Withfriends is a Shopify app that helps businesses automatically sell curated monthly subscription boxes. One of our features is the ability set up search terms that help your boxes automatically curated themselves. This article will guide you through the process of constructing effective search terms to filter and curate products for your subscription boxes.

Match Modes:

Withfriends offers two match modes: PRODUCT and VARIANT. The match mode determines how the search terms are applied to filter products.

PRODUCT Match Mode (Default):

In the PRODUCT match mode, the search term is used to filter products based on the following fields: 'productType', 'tags', 'collections', 'productTitle', and 'description'. Guidelines for constructing search terms in the PRODUCT match mode:

• Use commas to separate OR search terms. For example, "red shirt, blue jeans" will match products that contain either "red shirt" or "blue jeans" in any of the searched fields.

• Within each OR term, use spaces to separate AND search terms. For example, "red shirt, blue jeans" will match products that contain both "red" and "shirt" or both "blue" and "jeans" in any of the searched fields.

• Use quotes within OR terms to match exact phrases. For example, '"red shirt", "blue jeans"' will match products that contain the exact phrase "red shirt" or the exact phrase "blue jeans" in any of the searched fields.

• Use the minus sign (-) to exclude products containing that term. For example, '"red shirt", "blue jeans" -denim' will match products that contain the exact phrase "red shirt" or the exact phrase "blue jeans" but not the term "denim" in any of the searched fields.

• The search is case-insensitive, so "Red" and "red" will yield the same results.

Examples of search terms in the PRODUCT match mode:

• "red cotton shirt, blue denim jeans"

• '"leather wallet", "silver necklace" -gold'

VARIANT Match Mode:

In the VARIANT match mode, the search term is used to filter products based on the following fields: 'productType', 'tags', 'collections', 'productTitle', 'description', and 'variantTitle'. The 'variantTitle' field allows you to filter products based on specific variant attributes. Guidelines for constructing search terms in the VARIANT match mode:

• Use commas to separate OR search terms, similar to the PRODUCT match mode.

• Within each OR term, use spaces to separate AND search terms, similar to the PRODUCT match mode.

• Use quotes within OR terms to match exact phrases, similar to the PRODUCT match mode.

• Use the minus sign (-) within OR terms to exclude products with variants containing that term.

Examples of search terms in the VARIANT match mode:

• "shirt, large"

• '"blue jeans" denim, 32x32'

• 'dress -summer, small'

In the VARIANT match mode, curations will be limited to products that have at least one variant matching any of the specified search terms in your options. For instance, if you provide two options with search terms 'small' and 'medium', only products that have at least one variant with 'small' or 'medium' in the 'Variant Title' field will be curated.

Tip: The same search terms will work in the manual curation dropdown, so you can test them as you go.

By leveraging the power of search terms in Withfriends, you can automatically curate products for your subscription boxes based on specific criteria.

Remember that the search terms are just one part of the curation process, and other factors like target curation value, number of members and available inventory, whether you prefer overstock products, collections to include, products to exclude, and subscription box shipment history also influence the final curation results.

Experiment with different search terms and match modes to find the perfect combination for your business needs.

Happy curating!