Ultimate Guide to Product Taxonomy | 7 Tips for Creating Product Taxonomy

The term “product taxonomy” has its roots in the Greek language. The definition of “taxis” is “arrangement” or “organization.” In the digital age, data taxonomy is no longer confined to science sections or library shelves. Product taxonomy (product categorization) is a logical and hierarchical framework utilized by online merchants to classify and arrange their products to enhance user experience during product navigation.

The two primary components of product taxonomy in eCommerce are categories and attributes. Categorization is a process by which attributes are assigned to products that fall under the same category.

Why is product taxonomy significant?

There are numerous reasons why product taxonomy is crucial, especially in the context of e-commerce and online retail. Key rationales for the significance of product taxonomy are as follows:

A more refined user experience:  A website that is effectively organized promotes streamlined navigation, time efficiency, and timely decision-making. It improves the browsing experience and facilitates product discovery.

Enhanced discoverability: When an e-commerce platform is extensive, comprising hundreds of thousands of products, product taxonomy facilitates product filtration, thereby enhancing the efficiency of search and retrieval processes.

Enhanced product arrangement: Product taxonomy imparts meaning and coherence to the classification and clustering of products.

Engines up marketing strategies: By implementing product taxonomy, organizations can tailor their marketing communications to particular consumer segments by establishing structure and consistency.

Information architecture consistency: Product taxonomy establishes a uniform information architecture throughout the website, which facilitates user comprehension of the site’s structure and enhances the ease of product discovery and navigation.

How Can Product Taxonomy Increase Revenue?

Without accurate product categorization, it’s obvious that website users won’t stick around to attempt to locate what they’re looking for. They just quit trying.

Search engines and web browsers make up the majority of your site’s visitors. Products must be properly positioned in browsers, although there is some additional time to fulfill search keywords.

People who search, on the other hand, have a very specific goal in mind. Customers will be pickier and want to see both the precise item they desire and a variety of similar options.

Is a Taxonomist Necessary for Your Team?

A clear taxonomy is important, and many businesses understand this; nevertheless, not all of them can do anything to make it happen. A number of companies invest much on product taxonomy. They seek for devoted taxonomists, those with master’s degrees in fields like linguistics or library science.

On the other hand, the typical business cannot do that. Taxonomy is often considered an afterthought, an extra chore among many others.

Remember that excellent taxonomies are not developed in a vacuum. That is the most important thing. Their interactions with the user’s environment are shaped by consumer behavior, fads, and cultural variations.

Top 5 Tips for Creating an Effective Product Taxonomy

How can you build a product taxonomy that supports your organization given the aforementioned challenges? Follow these instructions.

• Detailed team planning can help you identify business people with extensive product taxonomy, content generation, and product information management expertise.
• Assess your customers’ shopping habits and choose the best categories, subcategories, and qualities. Deeper research can help you determine which product categories and qualities your audience prefers. 
• Product taxonomy mapping for chosen sales platforms will be easier if you know the marketplaces’ regulations. Discovering sales channel variety and needs can help you estimate time, human, and financial resources needed to build product taxonomy.
• Find the product data “owners” in your firm who can prepare product information and explain items compellingly. Compare rivals’ product descriptions and improve them.
• Rich product data exceeds specs. Product pages with bullets, photos, videos, and comparison graphs thoroughly describe your items and improve client experience. 

Difficulties in Product Taxonomy

• Modifying the taxonomy to include newly added items and categories may prove to be a daunting task.
• Customers’ viewpoints vary, and they could use various keywords while searching for the same goods. It may be challenging to create a taxonomy that accommodates varying geographical preferences and linguistic use.
• It takes continuous work to keep the taxonomy up-to-date when goods are added, withdrawn, or changed.
• Developing a product taxonomy, especially one that is consistent across large product catalogs, may be a daunting task.

Seven Common Mistakes in Product Taxonomy

Here are some typical blunders that people make when classifying products, along with suggestions on how to prevent them:

• Alternative Name for the Same Product: In order to avoid inventory management headaches, avoid selling the same product under many names.
• Putting Items in the Wrong Bins:When consumers are trying to locate a certain product but are led to believe it falls into an entirely other category, the result may be frustration.
• Important Categories Not Included:In order to make your shop more user-friendly, make sure that all the required categories are provided.
• Overly Numerous Clicks to Completed Items: The shopping experience and the likelihood of a successful purchase are both improved when the number of clicks required to locate the goods is minimized.
• Using the Incorrect Keywords and Tags: Your online store’s visibility in search results and the number of visitors it receives are both affected by the tags and keywords used to describe your items.
• Perplexing Classifications and Characteristics: Classify things as precisely as you can. Encouraging customers to stay on your website is of utmost importance.
• “Others” Categories: Putting items in a category named “others” is sure to turn off customers. Customers will be perplexed as to why a “others” category even exists as a result of this. Thus, while you are establishing your internet business, stay away from this blunder.

Conclusion

While it may be tempting to introduce more product classifications, it is important to note that excessive consumption of nectar may really be toxic. Businesses must adhere to certain optimal methods when it comes to product taxonomies. By maintaining a balanced approach to product categorization, using industry-standard terminology for category names, distinguishing between categories and qualities, and avoiding redundant or duplicate categories, businesses may significantly impact consumers’ buying choices.  

FAQS

What is product taxonomy?

Taxonomy is a framework for organizing your product catalog in a logical fashion, making it easier for consumers to locate what they’re looking for with little effort. In most cases, they function as a hierarchical product catalog that sorts items into different groups, with tags serving to further define each group.

What are the 4 classifications of products?

Convenience goods, shopping goods, specialist products, and unsought goods are the four categories into which items fall according to customer behavior, pricing, and product attributes.

What is the product manager taxonomy?

An extensive quantity of product data may be logically and easily categorized using a product taxonomy. A taxonomy system’s primary function is to make product data, both organized and unstructured, easily understandable for internal teams and end users.

What is taxonomy in business example?

Businesses may benefit greatly from taxonomy. Its many uses include indexing knowledge-based resources like corporate papers, serving as the backbone of artificial intelligence apps like chatbots, and constructing search engine word libraries. Customer taxonomies are useful for gaining insight into engagement-related behaviors.