PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform, and faceted search is a useful feature for improving the user experience on e-commerce websites. Faceted search allows customers to easily filter and narrow down search results based on specific criteria, making it easier to find the products they want. In this article, we’ll explain what PrestaShop faceted search is and how to use it.
- What Is PrestaShop Faceted Search
- Recommendations For Faceted PrestaShop Search Config
- Faceted PrestaShop Search Page
- Conclusion
What Is PrestaShop Faceted Search
Usually, this type of search (faceted search) is found in product categories. The filters block that is displayed in the sidebar is the faceted search. It gives the user a choice to filter products based on his needs and find what he is looking for.
The faceted search is one of the most important features in an online store, because it helps customers find what they are looking for with ease. I have worked with stores who have 10k to 100 thousand products on their website and this tool is immensely helpful in filtering selection, thus, customers can make a more informed decision when purchasing goods from any product list.
Fortunately, PrestaShop also ships this type of search as a separate addon – which is free.
By default, it comes installed, but if you can’t find it just follow thi simple steps:
- Head down to the back office
- Click Modules → Module Catalog
- Search for
faceted - Install the add on and explore its configuration page.
When installed, this addon and its configuration will be available in the back office under Modules → Module Manager → search for faceted.
Going inside one of the saved templates, you will be presented with every filter available to PrestaShop in addition to custom attribution groups.
Recommendations For Faceted PrestaShop Search Config
In the faceted search configuration page (back-office → Module Manager → search for faceted), you can see many options to choose from. Of course, it might be tempting to select everything, but here are some ideas to think about.
- Do you need a price filter? Only enable it if your categories contain lots of items. That is the case for phones or computers. Or any technologies related store.
- If your store contains items from 9 USD to 999 USD – having a price filter usually does not make sense. That might sometimes be the case when you sell phones (900 USD and up) and phone cases (9-19 USD).
Color options make sense if applied to a minimal range of items: phone and laptop cases, or art equipment. Furthermore adding the filter is not applicable if there are multiple colors within one product such as book covers which have red on them (for example).
Weight filter makes sense in sporadic cases. Usually, weight directly relates to a shipping price, but the shipping price is visible in the last checkout steps. So it might not make sense to add it to the frontend.
Show the number of matching products – enable this option only if you have 100 or more products in total. If numbers are meager (1-9), people will leave your store thinking it is unfinished or not big enough to be trustworthy.
Show products from subcategories – always enable this option. I saw a store before that would want this option disabled. The more products you will show – the more trustworthy and big your store will appear.
Show unavailable, out of stock last – set to yes as it is a nice usability feature. Also, your store will look more prominent.
When working on filters, imagine yourself as the customer. Filters should be sorted by importance so they’re in order from most important to least. For example, if you are thinking about a fish tank, then probably your preferences would be:
- Liters
- Measurements
- Price
In this example, weight and color won’t apply. Price makes sense as the third option because Liters and Measurements would correlate too much. The cheapest fish tank will be the smallest inside.
Faceted PrestaShop Search Page
This is one of the most requested features in PrestaShop. Unfortunately, the team is not shipping this change for more than three years now, and you might need to search for a paid addon for this issue.
The faceted search feature is only available on category pages.
Conclusion
There are many ways to customize or market your PrestaShop store, so be sure to checkout EShopAddons blog.