(For more resources related to this topic, see here.)
Creating product categories, like most things in PrestaShop, is easy and we will cover that soon. First we need to plan the ideal category structure, and this demands a little thought.
You should think really hard about the following questions: What is your business key – general scope or specific? Remember, if the usability is complex for you, it will be difficult to get future customers. So what will make the navigation simple and intuitive for your customers? What structure will support any plan you might have for expanding the range in the future? What do your competitors use? What could you do to make your structure better for your customers than anybody else’s? When you have worked it out, we will create the category structure and then we will create the content (images and descriptions) for your category pages.
First you need to consider what categories you want for your product range. Here are some examples:
If your business is geared to the general scope, then it could be something like:
However, if your business is a closed market, for example electronics, then it could be something like:
You get the idea.
My examples don’t have categories, subcategories, or anything deeper just for the sake of it. There are no prizes for compartmentalizing. If you think a fairly fat structure is what your customer wants, then that is what you should do.
If you are thinking, “Hang on, I don’t have any categories let alone any subcategories,” don’t panic. If your research and common sense says you should only have a few categories without any subcategories, then stick to it. Simplicity is the most important thing. Pleasing your customer and making your shop intuitive for your customer will make you more money than obscure compartmentalizing of your products.
Have your plan close at hand. Ideally, have it written down or, if it is very simple, have it clearly in your head. Enough of the theory, it is now time for action.
Make sure that you are logged into your PrestaShop back office. We will do this in two steps. First we will create your structure as per your plan, then in the next Time for action section, we will implement the category descriptions. Let’s get on with the structure of your categories:
Superb! Your category structure is done and you should be fairly familiar with navigating around your categories in your control panel.
Now we can add the category and subcategory descriptions. I left it empty until now because as you might have noticed, the category creation palaver can be a bit fiddly and it makes sense to keep it as straightforward as possible. Here are some tips for writing good category descriptions followed by a quick Time for action section for entering descriptions into the category itself.
I see so many shops online with really dull category descriptions. Category descriptions should obviously describe but they should also sell! Here are a few tips for writing some enticing descriptions:
Be ready with the text for all your categories or you can, of course, type them as you go:
You now have a fully functioning category structure.
Now we can go on to look at adding some of your products.
Click on the Catalog tab and then click on product. It is pretty similar to category.
In the Time for action section, I will cover what to enter in each box as a separate item. However, I will skip over a few items like meta tags because they are best dealt with on a site-wide basis separately.
The other important option is the product description. This deserves special treatment because it needs to be effective at selling your product.
With the categories, I specifically showed you how to create the structure before filling in the descriptions because I know others who have got into a muddle in the past. It is less likely, but still possible, to get into a bit of a muddle with the products as well. This is especially true if you have lots of them.
Perhaps you should be the judge of whether to fill in your catalog before adding descriptions or add descriptions as you go. So here is a handy guide to create great product descriptions. It will help you to decide whether you should fill product descriptions at the same time as the rest of the details, or whether you should just enter the product title and revisit them later to fill in the rest of the details.
Don’t fall into the trap of simply describing your products. It might be true that a potential customer does need to know the dry facts like sizes and other uninspiring information, but don’t put this information in the brief description or description boxes. PrestaShop provides a place for bare facts—the Features tab (there will be more on this soon).
The brief description and description boxes that will be described in more detail soon are there to sell to your customers —to increase their interest to a level that makes them “want” the product. It actually suggests they pop it in their cart and buy it.
The way you do this is with a very simple and age-old formula that actually works. And,of course, having whetted your appetite, it would be rude not to tell you about it. So here it goes.
Don’t just tell your customers about your product, sell them the product. Explain to them why they should buy it! Use the FAB technique—feature, advantage, benefit:
Don’t just stop at one feature. Highlight the most important features. By most important features, of course I mean the features that lead to the best most emotive and personal benefits. Not too many though. If your product has loads of benefits, then try and pick just the best ones.
Three is perfect. Three really is a magic number. All the best things come in threes and scientific research actually proves that thoughts or ideas presented in threes influence human emotion the most. If you must have more than three features, summarize them in a quick bulleted list. Three is good:
When you have used the FAB technique, ask the customer to part with their money! Say something like, “Select the most suitable option for you and click on Add to cart” or “Remember that abc is the only xyz with benefit 1, benefit 2, and benefit 3.Order yours now!”
If you have a favorite photo editor then great. If you haven’t, then I suggest you use GIMP. It’s cool, easy, and free: www.gimp.org.
Let’s add some products:
Field | Explanation |
Name | The short name/description of your product. There is a brief description and a full description box later, but perhaps a bit more than a short name should go here. For example, 50 cm golden teddy bear-extra fluffy version. |
Status | Choose Enabled or Disabled. If your product is for sale as soon as you’re open, click Enabled. If your product is discontinued or needs to be removed from sale for any reason, click Disabled. |
Reference | An optional unique reference for your product. For example, 50cmFT – xfluff. |
EAN13 | The European Article Number or barcode. If your product has one (and almost everything does), use it because some people use this for searching or identifying a product. |
Jan | The Japanese Article Number or barcode. If your product has one (and almost everything does), use it because some people use this for searching or identifying a product. |
UPC | The USA and Canadian Article Number or barcode. If your product has one (and almost everything does), use it because some people use this for searching or identifying a product. |
Visibility | If you want to show the item on the catalog, only on the search or everywhere. |
Type | You can chose if there is a physical product, pack, or a downloadable product. |
Options | To make the product available/unavailable to order. To show or hide the price. To enable/disable the online message. |
Condition | If the item is brand new, second hand, or refurbished. |
Short description | Here you need to add a brief description about the item. This text will be shown on the catalog. |
Description | When a customer clicks on the item, he will read this text. |
Tags | Leave blank for now. |
Now you have something to actually sell, let’s go and showcase some of your products. Here is how to make some of your products stand out from the crowd.
Next is a list of the different ways to promote elements of your range. There is also an explanation of each option and how to do it, as well.
So you have just found some great new products. How do you let your visitors know about it? You could put an announcement on your front page. But what if a potential customer doesn’t visit your front page or perhaps misses the announcement?
Welcome to the new products module.
The following are the quick steps to enable and configure the highlighting of any new products you add. Once this is set up, it will happen automatically, now and in the future.
Now you are done with new products and they will never go unnoticed.
Special refers to the price. This is the traditional special offer that customers know and love.
The following steps help us create special offers and make sure they will never go unnoticed:
Your first sale is underway.
What’s this then? When customers browse products, they forget what they have seen or how to find it again. By prominently displaying a module with their most recent viewings, they can comfortably click back and forth comparing until they have made a buying decision. Now you don’t need me to tell you how to set this up. Go to the module, switch it on, and you’re done.
This is just what it says. Not necessarily an offer or anything else is special about it. But if it sells, well there must be something worth talking about it. Install the best sellers module in the usual place to highlight these items.
I love accessories. It’s all about add-on sales. Ever been to a shop to buy a single item and come out with several? Electrical retailers are brilliant at this. Go in for a PC and come out with a printer, scanner, camera, ink, paper, and the list goes on. Is it because their customers are stupid? Of course they are not! It is because they offer compelling or essential accessories that are relevant to the sale. By creating accessories, you will get a new tab at the bottom of each relevant product page along with PrestaShop making suggestions at key points of the sale.
All we have to do is tell PrestaShop what is an accessory to our various products and PrestaShop will do the rest.
Accessories are products. So any product can be an accessory of any other product. All you have to do is decide what is relevant to what. Just think about appropriate accessories for your products and read on. The quick guide for creating accessories are as follows:
You just learned how to accessorize. It’s silly not to accessorize, not because it costs you nothing, but because a few clicks could significantly increase your turnover.
Now we can go on to explore more product ideas.
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