# How to show product recommendations in the Shopify cart drawer and checkout

> A recommendation block suggests products to add, based on rules you order. Place it in the cart, on the product page or at checkout, and sort it to reach the next tier.

Updated 2026-09-25 · https://www.yaco.studio/docs/recommendations

## Create a recommendation block

Open **Recommendations** in the app menu. A store can have several blocks; the one marked **Default** is used wherever you do not pick a specific block.

- **Add recommendation** creates a new block. **Duplicate recommendation**, **Rename** and **Set as default** are in the block menu.
- Deleting a block sends the placements that used it back to the default block.
- **Copy Recommendation ID** gives you the ID to paste in the theme editor when you want a specific block on a specific page.

A new block is ready to show products straight away: it starts with one rule, **Any product** → **Automatic suggestions (Shopify)**.

## Rules: when to show, what to recommend

In the **Rules** tab, the first rule that matches the cart wins and the rules below it are ignored. Drag rules to reorder them.

Each rule has two parts.

**When the cart contains…**

- **Any product**: matches as soon as the cart is not empty.
- **Specific products**.
- **Products in collections**.
- **Products with tags**: a comma-separated list. Case and extra spaces are ignored.

**…recommend** (the **Source**)

- **Automatic suggestions (Shopify)**: Shopify picks the products from the last items in the cart. Under **Strategy**, choose **Complementary products (recommended)**, which uses the pairings you set in Shopify Search & Discovery and falls back to similar products, or **Similar products**.
- **A list of products**: the variants you pick, in your order.
- **A collection**.

### Why my new rule never shows

A rule you add goes to the end of the list, behind the **Any product** rule that matches every cart. The app flags it with an orange banner: drag the rule above that one, or edit the default rule instead of adding another.

### Why the block is empty

With **Automatic suggestions (Shopify)**, Shopify can return nothing: a new store, a development store with no sales history, or products hidden from the Online Store channel. It is not an error. Switch the source to a list or a collection.

## Display: layout and the next tier

The **Display** tab sets the **Layout** (horizontal, vertical or carousel), **Max recommendations**, **Shuffle recommendations**, **Hide products already in cart**, the **Add button position** and CSS classes, the border and the item background.

The **Next goal** card ties the block to your progress bar. It is off by default.

- **Sort to help reach the next goal** puts first the products whose price covers what is missing to the next tier, cheapest first. Shuffling then only applies to the other products.
- **Show “Unlocks: …” on products that get the cart there** adds a badge with the tier name, in the customer's language. The badge text cannot be edited: rename the tier to change what it shows.
- It works with amount and quantity bars that are not restricted to some products or collections. It never applies to weight bars or customer-history bars.

If your recommendation order suddenly changed and expensive products come first, this card is the reason. Turn it off to get the previous order back.

## Content and translations

In the **Content** tab, set the block **Title** (default: “Our customers love”) and the **Add button label**, per language. While you keep the default texts, customers see them already translated into their language. Once you write your own title, it is shown as is in every language, so add a translation for each language you sell in. See [translations](https://www.yaco.studio/docs/translations).

## Where the block appears

- **Theme editor**: add the **Yaco recommendations** app block. Leave its **Recommendation** field empty to use the default block, or paste a Recommendation ID.
- **Theme integration**: add a placement of the recommendations type and pick which block it shows, for example in the cart drawer.
- **Checkout**: on Shopify Plus, the **Display at checkout** card in the **Display** tab creates a placement ID. Add the **Recommendations** block in the checkout editor and paste that ID. See [checkout](https://www.yaco.studio/docs/checkout).

## Measure the block

The **Analytics** tab shows **Impressions**, **Add to cart**, **CTR**, **Ordered** and **Revenue**, with breakdowns **By integration**, **By rule** and **Top products**. More in [analytics](https://www.yaco.studio/docs/analytics).