5. A method of generating item recommendations, the method comprising: by a computer system comprising computer hardware: accessing a transaction phrase index comprising a plurality of transaction phrases mapped to items purchased using the transaction phrases; identifying a transaction phrase created by a target user; identifying candidate recommendations from the transaction phrase index based at least partly on the identified target user transaction phrase, the candidate recommendations comprising one or more of the purchased items contained in the transaction phrase index; and selecting one or more of the candidate recommendations to present to the target user as item recommendations.
5. A method of generating item recommendations, the method comprising: by a computer system comprising computer hardware: accessing a transaction phrase index comprising a plurality of transaction phrases mapped to items purchased using the transaction phrases; identifying a transaction phrase created by a target user; identifying candidate recommendations from the transaction phrase index based at least partly on the identified target user transaction phrase, the candidate recommendations comprising one or more of the purchased items contained in the transaction phrase index; and selecting one or more of the candidate recommendations to present to the target user as item recommendations. 10. The method of claim 5 , wherein said identifying candidate recommendations further comprises identifying metadata associated with the purchased items contained in the transaction phrase index.