Shoppers will buy what a retailer recommends, Smith & Hawken learns

Recommending products to online shoppers boosted their average order by 16.5% and the number of items ordered by 60%, Shannon Stearns, director of marketing for home and garden retailer Smith & Hawken, says. Smith & Hawken used Net Perception Inc.’s Retail Revelations suite of software and services. Between late February and early May, Smith & Hawken monitored online transactions at SmithandHawken.com that used the Net Perceptions recommendation solutions versus those that did not. "Net Perceptions` recommendation engine has performed well beyond our expectations," Stearns said.

The Net Perceptions solution matches products customers are interested in with those in stock or possibly on sale. As a result, Smith & Hawken says it has strengthened its ability to “offer the right product to the right customer at the right time.”

Net Perceptions analyzes aggregated purchase behavior, expressed through products selected for purchase, then generates product suggestions that appear in both product detail pages and the shopping cart. It also takes into account a retailer’s financial objectives when making product recommendations.