ebloki   Album Posted Feb.12th, 2023, viewed 336 times

Importance of Filters for an ecommerce website

Your customers will want to be able to find products quickly and easily. The faster they can do this, the more likely they will make a purchase. Product filtering is a great way to increase your revenue.

Product filtering is functionally the best way to direct customers to relevant sections of your store. Filters enable customers to narrow down their search results based on specific criteria. Only 16% ecommerce websites offer good product filtering. It is essential that you implement a fail-proof filtering system as an administrator of your ecommerce site. This will ensure maximum conversion and ease of use.

A good implementation of product filtering starts with understanding your customers' needs. As you research your customers' needs, it is helpful to observe how they move around the store.

We'll be discussing a few things to keep in mind as you add product filters to your ecommerce site.

Use category-specific filters

Each store should have category-specific filtering. It is important to remember that customers prefer category-specific filters over generic parameters like brands and product ratings when implementing product filtering. Although customers may not have a preference for a brand or rating, they will know what category to look in when browsing or which product they need (if they're on a quest to find it). Category filtering is a good option because the parameters can change depending on the product. A customer looking for a dress might filter by size, price, color and length. (Think Little Black Dress). A customer looking for a mobile phone may prefer to filter by the amount of memory, screen size, battery or price.

Pro tip: Having category-specific filters will help your customers understand the process better. Your customers will find it easier to identify the appropriate filters.

Multiple filters are possible

Imagine a product filter that allows customers to only filter one parameter. This would be extremely inefficient for customers. Customers will have to remember the options before they apply another parameter, even if they can filter products using multiple parameters. Customers will likely get frustrated and leave your website, abandoning it.

Pro tip: Make sure to enable multiple filters in your store. Allow your customers to narrow down their choices right down to the most important details.

The filters are prominently displayed

Customers often apply multiple filters to a page and forget what the previous filter was. Customers will find it easier to remember the filters they have applied by reminding them at the top of each page. This will reduce the chance of customers misinterpreting your product catalog.

Pro Tip: Only allow the filters you have applied to open fully. Your customer will be able identify the filters applied with one glance. This will prevent your customers from scrolling too much.

One click allows you to select and deselect filters

Customers can select filters by clicking the "clear all" and "clear filter" buttons. This makes it easier to restart. This feature, together with the display of the applied filters at top of the page has been shown to reduce user misinterpretations and errors.

Pro tip: Make a "clear all filter" button that clears all applied filters. You can also create individual buttons to clear specific filters. Customers can test different filters and not get frustrated by them.

Avoid long filter lists

You should carefully select your filter options. You can push out other parameters if the dropdown lists too many options for individual filters. Customers will not find it easy to use the feature if it looks like scrolling within scrolling in a list. When options exceed 10 values, it is best to reduce them.

Pro tip: Make sure you have a search bar set up for each filter so that the user experience is clear. If a customer wants to filter brands, they can just type the first few characters. 

Do not filter based upon reviews

Filtering on the basis of customer reviews can be difficult. A product with one 5-star rating will usually be placed higher than a product that has 18 reviews with an average of 4.8 stars. Although this may seem logical, it is not the best information available to customers. We recommend that you skip filtering based on customer reviews.

Mobile responsive filters

Small screen devices require compact filter displays. To convert standard desktop filter displays to mobile-ready formats, developers will need to modify the CSS code. This is crucial for your mobile website's user experience.

Pro tip: It's possible to make your product filters mobile-friendly even if they aren't optimized. Commerce has simple CSS codes that can be hidden until the customer needs them. The screenshot below shows that the Shopify collection filter will be displayed on the screen when the customer clicks the icon.