Categories are clusters of items that you desire to display on the same page in your shop (for instance, Women's Apparel, Men's Wear, Best Picks). They aid customers in swiftly navigating through the shop and discovering the items they desire. The same item may belong to multiple categories simultaneously. Learn more about how to manage the categories in your shop.
The items from one category are listed on a separate page in the storefront. This page can have a depiction and a highlighted image. When adding an image, ensure that it accurately represents the content of the category.
Utilize the depiction to inform your customers what they will encounter in this category and what are the prime features about the items there. Strive not to make the depiction excessively long.
In the store, you can devise a intricate category structure with several tiers. Categories of the initial tier are denoted as prime categories . These are the categories your customers perceive in the main navigation. You can also devise categories of the second, third, etc. tier within your prime category. They are denoted as sub-categories or offshoot categories . The quantity of categories (and sub-categories) you can have depends on the store plan to which you are subscribed.
Customers can navigate your categories and sub-categories with the assistance of breadcrumbs – specialized links that indicate the path to the page they are currently viewing.
To devise a new category of the initial tier:
- From your store admin, navigate to Catalog → Categories .
- Click Add Prime Category.
- Enter the Title of your category.
- Click Choose file to upload an image for your category. You can upload an image that represents your category or an image of an item from the category.
- Enter the depiction. You can describe what sort of items are in that category, or simply leave it blank.
- Click Save.
To devise a new sub-category:
- From your store admin, navigate to Catalog → Categories.
- Pick the category into which you wish to add a sub-category from the category tree on the left.
- Click Add Sub-Category.
- Enter the Title of the new sub-category.
- Click Choose file to upload an image for your category. You can upload an image that represents your entire category or an image of an item from the category.
- Enter the depiction. You can describe what items are in that category , or simply leave it blank.
- Click Save.
Assigning items to categories
In shop a merchandise must belong to at least one category . So, when you add items without assigning them to any of your own categories , they are automatically assigned to the Shop Front page category and appear as highlighted items on your shopfront.
To display items in your own categories , you should assign them to these categories . You can add items to multiple categories at once. For instance, an item that belongs to the Footwear category can be on sale and belong to the Discounted items category as well.
To assign multiple items to a category :
- From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Categories .
- Select the category to which you want to assign an item from the category tree on the left.
- Switch to the Categories products tab.
- Click Assign Products to Categories:
- Select the necessary items in the list. You can filter the items by SKU and Name.
- Click Add Product to assign items in bulk (or click the Plus icon to assign items one by one):
Also, you can assign an item to categories and move an item from one category to another right in the item's editing page.
To assign an item to a category:
- From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Products.
- Open the item that you want to update.
- At the bottom on the page, see the Categories section and click Manage categories.
- Select one or multiple categories that you want to assign the item to.
- (optional) Disable the Feature on the shop’s front page toggle if you do not want this item to be featured in the shop.
- Click Save.
You can see how many items are assigned to a category in the category tree in your shop admin in Catalog → Categories:
If one item is assigned to two or more categories, one of the categories will be marked as Default. The default category will be shown in the breadcrumbs on your item's page. For example, if you assigned a coffee mug to the "Coffee" and "Mugs" categories and selected the "Mugs" category as default, breadcrumbs for the item on the products page will look like this: Home / Shop / Mugs.
To change the default category:
- From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Product.
- Open the item you want to change the default category to.
- Scroll down to the Categories section.
- Choose the category you want to make default and click the three dots:
- Click Make default and click Save:
Moving items from one category to another
You may need to rearrange items in your shop and move them to another category . You can do this by exporting the items and importing them to a new category or by editing categories manually.
Exporting items and re-importing them to a new category
To rearrange many items, you can import them with new parameters. You need to export the items you want to change, edit them in a spreadsheet and then re-upload them to your shop using the import feature. Please refer to the articles about exporting and importing your items.
Editing categories manually
You can manually rearrange categories for several items on the Catalog → Products or on the Catalog → Categories pages in your shop admin. The first option allows you to assign and remove categories in bulk.
To rearrange items on the Items page:
- From your shop admin, go to Catalog → Products.
- Tick all the items you want to update (you can click Filter in the left upper corner to use filters and make the search faster).
You need to create at least one category in your shop (on top of the default Shop front page category) before it becomes possible to assign or remove categories. - Click Mass Update → Manage categories → Assign or Remove categories.
- Tick or untick the categories in the list:
- Click Apply.
The changes will be saved automatically. The categories will be assigned to/removed from all the selected items.
To rearrange items on the categories page:
- From your shop admin, go to Catalog → Categories .
- Find the desired category in the left panel and click it.
- Open the Categories products tab:
- Click Remove All. They are now uncategorized and will be listed on the shopfront page much like featured items.
- Open the category where you want to move the items.
- Open the Category products tab.
- Click Assign products to Category .
- In the popup, select the items to add.
- Click Add products:
- These items are now listed under the desired category.
Organizing items in categories
You can select the sequence in which to present the items in the shop to your customers. Items can be automatically arranged by date added, by price, or by name. Alternatively, you can establish a customized order of items within a category and arrange the items manually in the preferred manner.
For detailed instructions, please visit Organizing items.
Adjusting categories order
If you desire to showcase certain categories first, you can effortlessly modify the sequence of categories and sub-categories .
To adjust the sequence of categories and sub-categories :
- From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Categories .
- Drag and drop categories in the category tree:
Deactivating and erasing categories
If you wish to eliminate a category from your shop, you can deactivate it or delete it permanently.
Deactivating a category
When you deactivate a category , it ceases to appear in your shop. However, you can still view it in your shop admin and reactivate it whenever necessary.
To deactivate a category:
- From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Categories .
- Select the category you want to deactivate.
- Click Deactivate:
Erasing a category
If you wish to completely remove a category, you can delete it.
To delete a category:
- From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Categories .
- Select the category that you want to remove in the category tree on the left.
- Click Delete category:
Hiding category images
When you add a category in your shop, you can upload your own category image, maintain a default gradient image (it appears if no category image is added), or you can hide the category images throughout your shop.
If you hide the category images, only category names will be displayed. Example:
To hide category images in your shop:
- From your shop admin, navigate to Design.
- Scroll to Category name position.
- Choose Hide category images.
The changes will be autosaved.
Expanding categories
You can expand root categories and exhibit items from these categories directly on the shop front page. This category view is ideal for restaurants as it provides a menu-like appearance to the shopfront. It also suits well for shops with small inventories because customers can view all offered items at once.
Here is an example of how the expanded categories could appear:
To expand categories:
- Go to Design.
- Scroll to Shopfront navigation & colors.
- Select Expand categories.
The changes will be autosaved.
If you have more than 10 categories , 7 categories will be displayed as expanded in the shopfront while others will be shown after clicking the Shop more categories link.