Your site visitors are moving along the path to purchase and onto the category page. Maybe it was those powerful calls-to-action or a well-designed navigation experience. Maybe you caught them with SEO or a 3rd party affiliate.

1. BEST PRACTICES IN RETAIL WEBSITE
TESTING AND OPTIMIZATION,
PART 2
4 ELEMENTS
OF A WINNING
CATEGORY PAGE

2. 4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
2
Table of Contents
3 Good News
5 Elements of a Category Page
6 #1 Product Imagery
7 #2 Search
8 #3 Sort and Filtering
9 #4 Quick View
10 Case Study
11 Making It Work
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Good News.
Your site visitors are moving
along the path to purchase
and onto the category page.
Maybe it was those powerful
calls-to-action or a well-designed
navigation experience. Maybe
you caught them with SEO or
a 3rd party affiliate.
But don’t get comfortable just yet.
If you don’t serve up what they were searching for (in the right way),
you’ll never get them through to the product details page — or even
worse, the glorious “Add to Cart” moment.
So what does
it take to keep
customers
on the path to
purchase?
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4. $ $ $
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
It’s really simple
A good category page promotes the products in that specific category.
Yes, it sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised…
Whether visitors are arriving on a
category page from your homepage
or from elsewhere on the web
(having found you through search,
display ads, pay-per-click ads, etc.),
it is essential to treat any category
page like a landing page.
All promoted content and offers should
be designed specifically to serve
visitors’ needs and draw them into
a meaningful, relevant shopping
experience.
All of this is related to achieving your
main goal of moving your customer
forward. A well-designed category page
should drive customers to specific
product pages or to add a product to
their shopping carts.
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5. 5
4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Elements of a Category Page
If you want your category pages to drive customers to desired behaviors, like clicking
through to the cart — or better yet — buying, be sure they offer:
Products, Products
and More Products.
Shoppers know they’re
looking for a particular
type of product. Your site
should show them plenty
of relevant options to
help them find the product
they need — and new
ones to want.
Filter, Sort, Find.
A customer on a
mission shouldn’t have
to work too hard to find
a particular product.
The ability to search by
brands, lines, specific
attributes, price and
beyond will eliminate
frustration and
encourage buying.
Inspiration.
From featured products
and special offers to
highlighted brands and
new sales, there are
plenty of ways to inspire
a customer to try new
products, add more
items to their carts, or
be wooed into product
upgrades. Don’t pass up
the opportunity to sell to
motivated shoppers.
When it comes down
to it, there are
4
key ways to optimize
a category page…
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6. Clear category names
Large images
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Maybe it sounds
obvious, but from the
moment visitors land
on a category page,
they should see an
appealing array
of product images.
This type of display will draw them
into the site to engage with more —
such as clicking through to the product
pages or even adding items to the
cart. With such a small window of time
to catch visitors’ attention, the more
visual, the better.
Element #1
Product Imagery
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7. Product search is embedded at the top of the page.
“Save this search” functionality allows
visitors to save a search and file it under
a specific “search name.”
Left-hand search functionality allows the
user to interact with search filters
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Element #2
Search
Functionality should
enable visitors to
easily locate product(s)
based on certain
parameters within the
category — leading
them down the path
to purchasing exactly
what they are looking
for (or getting inspired
for something new!).
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8. Frame icons replace text list.
Color swatches replace traditional
color listings (text) for filtering.
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Most major retailers
don’t just have a variety
of products to offer;
they also have many
different styles, colors
and options for those
products.
Allowing users to more effectively dive
into your offerings will help them see
the breadth of your product, understand
their choices — and know that you have
what they want!
Element #3
Sort and Filtering
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9. Quick-view pop-in that occurs when a product
is clicked is unique because you do not have to
“X” out the window to see the new product.
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Visual overlays and
quick-view functionality
empower customers
to preview products
without having to click
through to irrelevant or
distracting secondary
pages.
They also help customers get to the
cart faster with fewer clicks needed to
reach the end goal.
Element #4
Quick View
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10. CHOICE
A
CHOICE
B
CHOICE
C WINNER!
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4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Objectives:
To determine which product family
imagery resonates with visitors and drives
engagement on the Printer Hub Page.
Test Format
A/B/C — Changed the subcategory
imagery to reflect lifestyle images versus
output focused images.
One Category, Multiple Paths to Inspiration
Case Study: Global Electronics Retailer
Results:
While visitors engaged
more with imagery that
focused on the product,
users who engaged with
the “output image” were
more likely to purchase.
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11. 11
4 Elements of a Winning Category Page : : Best Practices in Retail Website Testing and Optimization, Part 2
Shoppers who arrive
at any given category
page already know what
direction they want to
go — or at the very least
have an idea.
That focus narrows the
parameters of content and
offers, but it opens up
the options for creativity in
highlighting specific offerings
and products — and for
really understanding what
captures the attention of
your target customers.
By testing and optimizing
dedicated category pages,
you’ll get to know your
customers and how to serve
them better — information
that helps you move them
to the product pages, and
maybe even the cart.
Give ‘Em What They Want
Better category pages. Better ROI.
If you are interested in speaking with someone at Maxymiser, please email info@maxymiser.com.
What are you waiting for?
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