Burying Products

Burying Products

Burying decreases the prominence of specific products in search results without removing them completely. Buried items rank lower but remain discoverable, helping you manage inventory visibility while keeping products available.

How Burying Works

When you bury products, Nobi decreases their ranking scores, making them appear lower in search results. The products are still searchable and findable, but customers see them after more relevant or prioritized items.
Example: You bury products tagged "low-stock" to reduce their visibility. When customers search for "jackets," low-stock jackets appear lower in results, but customers can still find and purchase them if they scroll or refine their search.
Burying is ideal when you want to de-emphasize products without completely hiding them from search.

Bury Strengths

Choose how much to bury products:
Low bury - Subtle demotion, slight ranking decrease. Use for gentle de-emphasis without dramatically changing visibility.
Medium bury - Moderate demotion, noticeable ranking decrease. Good balance between reducing visibility and keeping products accessible.
High bury - Significant demotion, major ranking decrease. Use for products you want to strongly de-emphasize while keeping them technically available.
Start with low or medium buries. High buries push products so far down that customers rarely see them (consider hiding instead if that's your goal).

Creating Bury Rules

Basic Bury Rule

  1. Go to Products → Merchandising in your dashboard
  1. Click "Create Rule"
  1. Select "Bury" as the action
  1. Choose bury strength (Low, Medium, or High)
  1. Set conditions (inventory, tags, price range, etc.)
  1. Preview affected products
  1. Save the rule
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Multiple Buries Stack

If multiple bury rules affect the same product, their effects add together:
Example:
  • Rule 1: Bury products with low inventory (Medium)
  • Rule 2: Bury products from "Budget Vendor" (Low)
  • Product matches both conditions
  • Total bury: Medium + Low = Higher bury
Stacked buries can push products very far down. Monitor combined effects to avoid making products effectively invisible.

Boosts and Buries Can Offset

Products can have both boost and bury rules applied. The effects partially or fully offset:
Example:
  • Boost rule: +Medium (products on sale)
  • Bury rule: -Low (low inventory)
  • Product is on sale AND low inventory
  • Net effect: Slight boost (Medium boost minus Low bury)
This lets you balance competing priorities. A sale item with low stock gets promoted but not as strongly as sale items with full inventory.

Previewing Affected Products

Before saving a bury rule, preview which products will be affected:
  1. Set up your conditions
  1. Click "Preview Products"
  1. See list of matching products with their bury strength
  1. Verify the right products are included
  1. Adjust conditions if needed
The preview panel shows how many products match your rule, ignoring visitor-specific criteria like location
The preview panel shows how many products match your rule, ignoring visitor-specific criteria like location
The preview shows how many products match your conditions and displays sample products for verification.

Bury vs Hide

Burying reduces visibility but keeps products searchable and findable.
Hiding completely removes products from search results.
When to bury:
  • Low stock items (still want them sold, just not prominently)
  • Lower priority products (keep accessible but de-emphasized)
  • Transitional inventory (phasing out but not discontinued)
When to hide:
  • Out of season items (completely inappropriate to show)
  • Discontinued products (no longer selling)
  • Region-restricted items (legally cannot sell)
If you're not sure, start with burying. You can always change to hiding if needed.
Learn about hiding →

Best Practices

Use Burying for Inventory Management

Burying works well for managing stock levels. Bury low-inventory items so you don't oversell, but customers can still find them if they really want them.

Combine with Boosting

Bury secondary products while boosting primary ones. This creates clear hierarchy in search results.

Monitor Total Adjustments

Products affected by multiple bury rules can become nearly invisible. Review combined effects regularly.

Start with Low Strength

Low buries provide noticeable demotion without making products hard to find. Increase strength only if needed.

Use Query Conditions

Apply buries to specific searches where products are particularly inappropriate rather than burying them globally.

Review Regularly

Remove expired buries, adjust rules that aren't performing, and keep your merchandising current.

Warning About Over-Burying

Burying modifies Nobi's AI-powered ranking. Excessive burying can create issues:
  • Customers struggle to find products they want
  • Search feels incomplete or frustrating
  • Conversion rates may decline if relevant products are buried
Use burying strategically for inventory management and prioritization, but don't bury so much that search becomes difficult to navigate.