Creating effective product categories is one of the most important aspects of creating an ecommerce website; it determines how easily your customers will be able to find the right product. Here are some tips to help you develop an effective product categorization for your ecommerce website:
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Identify the purpose of the categories: Ask yourself the why, who and what questions. Why are you creating product categories? Who are the end users who will be using it - customers or internal people? What is the purpose of the categories, i.e. to help customers navigate or for grouping related products? Once you’ve answered these questions you’ll have a better idea of what type of categories to create.
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Choose a hierarchical structure: A hierarchical structure means that each product category will be divided into multiple sub-categories, each one nested under its parent category. This will make it easier for your customers to navigate to the right product because they can drill down to the appropriate level.
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Develop meaningful labels: It’s important to create product category labels that are consistent, clear and concise. This means that the labels should be descriptive and easy to understand, so that customers know exactly what they’re looking at when they browse through your product categories.
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Use a mix of general and specific categories: A mix of general and specific product categories during the category creation process. This will enable customers to search both level of detail when needed; if they don’t find what they’re looking for in the general categories, they can drill down to the specific sub-categories for more options.
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Develop a user-friendly landing page: It’s important to create a landing page for each product category that clearly displays details of the products in that category. This will help customers to quickly identify the products they need, without having to scroll through endless pages.
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Take feedback from customers: Customer feedback is key in helping you to develop an effective product categorization for your ecommerce website. Ask your customers what they would like to see in product categories, and consider their suggestions when creating new categories.
By following these tips you will be able to develop an effective product categorization for your ecommerce website that helps customers to easily find the right product. This will not only improve your customers’ shopping experience but can also increase sales and help build customer loyalty.
