Constructor’s facet group sorting algorithm uses multiple factors to determine which facet groups—and which options within a facet group—are most attractive to shoppers viewing items displayed on a results page.

These factors also dictate the order in which these facet groups and options appear on a results page. While companies should feel confident allowing Constructor to identify and order facet groups dynamically, there may be instances where merchandisers wish to curate the facet experience of a specific results page manually. This can be done by creating facet rules.

How facet rules work

Merchandisers can curate the order in which facet groups appear on results pages. These are the filter options that shoppers use to refine the items they’re viewing.

There are two actions a merchandiser can take:

• Slot: This action will pin a facet group to a specific position in the overall facet group order.
  • For example, slotting brand in the first position will place it at the top of the available filters. Merchandisers can enter the desired position manually or drag and drop groups to their desired position.
• Hide: This action will hide a facet from a results page. It’s ideal when a facet group is not particularly relevant to items shown on the page, or similar facet groups are present.
  • For example, a results page has facet groups base color and color. The merchant only wants one color filter available to shoppers, so they choose to hide the base color facet.

Merchandisers can also create rules for facet options, which are the different options a user can select within a facet group.

For example, a beauty retailer has their own brand of beauty products. Within the brand facet group, they may choose to slot their brand name in the first position, ahead of other brands they carry. In addition to slotting facet options, merchandisers can also hide facet options from the group.

When to consider using facet rules

Facet rules are most effective when you have a strategic purpose behind the curation. Here are some examples:

• You wish to surface a specific facet group as part of a promotion. For example, a clothing retailer has a denim sale and would like to pin the on sale facet at the top of available filters. This would allow shoppers to easily select the “yes” option in this group to view denim results that are on sale. The retailer could curate this experience for the queries denim and jeans as well as for the category page denim.
• You wish to bump specific facet options within a group. For example, a general merchant sells coffee makers but notices in the brand facet group that the first five (5) brands only have one item. Brands with more models or items available to view are at the bottom of the available options. The retailer decides to move the options with more models to the top of the brand facet group for the search query coffee makers and the category page coffee makers.
• You wish to hide a specific filter group or option. For example, a retailer has certain catalog metadata that works for several results contexts but not for all. For instance, defining a gender for baby items. It works well for clothing, but the retailer sees it in search results and category pages for diapers. The retailer does not consider this facet relevant in this context and chooses to hide the facet group from diaper queries and category pages.

Other situations may exist that warrant facet rules. These instances will vary by retailer and their strategies.

Facet rule levels

There are three types of facet levels: global, campaign, and single context.

• Global: A set of facet rules that exists for all results pages across your website.
  • For example, slotting the facet group brand in the first position on the global level will ensure that the brand facet group appears as the first filter group on every results page on your website.
• Campaign: A set of facet rules that exist for a group of specific results pages (i.e., multiple search query results pages, browse categories, collections, and facet pages, or a combination of these pages).
  • For example, slotting the facet group ‘color’ in the first position ensures that the color facet shows as the first filter group on all results pages included in the campaign.
• Single-context page: A set of facet rules that exist for a single search results page, browse category page, collection, or facet page.
  • For example, slotting the facet on sale in the first position ensures that the on sale facet appears as the first filter option on that specific results page.

Prioritizing facet rules

Constructor will prioritize facet rules when rules for the same facet and/or position overlap. For example, a retailer has a global facet rule that slots the brand facet in the first position across their website. However, a merchandiser wants to create a set of rules for a facet campaign that will slot the on sale facet in the first position across the browse and search results pages included in the campaign.

When these overlaps occur, Constructor will determine the active rule based on the facet rule level:

• If a campaign rule overlaps with a global rule, then the campaign rule takes priority. The global rule becomes inactive (until the campaign ends, is removed, or edited).
• If a single-context page rule overlaps with a campaign rule or global rule, then the single-context rule takes priority. The campaign or global rule becomes inactive (until the single-context rule is removed or edited).

Warnings appear in Constructor to alert merchandisers when rules overlap, at which point the merchandisers can choose to continue with saving the rule, or take a different action, such as making changes to global facet positions.

Configure facet rules