How to Organize Products on Your eCommerce Website

How to Organize Products on Your eCommerce Website

The #1 goal of any eCommerce website is to sell products. One of the most crucial factors in getting your products sold lies in creating a positive user experience — and one thing that has a huge impact on developing a positive user experience is how you organize the products on your eCommerce site.

In fact, according to research by Adobe, 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the layout is unappealing. 

So, how do you organize products on your eCommerce website in a way that focuses on developing a positive user experience?

It all starts with your site’s taxonomy.

Hierarchical Taxonomy 

In a hierarchical taxonomy, your products are organized like a flowchart that begins with your home page, then leads to your main categories, which get broken down into subcategories. 

For example, if you have an eCommerce site selling clothing, you’ll have the main page plus categories for each gender. The category for women’s clothing, for instance, then would be broken down into multiple subcategories for shirts, dresses, pants, shoes, etc.

Categories, Subcategories, and Product Attributes

The categories and subcategories you create help your customer move through your site by narrowing a broad selection down into more specific groups. 

Attributes take it one step further. They are the smaller details of a product, like color, size, and price range, that allow your customer to refine their search even more.

When you create attributes and tag each product, customers will be able to refine their search to find what they’re shopping for, and search engines can zero in on your products. 

Once you’ve sorted each product into a category, subcategory, and assigned the right attributes, you can set up an automated “You may also like” category for recommended products based on user searches and interest. 

Implementing eCommerce Product Organization

Grab a piece of paper and draw out a rough outline of your product hierarchy. 

Start a flowchart, or tree diagram, beginning with your homepage, and then link your main categories beneath.

For each category, write its specific subcategories and if necessary, you can go one level deeper from each subcategory. But be wary of over-categorizing— you want to simplify the shopping process for your customers, not complicate it. 

Once you’ve created your taxonomy and implemented it into your site, go through it as if you were a customer shopping for the first time and ask yourself:

• How easy is your site to navigate? 
• Is it intuitive? 
• Are there too many product options on any page?

Answering these questions will help shape a unique product organization structure that provides positive user experience and drives sales.

Product Organization Can Evolve

Developing the right product organization for your eCommerce site might take some trial and error, but a key thing to remember is that your taxonomy isn’t set in stone. It should change and evolve as you grow and scale your eCommerce business.

If you need help or have questions about how to organize your products on your eCommerce website, give us a call! We’d love to put our development power and experience behind your project and bring your vision to life.  Book a complimentary, no-obligation Ecommerce Website Development Strategy Session here.

About the Author: Sharon Muniz is the president of NCN Technology, an IT consulting firm that specializes in helping eCommerce businesses increase sales and revenue with user-friendly, responsive websites. She is passionate about using software technology to diagnose weaknesses and improve processes and profitability. To request a complimentary affiliate marketing strategy session, call 703-757-2209 or contact us here.