How Rankings Work
Shopalytics is built to help shoppers compare catalogue offers without hidden pay-to-rank behavior. This page explains how offers are ranked, how sponsored placements are handled, and what data quality rules we apply before an offer is shown.
1. What appears in neutral rankings
Neutral rankings may include promotional catalogue items from any retailer, including house brands, as long as the offer is active and approved for shopper display.
- The offer must have a valid catalogue source.
- The offer must fall inside its active validity window.
- The offer must pass approval status checks such as
approvedorauto_approved.
2. How the shopper ranking is calculated
Shopalytics ranks offers using shopper value signals, not commercial spend. The exact score varies by surface, but the core inputs are consistent:
- Shelf price and promotional saving
- Coupon value when a valid coupon exists
- Distance to the branch
- Estimated return travel cost
- Offer validity and expiry timing
- Data confidence and matching quality
Basket recommendations use the same logic at basket level. The goal is not the lowest shelf price in isolation. The goal is the lowest practical cost for the shopper.
3. Sponsored campaigns
Brand campaigns can appear in Shopalytics, but they are handled separately from neutral best-price results.
- Sponsored campaigns are labelled.
- Sponsored campaigns do not silently change lowest-price or best-value rankings.
- Retailer house brands should not receive paid ranking boosts.
4. Data quality rules
Before an offer is shown to shoppers, Shopalytics applies basic operational checks:
- Catalogue extraction confidence and review status
- Product, brand, and size normalization where available
- Branch-level location data for distance-aware ranking
- Expiry filtering so dead deals do not remain live
5. What happens when the data is incomplete
If live catalogue coverage is unavailable, some surfaces may fall back to demo data. When that happens, the product labels the source so the shopper can tell whether they are viewing live or demo catalogue intelligence.
6. Shopper feedback and corrections
Shopalytics improves through shopper and operator feedback. Unknown barcode reports, catalogue review workflows, and internal approval tools help correct mismatches and improve future rankings.
7. Where to see the supporting policies
Read the broader privacy and cookie policies in the legal section, or return to the main product to compare current offers.