Collections are a fundamental part of creating an organized and efficient shopping experience in Shopify stores. By grouping products into categories and collections, you simplify navigation for customers and make it easier to shop for the likes of seasonal items or best sellers.
Whether you’re managing an inventory or creating a catalog, collections allow you to tailor how products are displayed and discovered. They also play a crucial role in optimizing the customer journey, helping increase engagement and drive conversions.
So through this write-up, let’s see how the Shopify experts create collections. So you can effectively organize your products while enhancing both functionality and user experience.
What are Collections in Shopify?
Collections (specifically in eCommerce) are groups of products organized based on shared characteristics. So it’s easier for customers to browse and find items they’re interested in. These collections can be customized to suit your store’s needs. For instance, you might create collections like:
- Men’s Clothing
- New Arrivals
- Seasonal Sales
- Best Sellers
Shopify offers two types of collections: manual and smart. A manual collection requires you to add products individually, providing precise control over what’s included. Smart collections, on the other hand, use rules or conditions to automatically group products. It saves time and ensures collections update dynamically as inventory changes.
This flexibility helps streamline inventory management while improving the shopping experience for customers.
How to Create Collections in Shopify?
Whether you’re curating a seasonal collection or automating groups based on product tags, there’s a clear process ensuring your collections are both functional and appealing. Here’s the step-by-step guide.
Step 1: Log In to Your Shopify Admin
To start, log in to your Shopify admin dashboard. From here, you’ll access all the tools needed to create and manage collections.
Step 2: Navigate to Collections
To navigate to collections, start by selecting the Products section from the left-hand menu in your Shopify admin. Then, click on ‘Collections’ to access the page where all your existing collections are listed.
To create a new collection, simply click the ‘Create Collection’ button, and you’re ready to start organizing your products.
Step 3: Name Your Collection
Choose a clear and descriptive name for your collection that reflects its purpose, such as “Summer Collection 2025”. This helps customers quickly understand what the collection offers. Additionally, include a brief description in the Description field to provide more context about the products in the collection.
Step 4: Choose the Collection Type
Shopify provides two types of collections to suit different organizational needs. Choose the suitable type:
- Manual Collections: These require you to add products individually, making them ideal for small or static groups, such as limited-edition items or curated selections that don’t change often.
- Smart Collections: These collections populate automatically based on conditions you set, such as product tags, price, inventory levels, or titles. They are perfect for larger inventories or dynamic collections, like “Items Under $50” or “Winter Sale”.
To set up smart collections, choose the ‘Smart’ option and define rules. For example, you can include products with a specific tag (e.g., “Winter”), a price under $100, or a title containing “Cozy”. You can also specify if products must meet all conditions or just any condition to be included.
Step 5: Add an Image (Optional)
Adding an image to your collection enhances its visual appeal and helps it stand out, especially on your homepage. To add an image:
- Scroll to the Collection Image section in your Shopify admin.
- Click Upload Image and choose a relevant, high-quality file.
- Ensure the image aligns with your store’s branding and accurately represents the collection’s theme.
While optional, this step improves the overall aesthetics and user experience of your store.
Step 6: Adjust Collection Availability
Specify where your collection will be visible to customers. Shopify lets you control collection availability across sales channels like your online store, POS, Facebook, Instagram, and Google.
- Navigate to the Publishing section.
- Click Manage to check or uncheck the boxes for the sales channels where you want the collection to appear.
Step 7: Optimize Search Engine Listing Preview
Search engines rely on metadata to understand and display your collection in search results. Shopify lets you customize the meta title and description for better rankings and click-through rates.
- Edit the Meta Title: Create a concise and descriptive title using relevant keywords to help customers find your collection online.
- Craft a Meta Description: Write a compelling summary of the collection’s offerings, keeping it under 160 characters to avoid truncation in search results. Optimizing these fields improves your store’s SEO and attracts more traffic to your collections.
Step 8: Save Your Collection
Once you’ve filled in all the details, click Save to publish the collection. You can revisit and edit it anytime from the Collections page.
Remember to review and refine your collections periodically to keep them relevant and impactful as your product offerings grow.
Our professional Shopify development company handles creating the collection among other store-related tasks for you. We understand the market settings and optimize the store accordingly.
How to Display Collections on Your Shopify Storefront?
Displaying your collections effectively is key to helping customers discover and browse your products. Here are a few ways to showcase them on your Shopify storefront:
Add Collections to Your Navigation
Make it easy for customers to find your collections by including them in your store’s navigation menu:
- Navigate to Online Store > Navigation in your Shopify admin.
- Choose the menu you want to edit and add a new menu item linking to the collection.
Feature Collections on the Homepage
Highlight key collections to grab customer attention as soon as they visit your store:
- Open your theme editor under Online Store > Themes.
- Add a collection section to your homepage and select the collection you want to display.
Promote Collections Through Marketing
Drive traffic to your collections by leveraging Shopify’s marketing tools:
- Create email campaigns featuring specific collections.
- Use Shopify’s integration with ad platforms to run targeted campaigns promoting your collections.
By integrating collections into your navigation, homepage, and marketing efforts, you can create a seamless shopping experience that draws attention to your products.
Tips for Optimizing Shopify Collections
Creating collections isn’t just about organizing products; it’s about designing an intuitive shopping experience that drives sales. By implementing a few best practices, you can ensure your collections are not only functional but also highly effective in meeting customer needs.
- Use Descriptive Titles: Choose names that customers will immediately understand. Avoid jargon.
- Leverage Tags: Tags help you create more refined smart collections. For example, tag products with terms like “New Arrival” or “Sale”
- Optimize for SEO: Write descriptions with relevant keywords to improve visibility in search engines.
- Highlight Featured Collections: Use Shopify themes to showcase specific collections on your homepage or in navigation menus.
- Monitor Performance: Regularly review how collections are performing using Shopify Analytics. Adjust conditions or featured products based on customer behavior.
By following these tips, your Shopify collections can become a powerful tool for improving navigation, boosting engagement, and increasing conversions. Regularly revisiting and refining your collections ensures they remain relevant and impactful for your store’s growth.
Need help implementing these tips for your store? Then hire our Shopify development experts. We can create the collections and other top features for your store, according to your target audience.
FAQs
Q1. Can I use both manual and smart collections in the same store?
You can mix and match both types depending on your needs. Use manual for curated groups and smart for dynamic, large-scale organization.
Q2. How can collections improve my Shopify store’s SEO?
By adding relevant keywords in collection titles, descriptions, and metadata, you can enhance search engine visibility and drive organic traffic.
Q3. How do I feature collections on my store's homepage?
Use your theme editor to add a collection section on the homepage, then select the collection you want to showcase.
Q4. How do smart collection rules handle overlapping conditions?
You can set rules to match all conditions or any condition to control how products are grouped within the collection.
Let’s Conclude
Creating collections in Shopify is a vital step toward delivering a seamless and organized shopping experience for your customers. By grouping products based on shared attributes, you make it easier for shoppers to discover what they need, improving both navigation and overall satisfaction.
Whether you choose manual collections for smaller, curated groups or smart collections for dynamic organization, Shopify ensures you can manage your inventory effectively.
Want help with creating collections in Shopify? Then let’s connect today!
