An item without significant usage is called a cold item. To improve the recommendation for these items, metadata on the items can be used. This metadata is called Features. Examples of features are values such as item category, product group, or variant framework. The feature values are provided to the model via the catalog.
To access the Feature Template page
The following is needed to include features in a catalog:
- Features must be selected on the Feature Template page.
- The Include Features In Catalog check box must be selected in the Model card page.
To access the Feature Template page
- Click the
icon, enter Model Template, and select the relevant link. - Click the Feature Template action.
The page contains suggestions of table fields that could possibly be useful features in a model catalog.
LS Recommend provides general suggestions, but if there are, for example, fields that have been added to the item table by customization, they should be included in the Feature Template.
- To obtain the default values for possible features, go to the Retail Setup page, click the Insert Default Data action, and select the LS Recommend Data check box.
In the Feature Template, a feature is represented as a pointer to field in a table. Field in a table can only be used as a feature if there is a direct link to the item number in the table.
A possible feature is defined by these values:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Table No. | This the number of the table that the feature field is in. |
| Field No. | This is the field number of the feature in a table with Table No. |
| Item No. Field No. | This is the number of the field that contains the item number, or the value of No. in the Item table, here table number 27. |
| Use in Models | Indicates if features are used in model catalogs. |
Other field values in the Feature Template are generated automatically on insert into the table.
Example:
If you want to use special group values as features by using the value of the field Special Group Code in table Item/Special Group Link, that is table number 10000736. Then
- Table No. = 10000736, the number of table Item/Special Group Link.
- Field No. = 2, which is the number of the field Special Group Code in the table Item/Special Group Link.
- Item No. Field No. = 1, which is the number of the field Item No. that relates to the field No. in table Item, that is table number 27.
- User In Model = selected, as you want to include these values in the catalog.
The action Validate Features checks in the Use In Model column, that is if that field has other values than the default value in the table.
Note: A field that takes only one value is not a useful feature.
Validate Features
There are two actions on the Feature Template page that help you select which features to use in a model:
- Find Usable Features: Finds features that can be used to build a model. These are table fields that contain some other values than the default field value.
- Count Features: The item catalog is limited to a maximum of 20 features. The Count Features action checks if the model has more than 20 features activated. You can add or remove a set of features manually by using the Use In Models flag.
If there is need to reduce the number of possible features, that is if there are more than 20, the build can be used. A build based on a catalog with features will return a score for the features, see the page Build - Features. Higher absolute value score means that the feature is more useful for the cold item recommendation. That is a feature with score -2.3 is more meaningful to the recommendation than a feature with score 0.26. A suggestion to select features would be by trial approach, remove the lowest scoring features, add new features, and redo the build. This procedure can be repeated.
Catalog features
It is possible to view the features that are included in the model catalog data if the Include Features In Catalog check box is selected on the Model card.
The Catalog Features are listed on the Catalog page (to open the page, click the Catalog action on the Model card).
Build features
Features that are used in a build to make recommendation for cold items are listed in the Build card (the Features action). A build can only include features if the Include Feature In Catalog check box on the Model card is selected.
Features that are used in a build are given a score where a higher absolute value indicates that the feature is more useful than a feature with a lower absolute value in the recommendation engine. For example, a feature with score -7 is more useful than a feature with score 1.5 as the absolute value of -7 is larger than 1.5.
The score can be useful if you are in the privileged situation to have more than 20 features to choose from. Then you can use the score to select which features to include in the catalog. You would then select 20 features do build, delete the features with the lowest absolute value score, and include new ones to see if the score improves.
To do this you must train on the same data to be able to compare the features. On the other hand, with new usage history and new builds, the score of a feature might change. The rule of thumb is that the best features are the ones that make sense to the user.