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Commerce Ace · App Guide

Personalization Engine

Tailor product recommendations and merchandising to every shopper in real time — behavioral targeting, intent scoring, and dynamic campaigns without touching a line of code.

⚡ Install on Shopify Jump to setup →
Step 0

Before you start

A few things need to be in place before the Personalization Engine can start targeting shoppers. Skim both lists.

Requirements
  • ✓An active Shopify plan with the Personalization Engine installed.
  • ✓A published theme — the Personalization Engine injects content via Shopify's Theme App Extension system.
  • ✓A Commerce Ace Growth or Pro plan for real-time, per-shopper personalization campaigns.
Out of scope
  • ×The engine personalizes on-site content — it does not run email or ad retargeting campaigns.
  • ×It doesn't redesign your theme — it injects targeted content into existing placements.
  • ×It respects shopper privacy — visitors who have opted out of tracking are excluded from behavioral targeting.
  • ×Claude AI generates campaign copy and segments — you review and edit before publishing.
Setup

Step-by-step setup

Ten steps from install to live personalized campaigns on your storefront.

01

Install on Shopify

From the Commerce Ace listing, click Install. The Personalization Engine embeds inside your Shopify admin under Apps — no separate login required. Once open you'll see the dashboard with your campaign stats: Active Campaigns, Total Campaigns, Impressions (30D), and Conversions (30D).

The Getting Started guide on the dashboard walks you through the four key steps: Create a campaign, Choose placements, Activate your campaign, and Track performance. Follow this doc for a more detailed walkthrough of each.

Tip Before creating campaigns, complete Step 02 (Settings) and Step 03 (Theme Editor) first — campaigns won't display on your storefront until the Theme App Extension is enabled.
Step 1 — Install on Shopify
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02

Settings — Enable Theme App Extension

Click Settings in the app nav. The Settings page explains how the Personalization Engine works: it uses a Theme App Extension to inject personalized content directly into your storefront without modifying your theme files. This is how campaign content appears in placements like the Announcement Bar, Homepage Hero, Category Banner, Product Badge, and Cart Message.

Click Open Theme Editor → to go directly to the Theme Editor App Embeds panel. The instructions on the page tell you exactly what to do: App Embeds → Commerce Ace Personalization → toggle ON → Save. Complete this step before creating campaigns — without the Theme App Extension enabled, your campaigns will not display on the storefront even when set to Active.

On the right side of the Settings page you'll also see a Quick Setup Guide summarizing all 5 setup steps, a Watch How To Video link for a full setup walkthrough, and an About section describing how Claude AI powers the engine.

Tip The Theme App Extension toggle is the most commonly missed step. If campaigns are Active but nothing shows on your storefront, this is almost always the reason.
Step 2 — Settings Theme App Extension
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03

Theme Editor — Enable App Embed

In the Theme Editor (opened from Settings → Open Theme Editor), click App Embeds in the left panel. Find CA Personalization Engine — Commerce Ace Personalization — and toggle it ON. Save the theme.

This toggle is the master switch that allows the Personalization Engine to inject content into your storefront. When it's on, Claude AI-generated campaign content can appear in any placement you've selected. When it's off, no personalized content will render — regardless of campaign status in the app.

Tip You only need to do this once. The toggle stays on permanently unless you manually disable it or switch themes.
Step 3 — Theme Editor App Embed
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04

Create a Campaign — Describe Your Goal

Click Campaigns in the app nav, then click + New Campaign. You'll see the New Campaign page with two sections: Describe Your Campaign Goal and Choose Placements.

In the Describe Your Campaign Goal field, write what you want to achieve in plain English. Be specific — the more detail you give Claude, the better the campaign content. You can use one of the quick-start suggestions provided:

"Show a 10% welcome discount to first-time visitors from Instagram" — targets new visitors from a specific source with a first-purchase incentive.
"Offer free shipping to returning customers who haven't bought in 30 days" — targets lapsed customers with a re-engagement offer.
"Show urgency messaging to cart abandoners with more than $50 in their cart" — targets high-value cart abandoners with time-sensitive copy.
"Greet visitors from New York with a local pickup offer" — targets by geographic location with a location-specific message.

Or write your own goal entirely. Claude will read it and generate the audience segment definition, headline, body copy, and CTA for each placement you select.

Tip Include your audience, your offer, and any conditions in the goal description. "Show a 15% discount to returning customers who haven't purchased in 60 days" gives Claude three clear inputs to work with.
Step 4 — Describe Campaign Goal
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05

Create a Campaign — Choose Placements

Below the campaign goal, select where personalized content will appear on your storefront. You can select multiple placements per campaign — Claude generates separate content for each one. Here's what each placement does:

Announcement Bar — appears at the very top of every page, above the header. The highest-visibility placement on your store. Best for store-wide offers, free shipping thresholds, or time-sensitive promotions that every visitor should see. Small text strip — keep copy short and punchy.

Homepage Hero — the main hero section of your homepage. High visual impact, best for returning customer messages, personalized welcome-back offers, or loyalty rewards. Claude generates a headline, subheadline, and CTA button for this placement.

Category Banner — a slim banner that appears on collection/category pages. Best for collection-specific promotions, member-only discounts on specific product lines, or category-level urgency messaging.

Product Badge — a small badge that appears under the price on product pages. Best for member pricing, sale indicators, stock urgency, or loyalty-exclusive offers shown at the point of decision.

Cart Message — appears in the cart drawer or cart page. Best for free shipping nudges ("Add $X more for free shipping"), last-minute upsell prompts, or order-completion urgency messages.

Once you've selected your placements, click ⚡ Generate Campaign with Claude AI.

Tip Start with one or two placements on your first campaign. The Announcement Bar + Homepage Hero combination covers maximum storefront visibility for returning customer campaigns.
Step 5 — Choose Placements
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06

Review & Refine the Generated Campaign

After clicking Generate, Claude AI creates the full campaign — including audience segment definitions and content for each placement you selected. You'll see the generated content displayed as live previews directly on the page.

At the top of the page, the Refine with Claude section lets you iterate on the campaign without starting over. Use the quick-tap suggestions to make fast adjustments:

"Make it more urgent" — adds time pressure language (limited time, today only, etc.)
"Change the offer to free shipping" — swaps the offer type across all placements
"Make the tone more casual" — rewrites the copy in a friendlier, less formal voice
"Target high-value customers only" — tightens the audience segment

Or type your own refinement instruction in the text field and click ⚡ Refine with Claude. Claude will regenerate all placement content based on your feedback while keeping the campaign goal intact.

Each placement preview has an Edit button — click it to manually edit the generated copy for that specific placement without affecting others.

Tip Use Refine with Claude for big directional changes (tone, offer type, audience). Use the Edit button on individual placements for small copy tweaks — a word change, a different CTA, a specific discount code.
Step 6 — Review and Refine Campaign
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07

Campaigns Dashboard — Manage Your Campaigns

Once saved, your campaign appears on the Campaigns page. Each campaign card shows the campaign name, an Active or Paused status badge, a brief description of the goal Claude generated, and the placements it's running on.

Each campaign has three action buttons:

Edit — opens the campaign for editing. You can update the goal description, change placements, or use Refine with Claude to regenerate content. Changes take effect immediately after saving.
Pause — temporarily deactivates the campaign on the storefront without deleting it. The campaign stays in your list with a Paused status and can be reactivated at any time. Use this for seasonal campaigns you want to reuse.
Delete — permanently removes the campaign. This action cannot be undone — use Pause instead if you may want the campaign again later.

You can run multiple campaigns simultaneously across different placements. The engine will serve each campaign to its defined audience segment — shoppers only see campaigns that match their behavior and profile.

Tip Use descriptive campaign names like "Returning Customers — Free Shipping Q3" so you can identify campaigns quickly as your list grows. Avoid generic names like "Campaign 1."
Step 7 — Campaigns Dashboard
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08

Analytics — Track Campaign Performance

Click Analytics in the app nav to see performance data across all your campaigns. The top row shows four key metrics for the last 30 days: Total Impressions (how many times campaign content was shown to shoppers), Total Conversions (how many shoppers clicked through or completed a purchase after seeing a campaign), Conversion Rate (conversions ÷ impressions as a percentage), and Active Campaigns (how many campaigns are currently live).

Below the metrics, the Claude AI Insights section lets you generate an AI-powered analysis of your campaign performance. Click ⚡ Generate Claude AI Insights and Claude will review your impression and conversion data across all campaigns and surface patterns, underperformers, and actionable recommendations — in plain English.

The Campaign Performance table below shows a breakdown per campaign: name, status, impressions, conversions, and conversion rate. Use this to identify which campaigns are driving results and which need to be refined or paused.

Tip Run campaigns for at least 7 days before generating AI Insights — Claude needs enough impression data to identify meaningful patterns. Insights on a campaign with 5 impressions won't be useful.
Step 8 — Analytics
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09

See It Live — Announcement Bar & Homepage Hero

Once your campaign is Active and the Theme App Extension is enabled, personalized content begins appearing on your storefront immediately for qualifying visitors. Here's what each placement looks like in action:

The Announcement Bar appears as a slim strip at the very top of every page — above your header navigation. It's the first thing every visitor sees. In the example shown, a returning customer sees "Welcome back! Enjoy free shipping on orders $75+ — Shop Now" while a new visitor sees the default announcement bar copy.

The Homepage Hero replaces or overlays your homepage hero section with a personalized message. In the example, a returning customer lands on a full-width hero that says "Welcome Back — Free Shipping Awaits" with a subheadline and a "Continue Shopping" CTA — tailored to their customer history and served automatically by the engine.

Different visitor segments see different content — or no personalized content at all if they don't match any active campaign's audience definition. The engine handles the targeting logic automatically based on the segments Claude defined when generating your campaign.

Tip Test your campaigns by visiting your storefront in an incognito window (new visitor experience) and a logged-in session (returning customer experience). Confirm the right content is showing to the right audience.
Step 9 — Live Storefront Campaigns
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10

See It Live — Category Banner & Product Badge

Two more placements that appear deeper in the shopping journey — both highly effective for conversion-focused campaigns targeting shoppers who are already browsing products.

The Category Banner is a slim promotional banner that appears on collection and category pages — between the page header and the product grid. It's visible to shoppers who are actively browsing a specific category, making it ideal for collection-level offers, member-exclusive discounts on a product line, or sale callouts that are relevant to what the shopper is currently viewing.

The Product Badge appears directly below the price on individual product pages. It's the most targeted placement — shown only to shoppers viewing a specific product at the exact moment of purchase consideration. Use it for member pricing, loyalty-exclusive discounts, stock urgency ("Only 3 left"), or special offers that apply at checkout.

Both placements are served based on the audience segment Claude defined for your campaign — so a logged-in member sees the member price badge while a new visitor sees the standard price.

Tip Product Badge campaigns have the highest conversion potential of all placements — the shopper is already on the product page. Combine it with a member discount or urgency message for maximum impact.
Step 10 — Category Banner and Product Badge
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Settings

Configuration guide

Key campaign fields and what they control.

SettingWhat it doesRecommended
Campaign Goal The plain-English description of what you want the campaign to achieve. Claude uses this to generate audience segments, copy, and CTAs. Be specific — include audience, offer, and conditions
Placements Where personalized content appears — Announcement Bar, Homepage Hero, Category Banner, Product Badge, or Cart Message. Each generates separate Claude-written content. Start with 1–2 placements. Add more as you scale.
Refine with Claude After generation, use this to iterate on the campaign. Type a refinement instruction or use quick-tap suggestions. Claude regenerates all placement content based on your feedback. Use for tone, offer type, or audience changes
Edit (per placement) Manually edit the generated copy for a specific placement without affecting other placements or regenerating the full campaign. Use for small copy tweaks — specific words, discount codes, CTAs
Pause / Activate Pause temporarily hides a campaign from the storefront without deleting it. Activate makes it live again. Use Pause for seasonal campaigns. Pause instead of Delete for reusable campaigns
Generate Claude AI Insights In Analytics, generates a plain-English analysis of campaign performance — patterns, underperformers, and recommendations across all active campaigns. Run after 7+ days of campaign data
Theme App Extension The master switch in Theme Editor → App Embeds that enables the Personalization Engine to inject content on your storefront. Must be toggled ON for any campaign to display. Enable once — stays on permanently unless manually toggled off
Best practices

Merchant recommendations

What we tell every Commerce Ace merchant on their onboarding call.

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Enable the Theme App Extension first

Before creating a single campaign, go to Settings → Open Theme Editor → App Embeds → toggle CA Personalization Engine ON and save. If you skip this, no campaign content will ever show on your storefront no matter what you do in the app.

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Be specific in your campaign goal

The more specific your goal description, the better Claude's output. "Show a discount to returning customers" is vague. "Show a 15% loyalty discount to returning customers who haven't purchased in 60 days, with urgency messaging" gives Claude three clear inputs: audience, offer, and tone.

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Test in incognito vs logged-in

Different audiences see different campaigns. Always test by visiting your storefront in an incognito window (new visitor) and a logged-in session (returning customer) to confirm the right content is showing to each audience.

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Use Refine with Claude before editing manually

If the generated campaign isn't quite right, try Refine with Claude first — it's faster than editing every placement individually. Save manual edits for specific copy details after the overall direction is right.

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Pause seasonal campaigns — don't delete them

Holiday, sale, and event campaigns are worth keeping. Pause them when the season ends and reactivate them next year with a quick Refine with Claude to update the dates and offers.

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Product Badge is your highest-conversion placement

Shoppers on a product page are already in buying mode. A member discount or urgency badge at the price point is the most direct conversion lever available. If you only run one campaign, make it a Product Badge targeting your most valuable audience segment.

FAQ

Frequently asked

My campaigns are Active but nothing shows on the storefront — why?

The most common cause is the Theme App Extension not being enabled. Go to Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → Customize → App Embeds → find CA Personalization Engine and toggle it ON. Save the theme. Campaign content will start appearing immediately for qualifying visitors.

How does the engine know which campaign to show each visitor?

Claude defines audience segments when generating your campaign based on your goal description. The engine matches each visitor's behavior and profile — new vs returning, logged in vs guest, browsing history, cart value — against those segment definitions and serves the matching campaign content in real time.

Can I run multiple campaigns at the same time?

Yes — you can run multiple active campaigns simultaneously. Each campaign targets a specific audience segment across specific placements. If a visitor matches multiple campaigns, the engine serves the most relevant one based on segment priority.

What data does the engine collect about shoppers?

The engine tracks anonymous behavioral signals — page views, product interactions, cart activity, and session data. No names, emails, or personally identifiable information are collected or stored. Visitors who have opted out of tracking via your store's consent settings are excluded from behavioral targeting.

Can I edit campaign copy after it's been generated?

Yes — two ways. Use Refine with Claude for broad changes (tone, offer, audience), or click Edit on an individual placement to manually update that specific placement's copy. Changes take effect immediately after saving.

How long until I see impressions and conversions in Analytics?

Impressions start tracking as soon as a campaign is Active and the Theme App Extension is enabled. Conversions track when a visitor who saw a campaign completes a purchase. Data appears in Analytics within a few minutes of the first impression.

Will it work on any Shopify theme?

Yes — the Personalization Engine uses Shopify's Theme App Extension system, which is compatible with any published Shopify theme. No theme code modifications are required.