B2CFood & Beverage

Motatos’ A/B/C test proves:
+26% products added with FactFinder, surpassing a global vendor at lower cost

Key results

+16% products added

from cart recommendations and +26% from search result lists

+7.5% products added

through recommendations with Pulse

+2.5% conversion rate

overall with Pulse, AI-based trend detection for smarter merchandising

Meet Joakim Aglo

Product Manager

Joakim Aglo is responsible for website performance at Motatos, owning the conversion rate as his key metric. Other KPIs, such as average order value (AOV) and margins, also matter, but the top priority is clear: making every visit as relevant, effortless and rewarding as possible.

Motatos, known as Matsmart in Sweden and Finland, is on a mission to reduce food waste. The eCommerce company sells surplus but perfectly good products that would otherwise be discarded. Their assortment includes pantry staples, beverages and household goods offered at heavily discounted prices.
This model combines environmental impact with real consumer benefit: shoppers save money while helping to reduce waste. At the same time, Motatos provides an experience of discovery. The product range changes daily, so shoppers never know exactly what they’ll find, and that’s part of the fun. Visit their online shop.

Challenge

A constantly changing assortment is part of Motatos’ appeal but also its biggest challenge. Joakim says: “Our assortment changes a lot. You never know exactly what you’re going to find, for better or worse.” Because products sell out quickly, the team often lacks consistent data. “It can be tricky to get enough data on products, we don’t have the consistency in the data, and that impacted both search and recommendations.” He states that search results were not always relevant and “recommendations often didn’t make sense from a customer perspective.”

So, for the Motatos team it was obvious they needed to switch to a technology that could adapt to constant change; one that would keep results relevant even when the product catalog didn’t stay still.

Solution

FactFinder turned out to be the perfect balance between automation and control. “FactFinder has enough flexibility for optimization, but not too much – most of it just works out of the box.” The platform offered smart automation while remaining easy to manage, which was key for a small team with limited resources. What stood out most was FactFinder’s ability to understand product context. This means it can connect related items, even when no clear purchase patterns exist, which ensures displaying spot-on alternatives when specific products are unavailable.

Implementation was also straightforward: “Once we decided to go with FactFinder, it was just a matter of pressing a button to roll it out to everyone. From a technical perspective, it was very easy to set up.” The effect: smarter search, more accurate recommendations and measurable impact.

Results

Through a series of A/B/C tests against multiple search providers (including a well-known global vendor) Motatos measured how each platform performed in real-world conditions. Joakim explains: “We moved both search and recommendations behind feature gates and split the requests between FactFinder and the APIs of the other solutions. The results were clear as FactFinder not only delivered significantly more products added from search results pages but also achieved these outcomes at a lower overall cost than other vendors in the A/B/C test”.

First A/B/C test (Sweden, FactFinder vs. 2 other vendors, 45 days):

+ 17% products added from the search result pages
+ 12% products added from the auto-suggest

Second A/B/C test (all markets, FactFinder vs. 2 other vendors, 41 days):

+ 26% products added from the search result pages
+ 16% products added from cart recommendations

Both effects were statistically significant, proving that FactFinder delivers consistently better relevance and engagement.

Pulse A/B test (with vs. without Pulse, 18 days):

+ 7.5% products added through recommendations
+ 2.5% higher overall conversion rate

The data shows that FactFinder’s AI reacts instantly to new assortments and ensures product visibility from day one.

The results were clear as FactFinder not only delivered significantly more products added from search results pages but also achieved these outcomes at a lower overall cost than other vendors in the A/B/C test. FactFinder was the best option, considering both the costs and the results.

Joakim Aglo

Product Manager

Motato's favorite Features

Product Discovery
Recommendations
Merchandising (Pulse)

Product Discovery

With an ever-changing assortment, product discovery is the core of the shopping experience. Some customers visit Motatos with a specific product in mind, while others simply browse for the best deals. For both groups, the search experience must be intuitive and flexible. After all, 55% of users who add at least one product to cart use Motatos’ search function.

FactFinder’s search understands user intent, not just keywords. It suggests relevant alternatives when exact matches aren’t available and keeps the shopping flow smooth, even when the product range shifts overnight.

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Recommendations

Cross and upsell recommendations were one of Motatos’ biggest challenges due to constantly changing inventory. Traditional systems that rely only on past and combined purchases couldn’t keep up. FactFinder takes a different approach by adding the context and relation between products to the equation, identifying items that are logically and semantically connected, even across categories.

For example, a customer buying pasta might be shown a complementary beverage or similar pantry item. These context-aware recommendations feel natural rather than random, enhancing customer satisfaction.

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Merchandising (Pulse)

Speed is critical for Motatos. Products come and go, and items with high demand must be visible as quickly as possible. That’s exactly what’s ensured by Pulse, FactFinder’s merchandising AI that automatically identifies which products deserve attention, such as new arrivals, deals, or trending items. Instead of manually updating banners or recommendation slots, Pulse dynamically adjusts them in real time. “This is where Pulse really makes a difference since it picks up new products almost instantly.” The impact: +7.5% more products added and a +2.5% increase in conversion rate. For a retailer with such a fast-moving assortment, that speed of reaction makes all the difference.

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What's next

Following the success of these tests, Motatos plans to expand its use of FactFinder. The next focus areas include personalized recommendations, automated merchandising campaigns, and continued optimization of the Pulse feature. The goal: helping every customer find what they need faster, without losing the sense of discovery that makes shopping at Motatos so unique.

Learn how leading retailers use FactFinder

Joachim de Boer,
Co-founder

“It is great to see the actual business results that we have been able to achieve with FactFinder’s intelligent search solution.”

Maximilian Reiter,
eCommerce Consultant

"I believe that the future lies in artificial intelligence. That is why I am very happy that we have a partner in FactFinder, where experts who have been involved with this for a long time are based, and from whom we can learn well."

Mario Zanier,
CTO

"Almost 50 percent of our turnover is generated via search and navigation. The average order value has reached €748, marking an overall increase of 29%, and a staggering 55.6% rise in mobile transactions."