How to deploy a Merchandising on Web

AB Tasty automatically ranks products on your website based on rules, algorithms, and business objectives (bestsellers, new arrivals, margins, etc.).

The system sends product scores via API to your CMS or search engine (Shopify, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Algolia...), which then displays products in that order — while you keep full control of the front-end rendering.

If you want to know more about how the merchandising concept works at AB Tasty, check out this documentation: How merchandising works.

Merchandising prerequisites

Before creating your first strategy, ensure that:

• Your CMS is integrated with AB Tasty R&M (Shopify, PrestaShop, Magento, SFCC, or custom API).

• Your analytics setup (GTM, Segment, GA4, or AB Tasty Analytics) is active.

• Your CMS catalog is the single source of truth (manual uploads like CSV or Sheets are not supported).

1. Create a Merchandising Strategy

1. In the AB Tasty dashboard, open the Merchandising tab.

2. Click New Merchandising.

3. Define your parameters:

   • Category: which pages or categories are impacted.

   • Blocks / Product groups: logic (algorithm, limit, shuffle).

   • Filters: price, stock, brand, etc.

   • Pinned / Excluded products: highlight or hide SKUs.

4. Click Deploy Changes to save.

Once deployed:

• A unique MERCH_ID is assigned.

• Product scores are computed and stored.

• Your CMS retrieves them during the next synchronization.

2. Deploy on your CMS

To make your strategy visible online:

1. Go to the Merchandising tab.

2. Click the paper plane icon ✈️ next to your strategy.

3. A window lists all your website categories (infinite scroll).

4. Choose:

   • Deploy to selected categories, or

   • Select all and exclude specific ones.

5. Click Deploy — synchronization starts automatically.

6. Once complete, verify the new product order on your website.

Optional: Integration with Algolia

AB Tasty can push merchandising scores directly to Algolia, which reorders search results based on AB Tasty’s ranking. Use this to tailor product visibility for different segments (e.g., promo seekers, trend lovers) via distinct MERCH_IDs.

3. Analytics & Reporting

Track performance using the same setup as Recommendations:

• Supported events: view, click, add_to_cart, purchase.

• Works with GTM, Segment, GA4, or AB Tasty Analytics.

• Key metrics: CTR, RPV, Conversion Rate, Contribution to Revenue.

4. Troubleshooting

Issue	Possible Cause	Fix
Products not updated	CMS sync delay	Trigger a new synchronization
Filters reorder products	CMS overrides AB Tasty sorting	Check filter logic — filters must hide, not reorder
Missing analytics data	Missing data-reco-* attributes	Ensure front-end tags are active

5. Key Takeaways

• AB Tasty pushes product scores via API; your CMS handles display.

• Everything is automated — no manual upload.

• Filters only hide products, they don’t change the ranking.

• Always configure analytics before deployment.

• Use Deploy actions to synchronize your strategy to categories