As practice shows, many online store owners neglect a very important part of the catalog – “Effective product filters”, or even do not add them to the catalog at all.
Continuing the article on how to create a product catalog using the Product Table plugin, today we will talk about why your catalog needs a good filter, for example, a plugin from WooBeWoo, and explain how to create, we will leave some recommendations for effectively filtering your product catalog.
Product Catalog Filter
It is better to think about the filters before adding products to the website in order to take into account all the nuances of filtering and make the catalog truly selling.
Here are some of the benefits of stores that already use a product filter for catalogs:
- accelerated search for the desired product;
- additional display of promotions, discounts, popular products;
- expansion of the semantic core of the website;
- obtaining a narrow sample of goods for selection and purchase.
Also, the experience of our clients shows that the well-organized filtering of products in the catalog helps to increase the conversion of catalog pages and reduce the bounce rate.
Where to display the Product Filter in the catalog?
The sidebar is the traditional way to filter products in online stores. However, many argue that the horizontal toolbar is gradually replacing the classics.
The horizontal toolbar is really effective when the number of filtering options is small. However, it must be technically flawless. In all other cases, you can safely install the side panel without losing quality. First of all, choose effective tools. WooCommerce Product Filter by WooBeWoo serves as a good example of a technically smart implementation of a tool that does not create barriers to the user, grabs attention, and improves conversions.
Below you can see examples of a horizontal filter:
And the vertical filter in the sidebar:
Of course, it’s up to you how to display the filter based on your store’s catalog structure.
Recommendations for setting up the Product Filter in the catalog
To get started, study our documentation to learn more about how to create a product filter and configure all the options you need.
Now, let’s list the main mistakes to avoid and tips to fix them:
1) Empty categories. We recommend not to display a category if for some reason there are no suitable products for it, so as not to overload the filter unit. Such categories only interfere with product search:
2) Selected filters are not highlighted. You should show the user what he has chosen in case he wants to change the parameters. Selected filters must be highlighted in the side menu, and can also be duplicated before the list of products:
3) Long list of filters. Collapse advanced options so they don’t take up much space. Remember that the purpose of a product category filter is to narrow your search, so only focus on important characteristics. An example of a compact display of filters:
We encourage you to read this article on an effective accordion filter.
4) Filtration rate. Check all working filters and the list of products: is it loaded as quickly as possible? So, the user does not have time to get bored or go to competitors. For example, use the Ajax and lazy loading options.
5) Counter of quantity. In addition, we advise you to indicate the number of products to the right of each category or parameter. This way the user can estimate the viewing time in advance.
6) Duplication of filters. By repeating or similar filters, you can only confuse the user, and our task is to help him. Similar filters only disorient the user. Therefore, make sure that the filters do not repeat, for example, the name of the categories and the name of, for example, tags do not match.
Sorting goods
Speaking about filters, the sorting of goods should be mentioned. The WooCommerce Product Filter by WooBeWoo plugin fully supports the sorting filter by the following parameters:
1) Price. This is the most popular way, and you probably use it often. Needed by all means!
2) Popularity and rating. It helps those who are chasing trends or not quite versed in the subject and would like to see what others are ordering. Popularity can be tracked by the number of orders or reviews.
3) Name (or alphabet). Suitable for those who have selected several brands and would like to “group” them within the list.
4) Novelty. It is very convenient that you can sort everything by the date the product was added to the store, users like to choose new items and it is important to give the opportunity to filter by this parameter.
6) Random. Often, customers do not know what they want, and this sorting method allows you to randomly sort products in the catalog list, giving free rein to choosing a product.
Elements of the Product Filter
It is difficult to find a universal filter list that would suit every product, so let’s talk about the required elements.
1) Product categories. Obviously, but not always, you will see them on the website. It is better to divide products into categories according to their type, purpose, and/or brand. We recommend placing the list of links at the beginning of the filter block.
2) New items and/or promotions. Users love such sections, so it is worth adding a selection of new or discounted products for the entire list of products and separately for each category.
3) Availability of goods. If you have at least some of the products available to order, then be sure to add the ability to sort the products that you can buy right now.
4) Choosing a price range. A very convenient filter for those customers who would like to exclude too cheap and/or expensive products.
5) Filter reset button. Unlike the start filtering button, which can be omitted (if you have configured automatic updating of the product list), the cancellation of selected filters must be present in every catalog.
Conclusion
We hope this overview of product filtering methods will help you organize a convenient product catalog and delight your customers. If you have any difficulties with setting up filters in the store, study our detailed documentation or write to us, and we will be happy to help with the implementation of your plans.