Product Recommendations
This documentation explains how to retrieve and display Product Recommendations.
Introduction
The Product Recommendations module is currently in limited beta release. If you'd like to participate, please contact Bazaarvoice.
Use the following guide to fetch and display product recommendations in your app with Bazaarvoice Mobile SDKs.
You will need your Shopper Advertising API Key and Client ID to implement and use product recommendations.
Installation instructions
Click here to see how to install and configure the BVSDK.
Installation with Gradle
Include the Maven Central repository and add the appropriate Bazaarvoice Mobile SDK modules to your dependencies:
dependencies {
implementation 'com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk:recommendations:{BV_SDK_VERSION}.+'
implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:9.{YOUR_PLAY_SERVICES_VERSION}'
implementation 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:25.{YOUR_SUPPORT_LIBRARY_VERSION}'
}
repositories {
mavenCentral()
}
Replace the {tokens}, including brackets, with the appropriate values. Refer to the Installation guide for {BV_SDK_VERSION}.
Extending the application
Create a class that extends android.app.Application, and initialize the Mobile SDK using its builder.
You can find a full list of build options in BVSDK.java.
in the following example, YOUR_CLIENT_ID represents your client name, such as "bazaarvoice". If you are unsure about your client ID or API key values, contact Bazaarvoice Support or your implementation team.
public class MyApplication extends Application {
@Override
public void onCreate(){
super.onCreate();
BVSDK.builder(application, BazaarEnvironment.PRODUCTION)
.logLevel(BVLogLevel.VERBOSE) // Optional: Set the log level. Default level is ERROR.
.dryRunAnalytics(false) // Optional: Set analytics to log only, not make a network request. Default is false.
.okHttpClient(okHttpClient) // Optional: Use you own okHttpClient instance
.build();
}
}
App manifest file
Add the following to your AndroidManifest.xml file.
<!-- set the name of the class for the application entry -->
<application
android:name=".MyApplication">
</application>
Set user information
After a user is authenticated inside your user login workflow, set an authenticated user to enable profile matching. Refer to User Authentication Token for instructions.
You must give the userAuthString created with your existing Bazaarvoice implementation logic to the BVSDK.getInstance() object. However, the steps to encrypt your userAuthString are applicable even if you are not a Conversations client.
Example authentication string for testing
If you haven't yet set up an authorization token, use the User Authentication Token example.
Getting recommendations
After you successfully install and configure the SDK and set user information, you can fetch product recommendations with the following steps:
Step 1: Setup the request
RecommendationsRequest.Builder builder = new RecommendationsRequest.Builder(NUM_RECS);
Request Builder Options:
| Name | Type | Default | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
categoryId | String | null | Prefers producs in this category. This is the category external ID as provided in the catalog feed. Can only set categoryId or ProductId. You cannot set both. | Recommended |
productId | String | null | Prefers products similar to this product. Can only set categoryId or ProductId. You cannot set both. | Recommended |
PageType | PageType | null | Metadata for the type of page the recommendations are presented. Accepted values are 'home', 'category', 'product', 'cart', 'thankyou' and 'search'. | Recommended |
Step 2: Provide the request and callback
We recommend that you use the provided view container methods:
BVRecommendations recs = new BVRecommendations();
Or you can use:
recommendationsContainerView.loadRecommendations(request, callback)
Alternatively, if you would prefer to avoid using containers:
BVRecommendations recs = new BVRecommendations();
recs.getRecommendedProducts(20, new BVRecommendations.BVRecommendationsCallback() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(BVRecommendationsResponse response) {
Log.d("Demo", response.getRecommendedProducts().toString());
}
@Override
public void onFailure(Throwable throwable) {
Log.d("Demo", throwable.getMessage());
}
});
Displaying recommendations
Wrapping a single recommended product view
In this example, you would use the following layout to display a single BVProduct after fetching it with the methods explained in the "Getting Recommendations" section of this page:
To provide Bazaarvoice with feedback in this layout, wrap the LinearLayout with the provided RecommendationContainerView and RecommendationVIew, as shown in the following example:
<com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationsContainer
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="@+id/recommendationView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="@+id/recommendationView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="90dp">
<ImageView
android:id="@+id/image"
android:layout_width="90dp"
android:layout_height="90dp"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/text"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="90dp" />
</LinearLayout>
Other options for wrapping a group of recommended product views
If you want to use other ViewGroups in place of a RecyclerView, the Mobile SDK offers the following options:
RecommendationsContainerView — If you want to use a different ViewGroup than ListView, GridView, or RecyclerView—such as a LinearLayout—to display RecommendationView objects, wrap the ViewGroup with a RecommendationsContainerView. The following example shows how you can use a LinearLayout ViewGroup:
<com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationsContainerView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="@+id/recommendationProdContainerView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationView
android:id="@+id/recommendationView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="90dp">
<ImageView
android:id="@+id/image"
android:layout_width="90dp"
android:layout_height="90dp"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/text"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="90dp" />
</LinearLayout>
</com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationView>
<com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationView
android:id="@+id/recommendationView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="90dp">
<ImageView
android:id="@+id/image"
android:layout_width="90dp"
android:layout_height="90dp"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/text"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="90dp" />
</LinearLayout>
</com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationView>
</LinearLayout>
</com.bazaarvoice.bvandroidsdk.RecommendationsContainerView>
Updated 3 months ago