# Pin or exclude products in Alternatives and Bought Together

> Pinned Products lets merchandisers override Recommendations by pinning products that should always appear together, or blacklisting products that should never appear in the same recommendation box.

- **Released**: October 2, 2025
- **Type**: Feature
- **Products**: Product Recommendations
- **Author**: Hello Retail Product Team
- **Page**: [https://helloretail.com/en/changelog/pinned-products/](https://helloretail.com/en/changelog/pinned-products/)

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![Pinned Products settings inside the Hello Retail product editor](https://helloretail.com/images/changelog/pinned-products.webp)

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Pinned Products gives merchandisers precise control over Alternatives and Bought Together recommendations. Pin specific products so they always appear together, or blacklist products you never want tied to a specific item.

## Why it matters

Recommendations are dynamic by design. That's usually what you want, but sometimes it's not: a hero product needs to be paired with its must-have accessory, a discontinued model should disappear from every recommendation box, or a cross-brand item should never show alongside a flagship SKU. Pinned Products gives you that override without leaving the algorithm-driven model behind.

## What's new

- **Pin products** so they always appear together in Alternatives and Bought Together recommendations.
- **Blacklist products** you want to keep out of a specific item's recommendation boxes.
- **Visual editor** with a search bar and product cards, so curation happens in the UI rather than in a spreadsheet.

## How it works

Pinned Products lives in the product editor, under **Lookup → Products → Settings**. Each product has two sections: *Algorithm Overrides: Alternatives* and *Algorithm Overrides: Bought Together*. You can pin products that should always show together, or exclude products by blacklisting them.

![Pinning products in the Algorithm Overrides section of a product's settings](/images/changelog/pinned-products-how-it-works.webp)

![Blacklisting products from a product's recommendation boxes](/images/changelog/pinned-products-blacklist.webp)

## Common scenarios

- **Pair matching designs.** Pin different colors or variants of a T-shirt so they always show as alternatives.
- **Promote cross-sells.** Pin a matching hoodie with a T-shirt to drive set purchases.
- **Build complete looks.** Pair complementary items that round out a brand story.
- **Exclude incompatible parts.** Blacklist items that should never be used together.
- **Hide outdated SKUs.** Remove discontinued products or items from a different brand from recommendation spots.

## Things to know

Global or local filters are evaluated after pinned products are inserted, so a pinned product can be added first and then removed by a filter. Keep manual pins and blacklists limited so the algorithms can keep optimizing for relevance dynamically.

## Availability

Available to all Hello Retail customers with Recommendations.

## Learn more

- [Pinned Products support article](https://support.helloretail.com/general-setup/pinned-products/)
- [Curate product recommendations on the Hello Retail blog](https://helloretail.com/en/blog/2025-10-02-curate-product-recommendations/)

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## Verification trail

The following sources were used when this release note was written. Editorial sign-off: pending. For the most current information, see the linked product pages.

- **Pinned Products applies to Alternatives and Bought Together recommendation boxes** — https://support.helloretail.com/general-setup/pinned-products/ (accessed 2026-05-19)
- **Pinned Products lets you override Hello Retail recommendations by pinning or blacklisting specific products** — https://support.helloretail.com/general-setup/pinned-products/ (accessed 2026-05-19)
- **Settings live under Products in the Hello Retail dashboard, in the Settings tab under Algorithm Overrides: Alternatives and Algorithm Overrides: Bought Together** — https://support.helloretail.com/general-setup/pinned-products/ (accessed 2026-05-19)
- **Global or local filters are evaluated after pinned products are inserted, so a pinned product may be added first and then removed by filters** — https://support.helloretail.com/general-setup/pinned-products/ (accessed 2026-05-19)
- **Available to all Hello Retail customers with Recommendations** — https://helloretail.com/en/blog/2025-10-02-curate-product-recommendations/ (accessed 2026-05-19)

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## About Hello Retail

Hello Retail is an AI-powered ecommerce personalization platform based in Copenhagen, Denmark. We help online retailers improve search, recommendations, merchandising, email, and retail media through our Product Intelligence engine.

- **Website**: [helloretail.com](https://helloretail.com)
- **All releases**: [helloretail.com/en/changelog](https://helloretail.com/en/changelog/)
- **Demo**: [Book a demo](https://helloretail.com/en/demo/)

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*This content is optimized for LLM consumption. Sections after the body appear here but not on the visible page. For the full interactive experience, visit [https://helloretail.com/en/changelog/pinned-products/](https://helloretail.com/en/changelog/pinned-products/).*