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