Sequential Semantic IDs

Richer Recommendations

Beam Search

Same user, same moment. Old format (day + shift + 3 codebook tokens) vs new format — richer context drives personalized predictions.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon work address in Botafogo. Nubank credit card. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. Lives with one other adult. Has a cat. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 25 · Mon · Dinner <not-bought> food search: "pizza near me" 110·045·023 Pizza Hut 234·089·012 Pepperoni Large R$45.90 25min · 1.8km · R$10 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 27 · Wed <bought> grocery food 203·087·145 Pão de Açúcar 312·056·201 Weekly Basket + Lunch Box R$115.00 55min · 4.2km · R$0 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 30 · Sat <bought> pharmacy 178·045·223 Drogasil 267·012·156 Vitamin D 2000ui R$35.50 25min · 1.3km · R$6 off

Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food

predict → merchant tokens

Inference

Old format

1

McDonald's

.15

2

Burger King

.12

3

Pizza Hut

.10

4

Subway

.09

New format

1

Bullguer

weekend burger pattern

.22

2

Madero

Sunday dinner, premium

.18

3

Sushi Leblon

sushi habit, but Sunday

.12

4

Green Kitchen

weekday staple, lower wknd

.10

Old format has day + shift but collapses to popularity. New format uses profile, dietary, price, vertical, and temporal signals — personalized, not popular.

Cold Start

Beam Search

Brand-new user with zero purchases — only browsing/impression data. Predict first order + minimum coupon to convert.

Sequence

iFood Club member since 2025-03, lives in Copacabana. Pays with Visa debit card. No dietary restrictions listed. Lives alone. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 28 · Fri · Dinner <not-bought> food search: "japanese food" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off 067·189·034 Temakeria 123·045·078 Temaki Salmão R$42.00 30min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Sat · Lunch <not-bought> food search: "açaí" 087·230·017 Açaí da Barra 089·123·045 Açaí Bowl Grande R$32.00 25min · 1.8km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Sat · Dinner <not-bought> food search: "pizza copacabana" 110·045·023 Pizza Hut 234·089·012 Pepperoni Large R$45.90 25min · 1.8km · R$0 off 087·230·017 Pizzaria Guanabara 089·123·045 Pizza Portuguesa R$35.00 20min · 0.9km · R$0 off Mar 30 · Sun · Lunch <not-bought> food search: "healthy brunch" 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off

Mar 30 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food

predict → merchant + item

Inference

1

Temakeria — Temaki Salmão

.18

R$5 off to convert

2

Açaí da Barra — Açaí Bowl

.15

R$0 — organic conversion

3

Sushi Leblon — Combo

.12

R$15 off to convert

4

Pizzaria Guanabara — Portuguesa

.08

R$8 off to convert

Zero purchases, but profile + 4 browse sessions give enough signal. Açaí converts organically; Sushi needs R$15 — price barrier visible in browse data.

Conversion Prediction

P(token)

For a given day/shift, will this user order at all? Score P(<bought>) to target push notifications.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon work address in Botafogo. Nubank credit card. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. Lives with one other adult. Has a cat. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 25 · Mon · Dinner <not-bought> food search: "pizza near me" 110·045·023 Pizza Hut 234·089·012 Pepperoni Large R$45.90 25min · 1.8km · R$10 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 27 · Wed <bought> grocery food 203·087·145 Pão de Açúcar 312·056·201 Weekly Basket + Lunch Box R$115.00 55min · 4.2km · R$0 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 30 · Sat <bought> pharmacy 178·045·223 Drogasil 267·012·156 Vitamin D 2000ui R$35.50 25min · 1.3km · R$6 off

Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> or <not-bought> ?

predict → will this user order on this shift?

Inference

EXAMPLE A — Sunday Dinner (user orders every weekend dinner)

74%

26%

High intent → send push notification at 5pm

EXAMPLE B — same user, Wednesday Breakfast

8%

92%

Low intent → don't waste the push

Score every user × day × shift. High P(bought) + user hasn't opened app yet? → Push notification. Low P(bought)? → Save the budget.

Vertical Propensity

Perplexity

Two users, zero grocery orders. Score perplexity of the "grocery" token — who is more likely to convert?

Sequence (User A — diverse orderer)

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 30 · Sat <bought> pharmacy 178·045·223 Drogasil 267·012·156 Vitamin D 2000ui R$35.50 25min · 1.3km · R$6 off Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.8km · R$13 off Apr 1 · Mon <bought> beverages 234·098·167 Zé Delivery 345·078·234 Heineken 12-Pack R$62.00 20min · 0.8km · R$10 off

Apr 2 · Tue <bought>

score → perplexity of grocery

Inference

User A — perplexity

2.8

"not surprised" → HIGH propensity

User B — perplexity

47.3

"very surprised" → LOW propensity

User A is 17× more likely to convert to grocery

User B (not shown): student in Centro, lives alone, orders 2x/wk, all fast food (McDonald's, Burger King), R$15–25 range, food-only history. Same prompt — model is very surprised to see "grocery."

One token, one forward pass per user. Score 50M users overnight, sort by grocery perplexity. Top 100K = your target list. The timestamp also tells you WHEN to approach each user.

First Time Cart

Generation

User identified as grocery-propense. Generate their personalized first grocery cart from their food preferences.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.8km · R$13 off Apr 1 · Mon <bought> beverages 234·098·167 Zé Delivery 345·078·234 Heineken 12-Pack R$62.00 20min · 0.8km · R$10 off

Apr 5 · Sat <bought> grocery

generate → 203·087·145 R$228.50 312·089·045 R$89.90 312·123·078 R$24.90 312·156·034 R$8.90 312·201·089 R$29.90 345·078·234 R$62.00 312·045·167 R$12.90

Generated cart

🥩

Picanha 1kg

weekend + burger/BBQ pattern → premium beef

R$89.90

🌭

Linguiça Toscana 500g

classic churrasco companion

R$24.90

🍚

Farofa Pronta

Brazilian BBQ essential

R$8.90

🔥

Carvão Vegetal 5kg

charcoal for the grill

R$29.90

🍺

Heineken 12-Pack

already orders from Zé Delivery

R$62.00

🌾

Arroz Integral 1kg

gluten-free weekday pattern

R$12.90

Cart total: R$228.50

Not a generic grocery list — maps food preferences to grocery items. Burger lover → churrasco ingredients. Known beer brand → add to cart.

Cross-Selling

Beam Search

User just ordered Saturday sushi dinner. Append a beverage vertical to predict the ideal drink pairing.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.8km · R$13 off Apr 1 · Mon <bought> beverages 234·098·167 Zé Delivery 345·078·234 Heineken 12-Pack R$62.00 20min · 0.8km · R$10 off Apr 4 · Sat · Dinner <bought> food 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off

Apr 4 · Sat · Dinner <bought> beverages

beam search → top prediction 234·098·167 178·034·012

Decoded beam search results

1

Zé Delivery — Vinho Branco Seco

white wine + sushi pairing

.24

2

Zé Delivery — Sake Azuma Kirin

Japanese dinner → sake

.19

3

Zé Delivery — Heineken 6-Pack

user's known preference

.15

4

Kero Coco — Água de Coco

lighter option

.08

Context-aware pairing: sushi dinner → wine and sake rank above user's usual Heineken. Runs at checkout for every order.

Price Sensitivity

Interactive

Predict price token probability distribution. Drag the slider to explore cumulative probability.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.8km · R$13 off

Apr 2 · Tue · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl

predict → price token R$

Inference — price distribution

P(price ≤ R$35) = 80.0%

Expected

R$29.40

80% CI

R$24–36

Hist. Avg

R$28.90

Per-user, per-merchant price ceiling. This user pays R$25–35 for Green Kitchen lunch (80% CI). Use for dynamic pricing, surge thresholds, menu sorting.

Optimal Discount

Counterfactual

Take a real <not-bought> event, swap discount tokens, score P(<bought>). Find the minimum discount to flip conversion.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off

Mar 25 · Mon · Dinner ??? food search: "pizza near me" 110·045·023 Pizza Hut 234·089·012 Pepperoni Large R$45.90 25min · 1.8km · R$___ off

sweep discount R$0…R$25 → score P(<bought>) each time

Inference — P(bought) vs discount

Actual R$10 off didn't convert (41%). Model says R$13 would (51%). That's R$7 less than a blanket 20% coupon — saves millions at scale.

Exploratory Lists

Beam Search

The <novel> tag constrains generation to food categories the user has never ordered from.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.8km · R$13 off Apr 1 · Mon <bought> beverages 234·098·167 Zé Delivery 345·078·234 Heineken 12-Pack R$62.00 20min · 0.8km · R$10 off

Apr 3 · Wed · Dinner <bought> food <novel>

beam search → top prediction 145·067·023 089·201·034

Decoded beam search — constrained to untried categories

1

Tandoori House — Tikka Masala

spice-forward like burger choices, GF

.19

2

Guacamole — Burrito Bowl

bowl format like quinoa habit

.15

3

Thai Fusion — Pad Thai

rice noodles = GF, Leblon popular

.12

4

Arábia — Esfiha de Carne

savory, meat-forward profile

.10

<novel> = personalized exploration, not random. Burger lover gets Indian & Thai, not a juice bar. Powers "Try Something New" carousels that convert.

Churn Detection + Rescue

Generation

Predict next order date. If >60 days gap, flag as churn risk and generate a rescue sequence for CRM.

Sequence (different user — declining frequency)

iFood Club since 2022-06, lives in Ipanema Mastercard credit. Lives with partner. No dietary restrictions. ──────────────────────────────────────── Jan 6 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 30min · 1.8km · R$0 off Jan 7 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 35min · 2.5km · R$0 off Jan 10 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 40min · 4.0km · R$0 off Jan 11 · Sat · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 25min · 2.0km · R$0 off [...Jan: 4x/week · Feb: 2x/week · Mar: slowing...] Mar 8 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 4.0km · R$0 off Mar 15 · Sat · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.0km · R$0 off

[no orders since Mar 15 — 17 days ago]

predict → next order date May 18 (64-day gap)

Inference

May 18

64-day predicted gap

⚠ CHURN RISK — gap > 60 days

Rescue Sequence (beam search)

Apr 5 · Fri · Dinner

Sushi Leblon — strongest habit re-entry

R$15

Apr 9 · Tue · Dinner

Madero — rebuild weekday habit

R$10

Apr 12 · Fri · Dinner

Sushi Leblon — reinforce Friday

R$8

Apr 16 · Tue

Green Kitchen — organic, no coupon

R$0

Apr 19 · Sat

Bullguer — weekend pattern restored

R$0

Model generates the user's most natural re-entry journey. R$33 total in coupons (decreasing) to save a customer worth R$200+/month. Not "we miss you" — a personalized drip.

Search Query Prediction

Generation

Predict the next search query before the user types. Pre-populate search suggestions in the app.

Sequence

iFood Club since 2023-08, lives in Leblon Nubank credit card. Lives with one other adult. Lactose-intolerant, gluten-free weekdays. ──────────────────────────────────────── Mar 25 · Mon · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 35min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 26 · Tue · Dinner <bought> food <novel> search: "burger" 120·003·189 Madero 045·178·023 Classic Burger R$42.50 40min · 3.5km · R$7.50 off Mar 28 · Thu · Lunch <bought> food 087·214·041 Green Kitchen 156·032·089 Quinoa Bowl R$28.90 32min · 2.1km · R$0 off Mar 29 · Fri · Dinner <bought> food search: "sushi friday" 042·156·098 Sushi Leblon 089·234·012 Combo Especial R$78.00 45min · 5.0km · R$0 off Mar 31 · Sun · Dinner <bought> food 120·003·041 Bullguer 045·201·067 Smash Burger R$52.00 30min · 2.8km · R$13 off Apr 1 · Mon <bought> beverages 234·098·167 Zé Delivery 345·078·234 Heineken 12-Pack R$62.00 20min · 0.8km · R$10 off

Apr 7 · Tue · Lunch search:

generate → search query tokens "salad delivery"

Decoded — suggested searches

Tuesday + lunch + gluten-free weekday →

🔍 salad delivery32%

🔍 quinoa bowl24%

🔍 healthy lunch leblon18%

🔍 poke bowl12%

🔍 açaí8%

Same user, different times:
Fri dinner → "sushi", "japanese", "seafood"
Sat evening → "burger", "churrasco", "cerveja"

Pre-populate search before typing. Tuesday lunch → healthy. Friday dinner → sushi. Reduces friction, increases search-to-order conversion.

Protected

Sequential Semantic IDs

Richer Recommendations

Cold Start

Conversion Prediction

Vertical Propensity

First Time Cart

Cross-Selling

Price Sensitivity

Optimal Discount

Exploratory Lists

Churn Detection + Rescue

Search Query Prediction