Integration of 1C-Bitrix with Predictive Analytics Services
External predictive analytics services — RetailRocket, Mindbox, Exponea, Segmentify — provide ready-made ML models for recommendations, churn prediction, personalization. Unlike own PHP/SQL implementation, they are pre-trained on millions of transaction data. Task of integration — organize two-way data exchange: from Bitrix to service and back.
Choosing a service
| Service | Specialization | Features |
|---|---|---|
| RetailRocket | Recommendations, trigger campaigns | Russian-language, Bitrix support |
| Mindbox | CDP + campaigns + analytics | Wide functionality, higher price |
| Segmentify | Content personalization | Focus on real-time |
| Exponea (Bloomreach) | CDP + ML | European vendor, GDPR |
| Retail Rocket | — | Ready module for Bitrix |
Data transmission: events from browser
Most services use JavaScript SDK for behavioral event collection. SDK installed in <head> of site template. Standard event set:
Product view — in catalog.element template:
// Example for RetailRocket-like service
analytics.push(['trackProductView', {
id: <?= (int)$arResult['ID'] ?>,
groupId: <?= (int)$arResult['IBLOCK_SECTION_ID'] ?>,
price: <?= (float)($arResult['CATALOG_PRICE_1']['PRICE'] ?? 0) ?>,
isAvailable: <?= $arResult['CATALOG_QUANTITY'] > 0 ? 'true' : 'false' ?>
}]);
Cart addition — in "Buy" button handler or via OnSaleBasketItemAddBefore event.
Purchase — on successful order page via $arResult['ORDER_ID'] of sale.order.ajax component.
Transmitting product catalog
Service must know current catalog to show recommendations. Transmission — via feed (YML, CSV or custom format) or via API. Bitrix agent generates feed and publishes by URL:
function generateAnalyticsFeed(): void
{
$elements = \CIBlockElement::GetList(
['SORT' => 'ASC'],
['IBLOCK_ID' => CATALOG_IBLOCK_ID, 'ACTIVE' => 'Y'],
false, false,
['ID', 'NAME', 'IBLOCK_SECTION_ID', 'DETAIL_PAGE_URL', 'PREVIEW_PICTURE', 'CATALOG_PRICE_1', 'CATALOG_QUANTITY']
);
$rows = [];
while ($el = $elements->GetNext()) {
$rows[] = [
'id' => $el['ID'],
'name' => $el['NAME'],
'categoryId' => $el['IBLOCK_SECTION_ID'],
'url' => 'https://' . SITE_SERVER_NAME . $el['DETAIL_PAGE_URL'],
'imageUrl' => 'https://' . SITE_SERVER_NAME . \CFile::GetPath($el['PREVIEW_PICTURE']),
'price' => $el['CATALOG_PRICE_1'],
'inStock' => $el['CATALOG_QUANTITY'] > 0,
];
}
file_put_contents($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/upload/analytics_feed.json', json_encode($rows));
}
Feed updates via agent hourly. URL registered in analytics service cabinet.
Transmitting user data
On user registration and profile update — send data to service via API. Event handlers OnAfterUserRegister and OnAfterUserUpdate:
AddEventHandler('main', 'OnAfterUserRegister', function($fields) {
if ($fields['EMAIL']) {
AnalyticsService::identifyUser([
'email' => $fields['EMAIL'],
'userId' => $fields['USER_ID'],
'firstName' => $fields['NAME'],
'phone' => $fields['PERSONAL_PHONE'],
]);
}
});
AnalyticsService::identifyUser() makes POST request to service API with user identification.
Getting recommendations back to Bitrix
Recommendations obtained two ways:
Client widget — service provides JavaScript widget, inserted in needed page place and renders recommendations independently. Simplest approach, but weak control over appearance.
Server-side API — in catalog.element template or personal account component request recommendations via service API and render ourselves:
$recommendations = AnalyticsService::getRecommendations([
'type' => 'similar',
'productId' => $arResult['ID'],
'userId' => $USER->GetID(),
'limit' => 8,
]);
// Pass to template for rendering via standard Bitrix means
$arResult['ANALYTICS_RECOMMENDATIONS'] = $recommendations;
Implementation timeline
| Stage | Timeline |
|---|---|
| SDK installation and basic events (view/cart/purchase) | 2–3 days |
| Catalog feed with update agent | 1–2 days |
| User identification and profile transmission | 1–2 days |
| Server recommendations on catalog pages | 2–3 days |
| Trigger campaigns via service | 3–5 days |
What we configure
- Service JavaScript SDK in site template with view, cart and purchase events
- Catalog feed generator in format required by service, with update agent
- Event handlers for user registration/update for identification
- Server-side API client for requesting recommendations and embedding in templates
- Order data transmission via API or webhook on successful payment