By setting rules in which you determine the matching, all products are matched at once. Products that are added to the catalog later will be matched directly for the answers for which matching rules have been set. Using rules is the fastest and most scalable way of matching. If you are unable to match an answer using rules, you can of course also match manually.
Matching rules require product data. The more data is available, the easier and more specific you can set the rules. You can read how to add more product data to your product feed here.
Follow the step-by-step instructions below to match your products with rules.
Step-by-step
1. In the Matching section, go to the Bulk match tab.
2. At the question you want to set a rule for, click the 'Rule' icon:
3. In the pop-up that follows, start a rule for the first answer by clicking the Add a matching rule button.
4. After this, complete the rule by indicating:
a. which product attribute (column) from your feed you want to use
b. which values from your column fit that answer.
In the example below, we enter a rule to give all hiking boots with a price lower than €150 a perfect match on the answer 'Less than €150'. We selected the column price from the product feed. We chose the 'Less than or equal to' rule and entered a value of 150.
5. Check the result of your rule by clicking Preview this rule. In the case of the above rule, we get the following result, which we know is correct:
6. For the products that do not yet have a matching score to the answer, you can add a new rule with Add a rule or give a matching score directly.
You add a new rule if you want to add nuance to your matching. For the answer 'Between €150 and €250', shoes with a price between €150 and €250 are a perfect fit, but shoes with a lower price do not have to be a bad match. If the shoes fit perfectly with all other wishes, a cheaper shoe is a bonus. Shoes that are more expensive than €250 fit poorly, so they will receive a 'bad' match. In this situation, the matching rule looks like this:
7. Are you finished setting the rule? Click Save & Apply and continue setting a rule for the next answer.
💡 Good to know: once you use rules on certain questions, you cannot adjust the scores for each individual product in Test & Tweak.
Have fun!
Tips for creating matching rules
Pay attention to the difference between 'and' and 'or'. You usually use 'and' when you want to combine two different attributes, and 'or' when you want to indicate different values for one attribute.
You can also create a rule that combines different attributes and indicates different values for one attribute. In that case, use a condition group.
In this example, a rule has been created for when cameras are suitable for vlogging: you must be able to tilt the screen, and the video resolution must be high. 4K, 6K, and 8K are all high video resolutions.
Check the available values for each attribute when setting up a rule by placing your cursor in the empty field after selecting the attribute. This way, you ensure that you include every value of the attribute in your matching.
Pay attention to the difference between 'contains' and 'is exactly'. If we use 'contains' in the above example and select Grey, it will also include Grey/Blue, Grey/Yellow, and Grey/Orange. If we only want to show completely grey hiking boots, we choose 'is exactly'.
Always double-check if the rule is set correctly by clicking 'Preview this rule'.
✅ Done matching? Test the quality of your advice in Test & Tweak and read: 10 tips for good advice.