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Similar Products algorithms help you recommend items that closely match a given product or a customer’s recent activity. Maestra offers three variants of the Similar Products algorithm, each tuned for a different use case — from product detail pages to wishlist reminders and abandoned-browse follow-ups.

Available algorithms

Maestra supports three Similar Products algorithms. Pick the one that fits where and how you want to surface recommendations.

Similar Products

Recommends items similar to a single product. Best for product detail pages.

Similar Products to Product List

Recommends items similar to a list of products a customer has saved or interacted with. Best for wishlists and “back in stock” flows.

Similar Products to Recently Viewed

Recommends items similar to products a customer viewed in their last session. Best for abandoned-browse campaigns.

Similar Products

Recommends items similar to a specific product.
PropertyValue
Algorithm typeRecommendations to product
AudienceIdentified and anonymous customers
InvocationAPI (recommendation widget), email
Recalculation frequencyOnce daily
LimitUp to 5 algorithms per project
Best forProduct detail pages
Automatic checks
  • Product availability in the customer’s zone.
  • External product system compatibility (optional).

Similar Products to Product List

Recommends items similar to a list of products associated with a customer (for example, a wishlist or a “notify me when back in stock” list).
PropertyValue
Algorithm typePersonal recommendations
AudienceIdentified customers only
InvocationAPI (recommendation widget), email
Recalculation frequencyReal time, accounting for products the customer adds
LimitUp to 3 algorithms per project
Best for”Back in stock” mechanics, wishlist features
Automatic checks
  • Product availability.
  • Brand matching (for multi-brand projects).
  • Exclusion of items the customer has already purchased.

Similar Products to Recently Viewed

Recommends items similar to products the customer viewed in their last session.
PropertyValue
Algorithm typePersonal recommendations
AudienceIdentified customers
InvocationAPI, email
Recalculation frequencyReal time
LimitUp to 2 algorithms per project
Best forAbandoned product view mechanics
For multi-brand projects, the algorithm generates recommendations within each brand separately.

How to create the algorithm

Follow these steps to set up any of the three Similar Products algorithms.
1

Open Product Recommendations

Go to Content → Product Recommendations and click Add Mechanic.
2

Choose the algorithm variant

Select one of the three Similar Products algorithms based on the use case described above.
3

Name the algorithm

Give the algorithm a clear name so you can identify it later, then continue.
4

Configure general settings

Set up the optional parameters that scope which products the algorithm applies to and which products it can recommend.
  • Recommend for products — the target segment of products the algorithm applies to.
  • Recommend from — the source segment the algorithm draws recommendations from.
  • Filter by price — restricts recommendations to a price range.
  • Brand and Product list — used for the Similar Products to Product List algorithm.
  • Recommend only from the same external system — enabled by default.
5

Configure similarity settings

Choose the product fields that define what “similar” means. The system first filters candidates by Exact Match parameters and then sorts the remaining products by similarity.See the Similarity logic section below for the full ranking rules.
The more fields you select, the fewer recommendations you’ll get. With too many constraints, the algorithm may return no recommendations at all.
  • Category selection — choose the primary category that is closest to the product.
  • Manufacturer exclusion — available in its own section if you want to exclude specific manufacturers from recommendations.
6

Launch the algorithm

Activate the algorithm. Maestra displays its status and the timestamp of the last update once it’s running.

Similarity logic

The similarity settings control both filtering and ranking. Maestra first removes candidates that fail the Exact Match rules, then sorts what remains using the similarity rules.

Exact Match filtering

Candidates must satisfy all of the following for the fields you selected:
  • Price / old price — only items within ±30% of the current product’s price are kept.
  • Manufacturer and other single-value fields — values must match exactly.
  • Multi-value fields and categories — the candidate’s value set must overlap with or be contained in the source product’s value set.

Similarity sorting

After filtering, remaining candidates are ranked using these rules:
  • Price — products within ±33% of the source price rank higher.
  • Single-value fields — products with matching values rank higher; empty values are preferred over non-matching filled values.
  • Multi-value fields — products are ranked by how many values they share with the source product.

Product detail pages

Use Similar Products to surface alternatives directly on a product page.

Back in stock and wishlists

Use Similar Products to Product List to suggest alternatives based on what the customer has saved.

Abandoned browse

Use Similar Products to Recently Viewed to win back customers who left without converting.