Numeric Precision
This guide introduces you to the Numeric Precision feature and outlines how to enable it.
What is Numeric Precision
Today, shoppers search for what they are looking for with attributes that describe the product (e.g. "red shirt", "sony laptop", "2 gal milk" etc.). In some use cases, customers might want to give their shoppers a very precise experience when they express their intent via these attributes.
Numeric precision is an optional precision mode that makes the recall set more precise by limiting the recall to only those products that match the numeric intent expressed in the query. For example, a user searching for "2 gal milk" would expect to see "2 gallon milk" products.
How Numeric Precision works
Numeric Precision leverages our powerful query processing to understand the numeric/quantitative attributes, along with the unit, and builds a recall with precise product matches.
Here is an example:
Quantitative Query - 8ah battery
Products in the feed
- P1: 5.8 ah battery
- P2: 5.8ah battery
- P3: 8 ah battery
- P4: 8ah battery
The default mode would return P2, P3, and P4. If you want the results to be more precise, you can use the high numeric precision mode. High Numeric Precision returns P3 and P4. Noisy product P2 will be eliminated.
This precision mode also treats the different variations of dimensions equally. For example, it processes 8"x10", 8in x 10in, 8inch x 10inch, 8in. x 10in. all in the same way.
Points to remember
- Numeric precision requires both unit and numeric values in the product feed. The following example depicts the correct feed format:
❌ Height (in): 1, 12, 15
✅ Height: 1in, 12in, 15in
For best results, the unit of measure must be present with the field values. - By default, numeric precision only looks for the numeric attribute matches in the title field since the title tends to capture the most important measurements in most cases. However, additional fields can be configured for use with this feature. These additional fields would again need both numeric values and the unit as a part of the field value.
- This feature will not have any impact on non-quantitative queries.
- This feature surfaces precise recall both for English and non-English catalogs.
How to enable Numeric Precision
You can enable Numeric Precision on the API directly by passing the specified parameter to the front-end API call. You can either enable it per API request to preview the results, do AB tests, or you can also enable it on all API requests across the site.
Alternately, Bloomreach can configure this to be applied for you on all incoming API calls. If you'd like Bloomreach to configure this for you:
- Live Customers: Please reach out to Support if you wish to enable this feature across the site.
- Integrating Customers: Please contact your Technical Services representative who is helping with your integration to enable this feature across the site.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Dutch and other European languages use commas and periods interchangeably. Is this handled for foreign languages? How does this impact English language precision?
Yes. For non-English languages, commas and periods can be used interchangeably. For example - “2.5 in wire” and “2,5 in wire” will be matched in the same way. This will not impact numeric precision for the English language.
2. Does Numeric Precision match all attributes?
Numeric Precision works by default on the title. If you wish to enable it for other fields, you can reach out to Bloomreach Support. If you wish to enable a SKU attribute, then you can send the SKU data at the product level in the feed, and then, Bloomreach Support can enable it for you.
3. Can I enable Numeric Precision on the API?
Yes, and this applies to English and non-English languages. The parameter used is the query.numeric_precision
The following table summarizes the available Numeric Precision modes and their corresponding parameter values:
| Numeric Precision modes | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard | This recalls products having either the same quantitative match or direct text match (note: direct text match drop special characters like decimals during processing which can result in a loser recall). This is the default mode. This mode applies if you send no parameter in the API and no backend configuration change is made for you. The API parameter shown here can be used as a query-level override in cases where you have asked Bloomreach to set your primary configuration to "high". query.numeric_precision=standard |
| High | Pass the following parameter to enable Numeric Precision. This will display a restricted recall with precise quantitative matches.query.numeric_precision=high |
4. What if there are certain quantitative queries where the unit is not being identified?
If you notice that a numeric value/unit isn't being identified by the precision mode, please reach out to Bloomreach Support with a request to get those values supported. You would need to provide us with the unit and any variations that should be treated as being identical. For instance, treating “5m wire”, “5meter wire” interchangeably.
Treatment of Comma and Period
We have observed that the characters ,[comma] and .[period] appear interchangeably in some non-English numeric queries. For such product queries, we support the below use cases for Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, and Italian sites:
- Treat
,and.interchangeably when the decimal number has a 10th value present [e.g., 2.5m cable <=> 2,5m cable]. - Treat
,and.interchangeably when the decimal number has both 10th and 100th value present [e.g., 2.75m cable <=>2,75m cable].
Notes:
- Comma and period will be interchangeable for decimal numbers only.
- Comma and period will not be considered interchangeable for other use cases [e.g., Decimal number with a 1000th value being present].
Updated 5 months ago