The principle

Products bought together are not necessarily products that belong together.

Basket data can reveal an opportunity. In a technical category, only product expertise can decide whether the recommendation is genuinely useful.

Manifold connected to compatible mounting brackets and an end cap
Product affinity connects behavior with technical relevance.
01 / The business problem

Can historical baskets identify the right accessories?

A plumbing installation often requires several complementary components. The objective was to turn those relationships into a useful product-page module.

Main product
Six-outlet brass manifold

6-outlet manifold

3/4" connection
Complement
Double isophonic mounting brackets

Mounting brackets

3/4" compatible
Complement
Self-sealing brass end cap

End cap

Male 3/4"
OpportunityFrequently Bought Together

Use behavior to find candidates, then validate the installation logic before publishing.

02 / The approach

From raw orders to a measurable customer experience.

Order data
SQL
Power BI
Affinity
Expert review
Google Sheet
Product page
Tracking
Data identified the opportunity. Product expertise validated the recommendation. Tracking measured the impact.
03 / SQL basket analysis

Which products are actually purchased together?

For every order, SQL generated product pairs and aggregated their frequency across historical transactions.

ORDER #10014 products
  • Manifold
  • Mounting brackets
  • End cap
  • PTFE tape
Generated relationshipsManifold ↔ Mounting bracketsManifold ↔ End capManifold ↔ PTFE tapeThen aggregate every pair across all orders.
52,400Orders analyzed
8,600Products
37,800Relationships detected
1,480High-potential pairs

Illustrative case-study data

Co-purchases286

Orders containing both products.

Confidence24.7%

Share of Product A orders also containing B.

Support8.4%

Significance across the order base.

Lift3.4×

Relationship strength beyond popularity.

04 / Product affinity dashboard

Explore, prioritize, then decide.

The dashboard translates thousands of relationships into a review queue. It is inspired by the analysis workflow, not a copy of Power BI.

Product Affinity Explorer
Illustrative case-study data
52.4KOrders
8.6KProducts
37.8KRelationships
1.48KCandidates
430Approved
Selected productCollecteur mâle-femelle 3/4", 6 départs
Potential complementCo-purchasesConfidenceLiftDecision
Double mounting brackets28624.7%3.4×✓ Valid
Automatic end cap24120.8%2.9×✓ Valid
PTFE tape19817.1%1.1×! Review
Generic fitting16414.2%0.9×× Reject
05 / Technical validation

Data suggests. Product expertise decides.

Professional customers may buy many unrelated items in one order. Statistical proximity alone is not technical compatibility.

Selected manifoldManifoldSelected product
StrongMounting brackets3.4× Lift
StrongEnd cap2.9× Lift
ReviewPTFE tape1.1× Lift
RejectGeneric fitting0.9× Lift
Data signalFrequently purchased together
Technical reviewCompatible, useful, same installation?
DecisionApprove or reject
Data + expert validatedStrong and relevant

Example: manifold + mounting brackets.

Expert-drivenTechnically important

Added manually when order volume is too low.

Data-rejectedStatistical, not useful

Do not recommend despite the co-purchase signal.

06 / Activation

A simple operational bridge to the product page.

Validated combinationsGoogle Sheet workflow
PRODUCT_REFCOMPLEMENTARY_REF_1COMPLEMENTARY_REF_2
COLLECTOR_6WAYSUPPORT_DOUBLEEND_CAP
PRODUCT_002PRODUCT_184PRODUCT_552
PRODUCT_003PRODUCT_094PRODUCT_337
AnalyticsProduct teamsEcommerce website
Customer-facing result

Fréquemment achetés ensemble

The analysis becomes useful only when customers can understand and act on the recommendation.

Six-outlet manifoldCollecteur48,85 €
+
Double supportsPaire de supports10,98 €
+
End capBouchon3,97 €
Total selection63,80 €
07 / Measurement

Launch was the beginning of the analysis.

Bundle interactions must be isolated from standard Add to Cart actions to understand adoption, engagement and attributed revenue.

Eligible page view
View bundle
Select complement
Add from bundle
Purchase
Revenue
1.85MEligible product-page views
↓
104KBundle interactions5.6%
↓
34.5KBundle Add to Carts33.2% of interactions
↓
9.8KPurchases containing attributed products
↓
€70KTracked revenue · Year 1

Illustrative case-study data

Adoption5.6%

of eligible page views generated an interaction.

Engagement34.5K

Add to Carts originated from the module.

Commercial contribution~€70K

Tracked revenue associated with bundle-driven Add to Carts.

08 / Analytical maturity

Tracked revenue is not automatically incremental revenue.

Attributed revenueWe observed the module in the purchase journey.
≠
Incremental revenueThe purchase would not have happened without the module.
ControlStandard product page
VS
VariantPage + product bundle
  • Conversion Rate
  • Average Order Value
  • Revenue per User
  • Complement attach rate
Final story

From data to a better buying experience.

Transaction dataSQLPower BIProduct expertsGoogle SheetProduct pageTracking€70K tracked
Data identified the relationship. Product expertise made it relevant. Tracking measured its value.
Public product referencesManifold Mounting brackets End cap