Management Center: Creating a web activity that displays IBM Product Recommendations

Create a web activity that displays IBM Product Recommendations

If your company subscribes to , we can create a web activity that displays the product recommendations that are generated by IBM Product Recommendations.

Before beginning
To see examples of web activities that use this action, see Action: Display IBM Product Recommendations.
Make sure that a site administrator has configured the site to support Management Center marketing features. See Configure marketing for Management Center.

Procedure

Open the Marketing tool.
From the toolbar, click the arrow on the right side of Create New; then select Web Activity. The New Activity From Template window opens.
In the right pane, double-click the web activity template called Blank Web Activity The Activity Builder opens. The top half of the page is the work area. The bottom half of the page is the properties view.
In the properties view, set the following properties for the activity:

Property Description
Name Enter a name. This name displays in the Activities - List page, and identifies the activity.
Description Enter a description. This description displays in the Activities - List page, and it explains what the activity is intended to do. This description helps business users understand the activity at a glance without having to open the Activity Builder.
Priority Optionally, assign the activity a priority with this list. The priority can be assigned with a number between zero and 1000. The higher the number, the higher the priority. When multiple activities are scheduled for the same e-Marketing Spot, they are evaluated in priority sequence.
Start date Specify a start date and time for the activity. If you do not specify a start date, the activity is available on the storefront as soon as it is activated.
End date Specify an end date and time for the activity. If you do not specify an end date, the activity runs indefinitely.
Repeatable Specify whether the activity is repeatable. This means that a customer who views the e-Marketing Spot multiple times can see the content each time. This behavior is generally desirable for Web activities.
Campaign To organize this activity under a campaign, specify the campaign.

Select the e-Marketing Spot in which to display the recommendations:

In the work area, click the E-Marketing Spot element. The properties view for the e-Marketing Spot displays in the lower half of the page.
In the E-Marketing Spots table, specify one or more e-Marketing Spots in which to display the recommendations.

From the Actions section in the palette, drag the Display IBM Product Recommendations action element onto a flow connector in the work area to the right of the E-Marketing Spot element.
Click the Display IBM Product Recommendations action element to display its properties.
Complete the following properties:

Option Description
Recommendation delivery

For dynamic recommendations, choose Site Zone.
For flat file recommendations, choose Flat File.

Zone IDs For dynamic recommendations, enter one or more zone IDs defined in the IBM Product Recommendations software. If you specify multiple zone IDs, the e-Marketing Spot displays a separate section for the recommendations for each zone. IBM Product Recommendations ensures that the same catalog entry is not recommended in more than one zone on the page.Ensure that the store developer has configured the e-Marketing Spot to match the corresponding zone function:

If the zone displays recommendations for a specific catalog entry, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed the part number ID of the current catalog entry.
If the zone has a fallback in the recommendation plan to display category top sellers, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed the parent category ID of the catalog entry.
If the zone displays recommendations for the most recently viewed product, the product display page must contain an analytics tag to identify viewed products.
If the zone displays recommendations for the most recently purchased product, the order summary page must contain an analytics tag to identify purchased products.
If the zone displays recommendations for category top sellers, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed the current category ID.
If the zone displays recommendations for site top sellers, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed _TS_ as the category ID.

Offer name For flat file recommendations, type the offer name that is defined in the IBM Product Recommendations software. The maximum length of the offer name is 32 characters. The offer name must match the name that is defined in IBM Product Recommendations exactly, including case.
Action For flat file recommendations, specify what we want to base the display of recommendations from IBM Product Recommendations on. Options are:
Display a recommendation based on the catalog entries of the current page

The server determines which catalog entry the customer is viewing. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries.
Use this option only on the product details page.

Display a recommendation based on the catalog entries in the customer's shopping cart

The server checks the catalog entries the customer has in the shopping cart. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries.

Display a recommendation based on the catalog entries in the customer's purchase history

The server checks the customer's purchase history for previously purchased catalog entries. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries. We can also specify a time frame for the purchase history, for example, within the last 7 days.

Display a recommendation based on specific catalog entries

The server checks that catalog entries are specified in the Display IBM Product Recommendations action. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries.

Optional: Add target elements to your activity. Targets define what more criteria a customer must meet to see the information you specified for this e-Marketing Spot.

From the Targets section in the palette, drag a target element onto a flow connector in the work area to the left of the action element to target.
Click the target element to display its properties in the properties view.
Complete the properties for the target element.

Optional: Add branch elements to your activity. A branch element splits a single path in the activity into two or more paths. We can then use different target and action elements on each path within the same activity.

From the Branches section in the palette, drag the Branch element onto a flow connector at the point where we want to split a single path into multiple paths.
If we want more than two paths, right-click the Branch element in the work area; then click Add Path.
Click the Branch element in the work area to display its properties in the properties view.
Complete the properties for the Branch element. See Use the branch element in web and dialog activities.
Make our changes to the elements on the paths that extend from the Branch element. These changes can involve adding or changing targets and actions on each path until we get the result we want.

Optional: Add additional branches, targets, and actions to complete your activity. We can right-click on any element to open a context-sensitive menu that has tasks that we can perform. This menu includes an option to Delete unwanted elements.
Click
Save and then click Close.

Results
The new activity is created in the Inactive state.

What to do next

We must activate the web activity to make it available in the storefront.
We can also test the web activity to make sure that it works as expected before you move our changes to the production environment.

Property	Description
Name	Enter a name. This name displays in the Activities - List page, and identifies the activity.
Description	Enter a description. This description displays in the Activities - List page, and it explains what the activity is intended to do. This description helps business users understand the activity at a glance without having to open the Activity Builder.
Priority	Optionally, assign the activity a priority with this list. The priority can be assigned with a number between zero and 1000. The higher the number, the higher the priority. When multiple activities are scheduled for the same e-Marketing Spot, they are evaluated in priority sequence.
Start date	Specify a start date and time for the activity. If you do not specify a start date, the activity is available on the storefront as soon as it is activated.
End date	Specify an end date and time for the activity. If you do not specify an end date, the activity runs indefinitely.
Repeatable	Specify whether the activity is repeatable. This means that a customer who views the e-Marketing Spot multiple times can see the content each time. This behavior is generally desirable for Web activities.
Campaign	To organize this activity under a campaign, specify the campaign.

Option	Description
Recommendation delivery	For dynamic recommendations, choose Site Zone. For flat file recommendations, choose Flat File.
Zone IDs	For dynamic recommendations, enter one or more zone IDs defined in the IBM Product Recommendations software. If you specify multiple zone IDs, the e-Marketing Spot displays a separate section for the recommendations for each zone. IBM Product Recommendations ensures that the same catalog entry is not recommended in more than one zone on the page.Ensure that the store developer has configured the e-Marketing Spot to match the corresponding zone function: If the zone displays recommendations for a specific catalog entry, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed the part number ID of the current catalog entry. If the zone has a fallback in the recommendation plan to display category top sellers, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed the parent category ID of the catalog entry. If the zone displays recommendations for the most recently viewed product, the product display page must contain an analytics tag to identify viewed products. If the zone displays recommendations for the most recently purchased product, the order summary page must contain an analytics tag to identify purchased products. If the zone displays recommendations for category top sellers, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed the current category ID. If the zone displays recommendations for site top sellers, the e-Marketing Spot must be passed _TS_ as the category ID.
Offer name	For flat file recommendations, type the offer name that is defined in the IBM Product Recommendations software. The maximum length of the offer name is 32 characters. The offer name must match the name that is defined in IBM Product Recommendations exactly, including case.
Action	For flat file recommendations, specify what we want to base the display of recommendations from IBM Product Recommendations on. Options are: Display a recommendation based on the catalog entries of the current page The server determines which catalog entry the customer is viewing. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries. Use this option only on the product details page. Display a recommendation based on the catalog entries in the customer's shopping cart The server checks the catalog entries the customer has in the shopping cart. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries. Display a recommendation based on the catalog entries in the customer's purchase history The server checks the customer's purchase history for previously purchased catalog entries. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries. We can also specify a time frame for the purchase history, for example, within the last 7 days. Display a recommendation based on specific catalog entries The server checks that catalog entries are specified in the Display IBM Product Recommendations action. Then, the server finds any merchandising associations corresponding to the specified flat file offer and displays those catalog entries.