taxonomies for 

e-commerce


Jane Frazier
@mignon1915
mignon1915.com

What is a taxonomy?

Taxonomy = Classification



     


Taxonomies in e-commerce



  • Categories
  • Facets


    Categories


    Departments  in a store 

    OR 

    Things you can purchase

    • May be hierarchical
    • Typically 5-20 top categories
    • Typically 3-4 levels deep
    • Typically 3-20 subcategories per level

    Categories


    Subcategories

    Faceting


    (Faceted search, faceted navigation, faceted browsing, guided navigation)

      Faceting


      Allows  Marketplace users to make use of pre-existing structured metadata about products

      • Facets are for:
        • use after a search is performed
        • filtering/refining after a category is chosen


      Users begin by either:

      • selecting a pre-defined category

      OR
      • performing a classic search

      Once search results have been provided, users then choose one or more  filters with which to refine or narrow their search results

      Faceting

      Faceting












      Taxonomy design challenges


      • Distinction between categories, subcategories, and facets

      • Different categorization methods based on the type of product

      • Related items or accessories (i.e. stamp albums, catalogues, supplies)

      • Taxonomy best practices versus business needs

      • Other considerations...

      Categories versus facets


      Categories & subcategories

      Things, products, nouns, items that can stand by themselves

      Facets

      Characteristics, descriptions, adjectives, dimensions of things


      Categories & facets may be close to one another on the page, but they do not serve the same functionality.

      How to tell the difference:

      A category is a type of thing that you can buy, 
      and shouldn't be an attribute of a facet.

      Filtering on one or many facets at the same time is possible







      Blurring the line between categories & facets


      Should it be a category or a facet?


      Shopping by:


      • Gender (Men's clothing)
      • Genre (Comedy DVDs)
      • Occasion (Formal Menswear)
      • Sale (All clearance items under $25)
      • Recency (New arrivals)

      Challenge:


      "Australian stamps"

      Category & Subcategory:

                                       Stamps
                                                 > Australian Stamps

      Category & Facet:
                                 Stamps
      •  Australia



               




                  

      Best practice 
      vs.
      Business needs

      Sorting


      • Sort order options:
        • Alphabetical
        • Relevance
        • Recency
        • Price (high to low / low to high)
        • Custom
        • ???


      Click path & URL design


      example.com/gummy-candy/lollipops/gummy-candy/gummy-candy/product?swedish-fish

      OR

      example.com/product?item=swedish-fish&category=gummy-candy


      Thank you!


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