How should an online store’s categories be built?
Customers enter the store but cannot find the right shelf. If categories follow the logic of the manufacturer, the warehouse or accounting, customers searching their own way get lost. 🗂️
Category structure is the store’s map. A good map leads customers to products; a bad one leads them out of the site.
Short answer: build categories around how customers search. Needs, not product codes; three clicks at most. 🧭
How customers search
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- By product type
- By purpose
- By person
- By attribute
Four logics. 🔍
By product type
“Bags”, “shoes”, “pans”; the most common entry. 👜
By purpose
“For camping”, “for the office”, “gifts”; customers who start from a need. 🎯
Related reading from the archive: platform choice · when the store outgrows its setup.
By person
Women, men, children, babies; who it is for. 👥
By attribute
Colour, size, material, price; these should be filters, not categories. 🎚️
Category or filter?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Categories are product types
- Filters are attributes
- Collections are purposes
- Tags are helpers
Four distinctions. ⚖️
Categories are product types
What the product is; each product in one main category. 📁
Filters are attributes
Colour, size, price range; narrowing within a category. 🎚️
Collections are purposes
“Mother’s Day”, “new in”; temporary and tied to campaigns. 🎁
Tags are helpers
For internal search and linking; invisible in the menu. 🏷️
Building the structure
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Group the products
- Limit depth
- Check balance
- Test names with customers
Four steps. 🛠️
Group the products
Sort all products into piles in the customer’s language. 🧺
Limit depth
Main, sub and one more at most; customers don’t get lost. 🪜
Check balance
A two-product category should not sit beside a two-hundred-product one; balance them. ⚖️
Test names with customers
Ask a few customers “where would you look for this?” — ask. 💬
Four common mistakes
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Internal language
- Every attribute as a category
- A product in many categories
- Empty or one-product categories
All four make things harder to find. 🚧
Internal language
Warehouse codes or technical terms are not customer search words. 🔤
Every attribute as a category
“Red bags” as its own category bloats the menu. 🎈
A product in many categories
Seen everywhere, strong nowhere. 🔀
Empty or one-product categories
Empty shelves make the store look incomplete. 🕳️
Category pages sell too
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- A short intro
- Sensible sorting
- Working filters
- Search alongside
Four touches. 💡
A short intro
Two sentences describing the category and a buying tip; useful in search too. 📝
Sensible sorting
Default order by best seller or relevance; not random. 🔢
Working filters
Size and colour filters show what is actually in stock. ✅
Search alongside
Customers who cannot find it in categories switch to search; see the site search guide. 🔎
What should I do today?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Step 1: open the menu on a phone
- Step 2: find internal language
- Step 3: separate categories and filters
- If you want help
Three steps, one hour. 🪜
Step 1: open the menu on a phone
Can you reach your best seller in three taps? Test. 📱
Step 2: find internal language
List category names customers would never use. 🔤
Step 3: separate categories and filters
Turn attribute categories into filters; redirect old URLs. 🎚️
If you want help
Let us build your store map together: use the consult your expert form. For your current setup see the digital audit; the bigger picture sits on the e-commerce consulting page. 🎯
📝 Notes From the Field
A store’s menu had dozens of categories by colour and material; customers reached the best seller in five taps. Categories were reduced to product types, colour and material became filters, and old URLs were redirected. The menu became simpler and movement from category pages to product pages rose noticeably.
📖 Short Glossary
Category: the main shelf by product type. Filter: narrowing within a category by attribute. Collection: a temporary group by purpose or campaign. Redirect: sending an old URL to a new one.
⚡ Quick Summary
Category structure is the store’s map. 🗂️ It follows how customers search: type, purpose, person; attributes become filters. Depth is three clicks at most. Internal language, attribute categories and empty shelves are the common mistakes. Category pages help sales with an intro and sensible sorting.
🎯 Next Step
Let us build your store map: use the consult your expert form. Internal search sits in the site search guide; for your setup see the digital audit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
With correct redirects from old URLs to new ones, losses are minimal. Unplanned changes can cause a temporary traffic drop.
As many as can be scanned at a glance; for most stores somewhere between a few and ten. More crowds the menu.
If it genuinely fits two search logics, yes, but every product should have one main category. Excessive multiple placement blurs the structure.