Shopify Collection Strategy: Tools and Planning Approaches

A well-planned collection strategy helps customers find products easily and supports your business goals. This guide covers tools and approaches for developing an effective collection strategy.

Elements of Collection Strategy

• Collection structure and organization
• Naming conventions and discoverability
• Product placement and merchandising
• Automation and maintenance
• Performance measurement

Planning Tools

Analytics for Strategy Development

Use analytics at Analytics > Reports to inform your strategy:

• Search data: Check Top online store searches to see what customers look for — the most-searched terms should map to your collection names. If customers search "red shoes" but your collection is "Crimson Footwear," rename it
• Traffic patterns: Go to Sessions by landing page filtered for /collections/ — collections with zero traffic that aren't linked in navigation are invisible to customers
• Product performance: Check Sales by product to find top sellers that aren't in your most-visited collections — adding them increases their visibility
• Conversion gaps: High-traffic collections with low sales indicate a product-market mismatch — the collection name attracts visitors, but the products inside don't match expectations

Customer Research

• On-site search: Top online store searches shows exactly what language customers use — match your collection names and descriptions to these terms
• No-result searches: Search terms returning zero results reveal product gaps or tagging issues — add tags or create new collections to capture this demand
• Session recordings (Hotjar, Lucky Orange): Watch how customers navigate between collections — do they use the main menu, search bar, or breadcrumbs? This informs where to place collection links
• Customer service patterns: Track common support questions like "Where do I find X?" — these reveal collection structure problems that analytics alone won't surface

Developing Your Strategy

Step 1: Assess Current State

• Audit existing collections
• Review performance data
• Identify gaps and overlaps
• Document current structure

Step 2: Define Goals

• Improve product discoverability
• Support specific marketing campaigns
• Reduce customer navigation friction
• Enable better merchandising

Step 3: Design Structure

• Plan main collection categories
• Define subcollection hierarchy
• Establish naming conventions
• Determine automation rules using tags

Step 4: Implement

• Create new collections as planned
• Set up automation rules
• Organize products into collections
• Update navigation and internal links

Step 5: Measure and Iterate

• Track performance metrics
• Gather customer feedback
• Identify improvement opportunities
• Refine strategy based on results

Strategic Approaches

Category-Based Strategy

• Organize by product type or department
• Best for stores with clear product categories
• Matches how customers think about products

Customer-Need Strategy

• Organize by use case or purpose
• Best for solution-oriented shopping
• Examples: "For Running," "Gift Ideas"

Hybrid Strategy

• Combine multiple organization approaches
• Allow products in multiple collections
• Provide multiple navigation paths

Maintaining Your Strategy

• Review performance quarterly
• Update for new products and categories
• Adjust based on seasonal needs
• Keep documentation current

Common Strategy Mistakes

• Too many overlapping collections: If "Summer Dresses," "Women's Dresses," and "Casual Dresses" share 80% of products, consolidate — each additional collection splits your SEO authority and confuses navigation
• Ignoring search data: If Top online store searches shows customers searching for "running shoes" but your collection is called "Athletic Footwear," you're losing findability — use the language customers actually use
• Stale seasonal collections: A "Holiday 2023 Gift Guide" still live in summer looks abandoned — set calendar reminders to unpublish or update seasonal collections when they expire
• No baseline measurement: Before restructuring collections, document current traffic and conversion for each collection — without a baseline, you can't measure whether your strategy changes helped or hurt

Conclusion

An effective collection strategy requires planning, implementation, and ongoing refinement. Use data to understand customer needs, design a structure that supports how they browse and buy, and continuously measure and improve. A well-executed strategy improves customer experience and supports your sales goals.

Related Resources

• Shopify Help: Collections
• What is a Shopify Collection?
• Shopify Analytics Guide