For stores with 50+ products

Having either a category filter (when searching) or search filters in the results page is especially important for stores with over 50 products or so.

Some searches can be incredibly broad. A simple one-word search like dress or computer can return hundreds and possibly thousands of results on your standard e-commerce platform. It’s pretty hard for a user to make a decision from all this. They always have a certain kind of product and a particular price range in mind.

This is where search result filtering comes in. It narrows down the criteria and makes it easy for your users to find what they actually want. Price filtering can be applied across all product categories. You can also filter for shared attributes within the individual categories.

What are some of the filters you can apply?

In items like clothing you can filter for color, size, designer, and fabric. Electronics can be filtered by brand, type, and technical specifications. Products in other categories should be filtered by their relevant attributes.

Since most filters are category-specific, you should make an effort to infer and apply relevant filters based on the searched product.

How do you position your filters?

Your filters should be easy to locate. If users are unable to find them, many will assume that you don’t have them. A good location for your filters is in the left column or at the top of the search results page. A category filter can also be integrated with the search box, as shown on Amazon.

Your filters should also be accompanied by a relevant sorting algorithm. Sorting for relevance is the most common.