understanding website taxonomy
Post on 23-Jan-2015
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Understanding Website Taxonomy
Storyline
• What is taxonomy?• Primarily shelf spaces of off-line stores• Left-nav attributes• Different elements of taxonomy
• Why do we need taxonomy?• People who reach products by searching vs. finding
• Key considerations in designing taxonomy• When do you break sub-categories? Potentially look at category conversion rates to determine • Nomenclature• How deep and how extensive?• Sort order options - alphabetically or by popularity
• Recommendations for furniture category
Taxonomy is your (online) store layout…
Taxonomy is User Experience
By definition
Taxonomy is…• a hierarchical topic structure where items are assigned through dual basis of
classification and categorization• Facilitates retrieval & find-ability in both browsing and searching • Supports tagging/meta-data/indexing of content• In a off-line stores it is called “shelf space”, where in online stores it is called as
“Left navigation attributes” or “Facets”
Or Simply this . . .
Organizing & classifying
stuff
Labelling content &
assets
Something IA’s do
Behind the scenes work
Facet / filter creation
A practice centered
around data
Enhances find-ability
Typical characteristics of an Ecommerce Taxonomy• Separate hierarchy for each department or broad product category
o Typically 5 – 20 top categories/hierarchieso Typical hierarchy depth of 3-4 levelso Typically 3 – 20 terms/subcategories per level
• Ordering/arrangement is not always alphabetical, rather popular or logical• May also have metadata or facets, typically at deeper hierarchy levels
Few Samples
Top Level Categories
14+
15+
29+
18+
14+
Sub-categories in hierarchies
Metadata/Facets
Why do we need taxonomy ?
Taxonomy and Facets enables
• Find-abilityTo lead a consumer to the right area and help him/her to find the product s/he is looking for” Good taxonomy facilitates assisted navigation across the website
• Expedites decision making Structured product information Cleaner and distinct facets More options Better facets Better left hand navigation Ease of filtering & selection
Key considerations while designing taxonomy1. Correct classification structure ?2. When do you break sub-categories? 3. Nomenclature4. How deep and how extensive ?5. Sort order options - alphabetically or by popularity
Classification structure
Category classification influences Shopping behavior
Furniture
Bedroom
Kitchen
Living Room
Bathroom
Furniture
Sofas
Chairs
Beds
Tables
“A sofa” or “a sofa for living room”
Classify categories the way your shoppers like to shop
When do you break sub-categories?
Look at the conversion rates
Conv
ersi
on R
ate
Need for more subcategoriesLow category - conversion rate indicates:• Large number of assortments under the category• Possible need to re-categorize or break the category into more logical subcategories
Re-categorization will aid more appropriate performance insights for the category
Sales Category conversion rate
Nomenclature
Name is the game
Unorthodox naming convention can leave your customers confused
Result = Lost customer
Category names should be consistent with your physical store
Why ?Homogeneous nomenclature will assist “loyal offline shoppers” to adapt to
online shopping easily
Will help Migrators
Offline Online
Industry standard naming convention will comfort new customers
Why ?
New Customers will adapt easily to your online store
Competitors
Your Website
Depth and Extensiveness
Extensive category hierarchy enhances navigation as well as user experience
Level of hierarchies 2 3 4
Category insights Poor Moderate Highly detailed & accurate
Website Navigation Manual – Highly Dependent on search Moderate find-abilty Assisted navigation
Facet Count Very High High Low
Customer Attrition Risk Very High High Low
Chances of poly-hierarchy Low High High
Deeper does not always mean betterExtra deep category structure will lead to:
Too many clicks for customers
Long breadcrumb trails
Complex categorization of products
Mazy Navigation
Poor category insights
Poor User ExperienceHigh Risk of Customer Attrition
How do you know if the category structure is too deep ?
Look atCategory conversion rate
Assortment size
Very low
Small
Last level sub categories need to be consolidated
Sort Order
Left to Right & Top to Bottom. . .
• Eyes follow a general left to right and top to bottom while surfing through a webpage
• Top level categories can be arranged from top to bottom
• Sub-category expansion should ideally be arranged left to right
• Category arrangement is a key influencer of user behavior and navigation on a website
• Should be aligned directly with your business objective/strategy
I sca
n
I take interest
Discovery
Sear
ch
Sorting Options
You can sort either by:
• Popularity: Top selling categories can be presented headmost
• Assortment Size: Categories are positioned in the descending order of their assortment size from top to bottom
• Alphabetical: Categories can be listed in plain alphabetical order
Lets evaluate taxonomy of one of the largest multi-brand online retailer (US based)
Count
Top Level Categories 11
Level 2 63
Level 3 276
Level 3 - Visible on homepage 190
86 level-3 subcategories are not visible on
homepage
Lets look specifically at furniture category
Key Observations:
3 Level hierarchy
Category nomenclature in compliance to industry standards
12 L2 categories No unanimity in categorization methodology
Around 86 L3 categories Visible to customers only if they click through one of the L2s
Alphabetical sort order Does not really enchant customers
Categorization methodology is a concern
Categorized by Rooms
Categorized by Utility
Categorized by Service offers
Ideal Categorization methodology
These should ideally be classified as L3s
Can be included as a L3 under each of the rooms
Already included on the homepage under clearance section
Increases polyhierarchism
Ideal categorization for furniture category
Questions
Salman ShaikhBusiness Analyst – Marketing Operations
salman.shaikh@iksula.com
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