Shopify Smart Collection Customization: Advanced Setup Guide

Smart collections in Shopify (also called automated collections) use conditions to automatically include products. This guide covers how to customize smart collections for effective product organization.

What Are Smart Collections?

Smart collections automatically organize products based on rules you define:

• Products added when they match conditions
• Products removed when they no longer match
• Updates in real-time as products change
• No manual product assignment required

Available Condition Types

Customize collections using these attributes:

• Product title: Contains, equals, starts/ends with
• Product type: Category matching
• Vendor: Brand filtering
• Product tag: Tag-based grouping
• Price: Greater than, less than, equal to
• Compare at price: Sale item detection
• Inventory: Stock level conditions
• Weight: Weight-based conditions

Setting Up Smart Collections

1. Navigate: Go to Products > Collections in your Shopify admin
2. Create: Click Create collection and enter a descriptive title
3. Select Automated: Under "Collection type," choose Automated
4. Add conditions: Use the dropdowns to select an attribute (title, type, vendor, tag, price, compare-at price, inventory, weight, or variant title), an operator (equals, contains, starts with, greater/less than), and a value
5. Set logic: Choose "Products must match all conditions" (AND) or "Products must match any condition" (OR) — you can add up to 60 conditions per collection
6. Configure sorting: Set the sort order from the dropdown — "Best selling," "Alphabetically," "Price," "Date," or "Manually"
7. Save and verify: Click Save and confirm the correct products appear — Shopify populates automated collections within a few minutes

Condition Logic

All Conditions (AND)

• Products must match every condition
• Creates more specific collections
• Example: Type = "Shoes" AND Tag = "sale"

Any Condition (OR)

• Products matching any condition included
• Creates broader collections
• Example: Tag = "featured" OR Tag = "bestseller"

Customization Examples

New Arrivals

• Condition: Tag = "new"
• Update tags on older products to rotate items

Sale Collection

• Condition: Compare at price is greater than 0
• Automatically includes discounted items

Price Tiers

• Budget: Price less than $50
• Premium: Price greater than $200

Best Practices

• Keep conditions simple and clear
• Use consistent product data
• Test conditions before launch
• Document your condition logic
• Review collections with analytics

Troubleshooting

• Products not showing: Check attribute values match exactly
• Wrong products: Review all vs. any logic
• Empty collection: Verify products meet criteria

Conclusion

Smart collection customization enables efficient, automated product organization. Focus on consistent product data and clear conditions to create collections that maintain themselves as your inventory changes.

Related Resources

• Shopify Help: Automated Collections
• What is a Shopify Collection?
• Using Tags Effectively