This guide outlines best practices to help you avoid these issues and maximize efficiency.
General Principles and Performance
Understanding the impact of rules and segments
Everything configured after the segments (optimization rules, exclusions, and mass corrections in the preview) is calculated in real-time during each feed generation. These calculations are resource-intensive and can significantly slow down overall performance.
Conversely, segments are pre-calculated during indexing and stored in the database. They are therefore immediately available, which significantly reduces processing time.
Technical limits to respect
Optimization rules: Limit yourself to a maximum of 50 rules per catalogue (technical limitation). Exceeding this limit can result in calculation errors or unexpected behaviour.
Check out our dedicated guide to optimizations.
Additional sources: Limit their number to the strict minimum. A maximum of 10 additional sources is a reasonable threshold to maintain performance.
Exclusions
Exclusions should be used sparingly, only for exceptional or temporary cases. In most instances, a segment is more efficient and easier to maintain.
Golden rule: avoid complex exclusion rules
Exclusions based on long lists of product IDs (using "pipes") are inefficient.
- Example to avoid: Creating a rule stating that the Product ID contains "123 | 456 | 789 | 101 | 112..." with dozens or hundreds of references. Even if this seems simple, the system must check each ID one by one, which is very costly in processing time.
- This method should only be used for very small lists (maximum 10 IDs).
To learn more, check out our documentation on additional sources.
Best practices for using exclusions
- Disable obsolete rules: If a rule or exclusion no longer affects any products, disable it. It triggers unnecessary calculations with no impact on the catalogue.
Manage low volumes: If an exclusion only impacts a tiny fraction of your catalogue (e.g., 0.1% or 0.2%), use a segment instead. This prevents costly calculations for a very limited result.
Group your conditions: Limit the number of exclusions to a maximum of 4 or 5 to avoid repeated recalculations. If you have more, group them into a single segment.
Optimization Rules
Simplicity and readability: Avoid complex rules that include multiple successive calculations, multiple verifications, or nested values. Simplify them as much as possible to facilitate maintenance, reduce the risk of errors, and improve performance.
Use the correct operator: Be sure to use the operator that corresponds to the field type (text vs. numeric values) to avoid processing errors.
Example: For a text field (e.g., Title, Brand), use operators like "contains" or "is equal to". For a numeric field (e.g., Price, Quantity), use mathematical operators like "is greater than" or "is less than".
Previewing Changes
Avoid making direct product modifications or adjustments via rules in the Preview. These actions are recalculated at each feed generation and can impact performance.