How to add Product Type in Shopify: Your 5-minute hack
Having a Shopify store in today’s eCommerce era can be confusing. Too much to remember that you forget one important thing: managing your product catalog. Maybe your customers are unable to find that perfect pair of socks because everything’s jumbled up. That’s when you realize the importance of learning how to add product type in Shopify! Product types are like little labels that categorize your store – it makes everything easier to find. This tutorial breaks down all about using product types in Shopify with steps so simple, that even your low-tech uncle can follow along.
Contents
1. Product Type on Shopify: At a Glance
1.1. What is it & How does it work?
A product type in Shopify is a label that helps categorize your products. Basically, it is like a tag you attach to your products. And those labels can help you group similar products in your Shopify store.
With Shopify multiple product types, you can save your customers from drowning in a sea of random items. These tiny details also make a huge difference in how you manage your inventory. Plus, Shopify saves these tags for you to reuse, which is beneficial in the long run.
1.2. Why does your store need product type?
Learning how to add product types in Shopify is more important than you may realize. Because those “labels” can give you:
- Easier filtering: Find products faster than you can say “Where did I put that?”
- Smarter inventory management: Keeps your stock in line, is easier to manage.
- Improved SEO: Makes it easier for search engines to become familiar with your products.
- Improved online shopping: By making your Shopify product organization higher, your customers can search fast for what they’re seeking.
- Faster product management: Makes bulk edits a breeze.
- Better reporting: Pinpoint your profitable product categories, then take suitable actions to improve the conversion rate.
👉 Check out how to launch a Shopify store – another detailed guide to creating your online store with no sweat!
1.3. Shopify Categories vs. Collections vs. Product Types: What’s the Difference?
Confused about these three? Let’s clear it up with this simple comparison:
Shopify categories | Shopify collections | Shopify product types | |
|---|---|---|---|
Definition | Categories are standard labels assigned to products based on Shopify’s Standard Product Taxonomy. | Collections are groups of products that you create to organize your store’s inventory. | Product types are custom categories that you can define for your products. |
Purpose | They help in determining tax obligations and exemptions for products and are used for better product management. | Collections make it easier for customers to browse products by category on your online store. | The standard categories might not be a good fit for your products all the time. So, it’s when the product type can help. |
Usage | Categories are primarily used for tax calculations and can help in filtering products in your store. | There are two types of collections: – Smart Collections: Give a condition, and all the products that meet will be added automatically. – Manual Collections: You manually select which products to include. | Each product can have only one product type, which helps in organizing products within your store. |
Example | A product category could be Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Clothing Tops > Shirts. This categorization helps in managing products and determining tax rates. | – For manual collection: Summer Sale which includes selected products like sunglasses, beach towels, and swimsuits. – For smart collection: all products tagged with “New Arrivals” can be included. | A product type could be “Graphic T-Shirts” for a line of t-shirts that feature unique designs. This allows you to classify these t-shirts separately from other types of clothing like “Hoodies” or “Pants”. |
You now are good to go with all the foundation. Let’s move on to the next part to learn how to create product type in Shopify with just 4 steps.
‼️An important note: this guide assumes that you already have your glamorous Shopify store built. However, if you haven’t, snag the deal Shopify 3 months for $1 to kick things off cheap.
2. How to add Product Type in Shopify?
Ready to get your product types sorted? Here’s how to add product type in Shopify in four easy-peasy steps:
Step 1: Shopify Admin > Product
Log into your Shopify admin, and click “Products” on the left sidebar.
Step 2: Add a new product or pick an existing one to edit
✅ Option A: Add a new product:
- Hit “Add Product” at the top right.
- Fill in the details like title, description, images, and price.
- Don’t forget to click “Save” before moving on to step 3.
✅ Option B: Edit an existing product:
- Spot the product in the list
- Click its name to tweak it.
Step 3: Head to the product organization section > Add product type
Scroll to the “Product Organization” section on the right side of the screen. Then click in the “Type” box, from here you can:
- Pick a Shopify standardized product type from the dropdown.
- Or type a new one. New types auto-save for future use.
Step 4: Click Save
Hit “Save” at the top or bottom.
You’ve just learned how to create a product type in Shopify! And your store’s one step closer to Shopify Plus-level awesomeness!
3. How to edit Product type in bulk?
While it is very simple to add product types in Shopify, as a Shopify store owner, we don’t have much time to edit everything one by one! So here’s how to edit product type in Shopify for many at once:
Step 1: Shopify Admin > Products
Back to “Products” in your admin. You’ll see all your full inventory list.
Step 2: Select your products
Now is the time to choose which products need a new type:
- To edit one product: Tick the box next to it.
- To edit some products: Tick multiple boxes for the ones you want.
- To edit all products: Tick the top box to grab everything on the page (or click “Select all in this store” if you have more than 50 products in your store).
Step 3: Click Bulk Edit
Hit “Bulk Edit” on the right top bar. This will bring you to a big table where you can tweak stuff fast.
Step 4: Add the Product Type Column
If “Product Type” isn’t there > click “Columns” > tick the “Product Type” box to make it shown in the table.
Step 5: Pick or add types
Now you can update product types for all selected items. You have two options:
- Choose an existing type: Click on a cell to open the dropdown and pick a type.
- Add new type: Type something fresh and hit “Add product type” to save it.
Step 6: Click Save
Hit “Save” at the top right. Your Shopify bulk edit product type mission is complete!
4. Tips to Use Product Type Like a Pro
The eCommerce world is competitive, so let’s create your own advantages in this Shopify product organization game with these useful tips:
Tip 1: Keep it simple
Use clear names like “Shoes” or “Books”. Avoid the lengthy and too descriptive type that even you – the creator – do not want to look at twice.
Tip 2: Be specific
While simple is key, too generic Shopify type might be confusing. Don’t just use “Clothing.” Use “Men’s T-Shirts” or “Women’s Dresses.”
Tip 3: Stay Consistent
Stick to one style, one format. “T-Shirts” or “Tees” or “Shirts”, just choose one way. No typos, no variations. Otherwise, instead of helping you easier organize your store, those custom product types Shopify will make the game even harder.
Tip 4: Match your customers’ brains
Pick types that your customer properly might search for, like “Hoodies” instead of “Sweatshirts with Hoods.” This is not only helpful for the online shopping experience but also good for SEO.
Tip 5: Analyze and adjust
One hit might not solve all the problems. Sometimes you need to modify product type Shopify back and forth to optimize it. Track which product types perform best, and peek at your types every few months to keep them fresh and useful.
Tip 6: Leverage product type for SEO
Search engine optimization is the important purpose guiding every action of the eCommerce store owner, and product types can assist you in boosting those ranking. You can:
- Create blog content around your most popular product types to boost SEO.
- Use product types in your URL structure for better search engine visibility.
- Build internal linking strategies based on product types.
5. Conclusion
There you go, everything you need to know about how to add product type in Shopify has now become your superpower! With these steps, your Shopify store will be tidier – everything has its place and is easy to find! Product types aren’t just for show – they give your store a checkout optimization and finally crank up your conversion rate.
Need more tricks? Pop over to eComStart for more guides, tips, and resources to grow your online business! That way, you are one step closer to setting yourself up for eCommerce success.
6. FAQs
