Best Practices to Create Winning Product Taxonomy for your eCommerce

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Best Practices to Create Winning Product
Taxonomy for your eCommerce

• Typically, online shoppers do not spend more than
  8 seconds trying to find a product on any
  eCommerce site. This is like a book enthusiast
  walking into a library and searching for the
  book category (where they can find the book they
  want).
• When does it take users more time to find what
  they want? Simply put, when product information
  is inefficiently organized (or simply not there).
  As it stands, around 46 of product-related
  searches begin on Google. This is where product
  taxonomy can help your eCommerce business win.
• What is product taxonomy? Simply put, it is the
  organization of products (based on categories)
  in an eCommerce store. Why is it important?
  Product taxonomy can
• Improve the user's experience in product
  discovery.
• Improve site navigation and facilitate faster
  searches.
• Elevate the brand reputation.

For a "winning" product taxonomy, eCommerce
stores must implement the following seven best
practices
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• Optimize for SEO
• Without search engine optimization (SEO), product
  searches can be frustrating to most customers.
  Among the best practices, eCommerce stores must
  consider optimizing product taxonomies for SEO
  keywords. In concrete terms, with detailed
  keyword research, ensure your taxonomies include
  the keywords your customers are looking for.
• Additionally, you can also optimize other content
  like product title, image, and meta descriptions
  to map to the target keyword. But avoid any
  keyword stuffing that can attract penalties (or
  even a lower SEO ranking from Google). However,
  you must consider optimizing your product page
  URLs using keywords.
• Make It Concise
• Product taxonomy must be concise and accurate.
  Avoid putting the same product in multiple
  categories, as it can confuse the shopper and
  interfere with stock management. Another best
  practice is to group single-value product
  categories and make them a sub-category to the
  main category.
• For example, in an online furniture store, break
  down the "Lounge" category into second-level
  categories like chairs, coffee tables, and
  couches.
• Additionally, avoid grouping categories that do
  not complement each other. For example, water
  hoses and cooling systems. You can also consider
  a special category for products "on sale" or
  "new additions."
• Remember Your Target Audience
• Product taxonomies aim to attract more customers.
  Every eCommerce store must know the customer
  base that they are targeting. Find answers to
  common questions like "why should they choose
  your brand?" or "how do they choose products?"

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• That said, there are multiple ways to seek
  audience information and create appropriate
  product taxonomies. This includes
• Speaking to customers directly and asking for
  feedback.
• Observing real-time data on customer behavior and
  purchase patterns.
• Researching the latest industry and shopping
  trends.
• Testing the user experience.
• For a "winning" taxonomy, remember that online
  consumer behavior differs from that in the
  physical retail shop. For the best results,
  organize your product categories based on how
  consumers navigate through the online shop.
• Don't Stuff Attributes
• Product attributes are essential for filtering
  product searches (within the online store).
  Among the best practices, avoid stuffing the
  taxonomy with product attributes. Attribute
  stuffing is the practice of including many
  product specifications and attributes in the
  category label.
• Instead, identify the most generic attributes
  that can be applied across product
  categoriesfor example, color, size, and
  material.
• After identifying the main attributes, include
  the attributes specific to your product (for
  example, dimension or weight). Avoid creating an
• attribute-based product search that goes into the
  third level, as a two-level hierarchy works best
  for most shoppers.
• Base Your Taxonomy on Geographical Location

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• For example, a fashion retailer can "seasonalize"
  their product category for a particular country
  (for example, "Winter wear" in the U.K). The same
  retailer is unlikely to include this category in
  their Middle East market.
• Understand the Products
• With a solely customer-centric focus, eCommerce
  companies lack a complete understanding of their
  products. For business success, eCommerce shops
  must dedicate equal importance to understanding
  their customers and products. A product-driven
  customer-centric approach is the best mode. Here
  are some product-related questions that need to
  be addressed
• Why do my customers love to use my products?
• What product feature sets it apart from similar
  products in the market?
• Which product categories are most visited by my
  customers?
• A product-centric approach can easily optimize
  the product datasets and create stronger
  taxonomies.
• Avoid Any "Junk Drawer" Category
• As the final best practice, avoid creating a
  "junk drawer" or ambiguous categories like
  "Others" or "Miscellaneous." These categories are
  often created when a "new" product category does
  not exist. Additionally, they may be secondary
  products that do not warrant the effort of
  modifying the existing taxonomy.
• Online shoppers may navigate to the "junk drawer"
  category and may not find the product they are
  looking for. This can frustrate most shoppers or
  hinder efficient navigation.

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Conclusion 38 of online shoppers are known to
leave a poorly organized eCommerce store. That
makes it critical to optimize and prioritize the
product taxonomy. An efficient product taxonomy
is the foundation for eCommerce success and can
simplify product searches. EnFuse Solutions
offers a variety of eCommerce-related services to
its customers. With extensive industry
experience in enterprise data management, our
Catalog Digital Asset management services are
designed to improve your catalog-related data.
In sum, we can implement customized managed
services designed for your eCommerce
needs. Contact us today to know more. Related
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