Merchandising associations suggest combinations of different catalog entries for promotional purposes. These associations model desired relationships between merchandise. As product recommendation strategies to increase store sales, merchandising associations define relationships between selected catalog entries. In addition to promotional associations such as cross-selling, up-selling, and suggested accessories, key words highlight extra semantic information of merchandising relationships, such as requires, temp, none, and comes with.
Merchandising associations are composed of source catalog entries and target catalog entries. A source catalog entry is the merchandising association's point of origin: when you select a catalog entry defined as the source, you will be able to view the defined relationships. A target catalog entry is the promotional catalog entry at the end of the merchandising association.
You can create one of the following types of merchandising associations:
- Cross-sell, where a merchant suggests other catalog entries based on an already chosen catalog entry. For example, a merchant can suggest a high-resolution color printer when a digital camera is purchased, or a particular type of batteries when a flashlight is purchased.
- Up-sell, where a merchant suggests a better catalog entry based on the one selected. For example, a merchant can suggest a higher quality television when a low-end model is selected.
- Accessory, where a merchant suggests an accessory that will complement the selected catalog entry. For example, a merchant can suggest an extra game controller when a video game system is selected.
- Replacement, where a merchant indicates that the relationship between two catalog entries is considered equivalent. For example, if one type of brand name battery is sold out, a merchant can suggest a different brand name battery.