The e-Marketing Spot displays the top-browsed list for the category you specify.

Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category

For this option, use an e-Marketing Spot on the category display page; otherwise, customers will never see the top-browsed list.
The top-browsed list displays to customers viewing the category but not its subcategories. For example, if you specify the Furniture category and the Tableware category:

Customers viewing the Furniture category page see a list of the top-browsed furniture

Customers viewing the Tableware category page see a list of the top-browsed tableware

Customers viewing any other category pages, including subcategories of Furniture and Tableware do not see a top-browsed list

Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category or its subcategories

For this option, use e-Marketing Spots on the category display page or the product display page, or both; otherwise, customers will never see the top-browsed list.

If you specify an e-Marketing Spot on a category display page, the top-browsed list displays to customers viewing the category or its subcategories. For example, if you specify the Furniture category, customers viewing either the Furniture category page or any category page within the Furniture category (for example, the Desks category page or Love seats category page) see a list of top-browsed furniture.

If you specify an e-Marketing Spot on the product display page, the top-browsed list displays to customers viewing any catalog entries in the category or its subcategories. For example, if you specify the Furniture category, customers viewing a specific desk or a chair see a list of top-browsed furniture.

Maximum number Specify the maximum number of catalog entries to include in the top-browsed list.
Time frame in days Specify how many days' worth of browsing activity to base the top-browsed list on. For example, if you specify 3, then the top-browsed list is based on browsing activity that occurred within the last three days.

To determine when a customer is viewing a page related to the categories you specify, the server uses either the categoryId value on the CategoryDisplay URL or the productId value on the ProductDisplay URL. If the store uses page view names or URL parameter names that are different from the default, then the Display Top Browsed action will not work unless a developer performs some customization steps. See Changing the name of commands used in behavior rule matching.

Performance considerations
To improve storefront performance, a site administrator can configure JSP caching a certain way so that the e-Marketing Spot JSP snippet is refreshed only once a day. See Set up JSP snippet caching for best seller and top browsed lists.

Related concepts

Activity building blocks: triggers, targets, and actions
Actions in marketing activities

Related tasks

Create a Web activity
Create an e-Marketing Spot
Set up JSP snippet caching for best seller and top browsed lists
Changing the daily scheduled time for marketing triggers and lists

Related reference

Sample e-Marketing Spot JSP snippets and the Web activities they support

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Option	Description
Categories	Specify the category for which to display a list of top-browsed catalog entries. You can specify more than one category, but only if you choose one of the following Display options: Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category or its subcategories
Display	Specify whether the customer must be viewing the category to see the top-browsed list. Options are: Display a list for the specified category For this option, customers do not need to be viewing the category to see the top-browsed list. Therefore, you can use an e-Marketing Spot on any page. The e-Marketing Spot displays the top-browsed list for the category you specify. Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category For this option, use an e-Marketing Spot on the category display page; otherwise, customers will never see the top-browsed list. The top-browsed list displays to customers viewing the category but not its subcategories. For example, if you specify the Furniture category and the Tableware category: Customers viewing the Furniture category page see a list of the top-browsed furniture Customers viewing the Tableware category page see a list of the top-browsed tableware Customers viewing any other category pages, including subcategories of Furniture and Tableware do not see a top-browsed list Display a list for the specified category only when the customer is viewing the category or its subcategories For this option, use e-Marketing Spots on the category display page or the product display page, or both; otherwise, customers will never see the top-browsed list. If you specify an e-Marketing Spot on a category display page, the top-browsed list displays to customers viewing the category or its subcategories. For example, if you specify the Furniture category, customers viewing either the Furniture category page or any category page within the Furniture category (for example, the Desks category page or Love seats category page) see a list of top-browsed furniture. If you specify an e-Marketing Spot on the product display page, the top-browsed list displays to customers viewing any catalog entries in the category or its subcategories. For example, if you specify the Furniture category, customers viewing a specific desk or a chair see a list of top-browsed furniture.
Maximum number	Specify the maximum number of catalog entries to include in the top-browsed list.
Time frame in days	Specify how many days' worth of browsing activity to base the top-browsed list on. For example, if you specify 3, then the top-browsed list is based on browsing activity that occurred within the last three days.