What are Filter Trees?
Filter trees are a graphical interface with a set of filter nodes. Each filter node has a drop-down menu containing all the options for that filter node. Filtering is done by checking or unchecking the boxes next to the filter options and manipulating the filters.
What are Filter Trees used for?
Filter trees are useful for customers who need to find products that are on sale and also have a specific attribute that meets their requirements. It also allows them to dynamically change the filter options based on user input from a previous filter option selection. A filter tree is an extremely efficient way to filter large sets of data with a few simple controls that can be used within the browser or in a web-based application.
Examples of Filter Trees on Shopify
Guess
The filter tree of Guess.com is a good example of how a filter tree can be used in a large website. It contains a lot of filter options that are crucial to the size of the business. By using this setup you can provide a much larger product offering while maintaining an organized and optimized way to filter products and present them to your customers.
For example, if you search for handbags, the initial result would show all the products with the filter tree on the left. The filter tree has various options for customers to choose from, including categories, colors, and prices. By clicking on a specific category, a new set of filter options will open.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry Collection has a very clean, simple user interface. The filter tree allows you to quickly find the products that meet your criteria and can sort by size, price, or color.
There are limited options available on this website, which makes it easy for customers to navigate and understand the information provided. This helps retain customers and also provides them with a means to rapidly locate what they need.
How to optimize Filter Trees on Shopify?
Make your filter trees intuitive
For your filter tree to be successful, make sure that you consider what your customers are interested in and how they will use your website to fulfill their needs. It should not require complex interactions with your customers.
A well-done filter tree can be used to make it easier for customers to find what they are looking for but can quickly become complicated if the organization of the filters is not considered.
Thoroughly plan out the most efficient way to present your products and organize the filter nodes considering the order in which your customer will use them. Keeping it organized and uncluttered will help customers quickly find what they are looking for.
Make the filter options easy to manipulate
You may try to find the balance between offering too many options and too few. It’s also important for customers to be able to quickly find the product that meets their needs, so consider presenting the filtering options that are most important first, so that customers do not have to dig for information.
The price and color of your products are very important to your customers, so make sure that these options are easily available on your filter tree. You can do this by prioritizing the initial options that your customers can access when they click on one of the category links.
The more easily accessible an item is, the more often customers will use it as a filter option. This means that you need to give a higher percentage of attention to this item than the last (or less important) option.
Use a hover effect
Your filter tree should have a hover effect that is triggered when the mouse pointer hovers over each filter option. This becomes useful if customers do not know what an item is or how to use it. It gives them a more visual cue on what to expect and they can click through the options to see what they are getting themselves into.
Using this hover effect also allows the customers to view all of your filtering options without having to expand their categories or scroll down, which keeps them at the top of your page.
Setting up intuitive filter trees in a few clicks with Boost
Product Filter and Search by Boost offers a filter tree with an intuitive interface, allowing your customers to quickly find products that meet their criteria.
The interface is straightforward and provides your customers with various options that would help navigate your website. For example, the “Bestsellers” filter allows customers to view products that are top-selling, previously viewed, or have a certain minimum number of reviews.
It also gives you the ability to filter by price, size, material, and color. The prices are categorized as low, medium, and high. This helps customers find your most affordable products without having to compare the entire price list.
Our Shopify filter tool also includes a search bar so that customers can quickly find a product if they know the exact name or category you have assigned to it. Back-end integration allows for more advanced search options if you want to offer this feature on your website.
