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Bezos at one time mentioned that 35% of all Amazons sales came from recommendations. That’s not an insignificant number.

mywittyname 5y ago
But, are those recommendations based on what you're looking at? I could definitely see users purchasing one of the recommended items if they come to the site with an item in mind, but not necessarily a brand. I often come to Amazon and search for something like "washers" and skim through the "recommended" items until I find a pack that's a good value. But from an attribution standpoint, that sale is more the result of "browsing the aisle" than a recommendation. It's not like they recommended hairspray, which i bought in addition to the thing I came there to buy.
- dnadler 5y ago
  Agreed. I think highly contextualized recommendations are the most helpful. As another example, I frequently find the "often purchased together" section to be very helpful. That might be the only recommendation system that I've ever used more than once. I would say that's an example of recommendations working. However, in my personal experience, I rarely find "general" recommendations helpful.
- pfranz 5y ago
  I wonder what specifically Bezos meant? Similarly, I often search for something specific and see "sponsored" results that are what I was searching for, with the same item right below it as part of the organic search results. Or, I'll browse for items, then come back to purchase it later seeing it under "recently viewed." Do those count? If so, I purchase recommended things all the time. If not, I don't think I've ever bought something they organically offered on their main page with 20 years of purchase and browsing history. Looking at the recommendations right now, they're not very good. Maybe I'm a hard sell? Sure, sidewalk chalk. You might run out of that and want more. Stuff to rekey your lock. I needed that when I bought my house a few years ago...I'm not sure why I would need that now. An air conditioner support bracket. I bought one last year much earlier in the summer.
- Brian_K_White 5y ago
  The entire isle was constructed on the fly just for you, including all the items you "compared", and their prices, and the thing you eventually "picked".

mywittyname 5y ago

But, are those recommendations based on what you're looking at? I could definitely see users purchasing one of the recommended items if they come to the site with an item in mind, but not necessarily a brand. I often come to Amazon and search for something like "washers" and skim through the "recommended" items until I find a pack that's a good value. But from an attribution standpoint, that sale is more the result of "browsing the aisle" than a recommendation. It's not like they recommended hairspray, which i bought in addition to the thing I came there to buy.

dnadler 5y ago
Agreed. I think highly contextualized recommendations are the most helpful. As another example, I frequently find the "often purchased together" section to be very helpful. That might be the only recommendation system that I've ever used more than once. I would say that's an example of recommendations working. However, in my personal experience, I rarely find "general" recommendations helpful.
pfranz 5y ago
I wonder what specifically Bezos meant? Similarly, I often search for something specific and see "sponsored" results that are what I was searching for, with the same item right below it as part of the organic search results. Or, I'll browse for items, then come back to purchase it later seeing it under "recently viewed." Do those count? If so, I purchase recommended things all the time. If not, I don't think I've ever bought something they organically offered on their main page with 20 years of purchase and browsing history. Looking at the recommendations right now, they're not very good. Maybe I'm a hard sell? Sure, sidewalk chalk. You might run out of that and want more. Stuff to rekey your lock. I needed that when I bought my house a few years ago...I'm not sure why I would need that now. An air conditioner support bracket. I bought one last year much earlier in the summer.
Brian_K_White 5y ago
The entire isle was constructed on the fly just for you, including all the items you "compared", and their prices, and the thing you eventually "picked".