On the homepage, featured categories are much more important than featured products (read more about featured categories, BP#28)

But showcasing a few products helps get a sense of what you are offering, and potentially pique their curiosity. And that can be done above the fold or below the featured categories.

User-controlled carousels are usually good for this. Alternatively you can have a static list. It’s important to feature products customers will be willing to buy.

Here are a few examples of products you can feature for maximum impact:

Best selling products
The most reviewed and highest rated products
Newly added products
Bundled products
Discounted products
Hottest product of the day, week, month, or season.
Relevant product for the day or season if it’s around religious holidays like Christmas or special days like St Valentine’s Day and Mothers’ Day.

If your site offers a wide selection, featuring a broad range of products from multiple categories is extremely important. It gives your users a sense of your product range and all the stuff your store offers at a single glance. According to Baymard, you should feature products from at least 40% of your categories on the homepage.

For example, featuring only men’s shoes when you sell pants and shirts in addition to women’s clothing might mislead your visitors into thinking you only sell men’s shoes. If they aren’t interested in men’s shoes they will leave. Only a few will bother lingering to explore your other offerings.

Due to limited screen real estate on mobile, Baymard recommends using high quality text links to highlight your multiple product categories.