--- updatedAt: 2026-08-07T10:32:38.000Z agentTools: siteIndex: https://documentation.bloomreach.com/llms.txt projectIndex: https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/llms.txt --- # Contextual personalization Contextual personalization is a Loomi-powered engine that finds the best variant for each individual customer — not just the best variant on average. It analyzes each customer's unique situation and continuously learns from their interactions to improve over time. > 🌟 > > This is a Premium tier feature powered by Loomi. ## How contextual personalization works When a customer encounters a weblayer or receives a message, contextual personalization: 1. Evaluates their context — device, location, time of day, browsing behavior, and purchase history. 2. Selects the variant most likely to achieve your business goal. 3. Registers whether the customer completed your goal — for example, making a purchase. 4. Uses that outcome to make better decisions for future customers. [block:image] { "images": [ { "image": [ "https://files.readme.io/1951646-CP_hiw.png", null, "Diagram showing contextual personalization flow: historical and session context feed into variant selection, which records the customer response as feedback to retrain the model." ], "align": "center", "sizing": "100% ", "border": true } ] } [/block] The model is continuously retrained in the background as new interactions become available. ## Supported channels You ou can use contextual personalization across: * All [scenario channels](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/scenarios-in-contextual-personalization) — email, mobile push, browser push, SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, App Inbox. * [Email campaigns](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/emails-in-contextual-personalization) * [Weblayers](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/weblayers-in-contextual-personalization) Webhooks and Ad Audiences don't support automatic interaction tracking and can't be used as optimization targets. ## Contextual personalization versus A/B testing A/B testing finds the single best-performing variant for your entire audience. Contextual personalization finds the best variant for each individual customer. ### Example Imagine 70% of your customers respond to discount offers and 30% respond to free shipping. A standard A/B test declares the discount variant the winner and shows it to everyone — including the 30% who would have converted better with a free shipping message. Contextual personalization serves each customer the variant that fits their situation. [block:image] { "images": [ { "image": [ "https://files.readme.io/aec8b96-520d810-ABT_v_CP.png", "", "Comparison diagram: A/B testing shows 100% of audience the winning variant, while contextual personalization shows each customer the variant matching their preference." ], "align": "center", "sizing": "100% ", "border": true, "caption": "Instead of \"Which variant is best for everyone?\" ask, \"Which variant is best for each customer?\"" } ] } [/block] **Contextual personalization also:** * Uses AI instead of human-defined rules. * Learns continuously without waiting for statistical significance thresholds. * Delivers personalization for every audience segment — not just the majority. ### Case study Deploying contextually personalized banners for [bimago](https://www.bimago.com/) led to a 44% increase in subscription conversion rate compared to standard A/B testing. [Read the full case study.](https://www.bloomreach.com/en/case-studies/bimago-case-study?_gl=1*186gek*_ga*NDUyMTc1NTA1LjE2NjQyNjk1NDY.*_ga_QNZ568TB7S*MTY4NTM3NDc4OS43OS4wLjE2ODUzNzQ3ODkuNjAuMC4w) ## When to use contextual personalization Contextual personalization works best for ongoing, always-on campaigns — such as abandoned cart flows, browse abandonment, or triggered lifecycle campaigns. The more decisions Loomi makes over time, the better it learns. Avoid using it for one-off campaigns where you're also testing timing variations — for example, morning vs. evening sends. If Loomi learns that evening recipients perform better in the morning but the campaign doesn't keep running, it can't apply that learning. ## Key concepts | Term | Definition | | -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Variant** | The weblayer, email, or scenario channel option served to a customer. You can define up to 10 variants. | | **Context** | A customer's specific situation — device, browser, country, time of day, and behavioral history. | | **Contextual feature** | A data point the model uses to understand context, such as a customer's country or number of purchases. | | **Goal** | The customer action that signals a variant succeeded — for example, a purchase or a banner click. Loomi uses your goal to learn which variants drive the outcomes that matter to your business. | | **Value** | A per-variant signal that reflects its business worth to you. Loomi uses value ratios to learn which variants to prioritize. | | **Reinforcement learning** | The AI approach Loomi uses to continuously improve by learning from each interaction and its outcome. As part of this process, Loomi intentionally makes a small portion of decisions randomly to confirm existing learnings and uncover new patterns. | ### How variants, value, and goal work together These three concepts work as a system. Your variants are the options Loomi chooses from. Your goal tells Loomi when a variant succeeded — for example, when a customer made a purchase. Your value tells Loomi how much each variant's success is worth to your business. Together, they give Loomi everything it needs to find the best variant for each individual customer. ## Use cases Contextual personalization works across weblayers and all scenario channels. For detailed examples by industry and channel, see [Contextual personalization use cases](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/contextual-personalization-use-cases). ## Get started * [Configure Contextual personalization](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/configure-contextual-personalization) * [Evaluate Contextual personalization](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/evaluate-contextual-personalization) * [Weblayers setup guide](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/weblayers-in-contextual-personalization) * [Email campaigns setup guide](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/emails-in-contextual-personalization) * [Scenarios setup guide](https://documentation.bloomreach.com/engagement/docs/scenarios-in-contextual-personalization)