Shopify Collections: How To Create & Organize Them (2026)

Shopify collections decide how shoppers find your products, yet many guides still describe a setup Shopify is now replacing. This guide explains the collection types, setup steps, collection page design, filters, SEO, and how to use collections in promotions. I’m Charlie Ngo, Marketing Manager at BOGOS, and I wrote this guide from the current Shopify Help Center (checked in October 2026) and Baymard Institute research.

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TL;DR

• A Shopify collection is a group of products that gets its own page on your store, and collections are available on the Basic plan or higher.
• Merchants use 5 common collection types: manual, automated, sub, nested, and variant collections.
• You can create a basic collection in 9 steps and fill it by hand, with automatic conditions, or both.
• A new collection only becomes easy to find after you link it in a menu or add it to a page section.
• Collection filters come from the free Shopify Search & Discovery app, and they stop showing on collections with more than 5,000 products.
• Baymard Institute recommends about 10 subcategories per level and at least 10 products in each lowest-level collection.
• Collections let you apply discounts, free gifts, Buy X Get Y offers, and bundles to a whole group of products at once.

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1. What are Shopify collections?

A Shopify collection is a group of products that you show together, such as “Women’s boots,” “Gifts under $50,” or “Summer sale.” Each published collection gets its own page on your online store, called a collection page, where shoppers see a grid of the products inside it.

Collections are available on the Basic plan or higher, according to the Shopify Help Center.

One product can sit in many collections at the same time. A pair of linen shorts can appear in “Men’s shorts,” “New arrivals,” and “Summer sale” without being duplicated.

Merchants usually group products in 6 ways:

• Audience collections group products for one type of buyer, such as men, women, or kids.
• Product type collections group similar items, such as lamps, cushions, or rugs.
• Attribute collections group products by size, color, or material.
• Sale collections group discounted products in one place.
• Seasonal collections group products for an event, such as Christmas decorations or back-to-school supplies.
• Curated collections group hand-picked products, such as staff picks or a gift guide.

Why collections matter for sales

Collections matter because shoppers can only buy the products they find. Baymard Institute’s 2026 navigation benchmark found that 61% of desktop sites and 65% of mobile sites have “mediocre” to “poor” homepage and category navigation.

The benchmark scored more than 180 leading US and European ecommerce sites, and only 1 desktop site reached a “perfect” score. Most stores still leave shoppers working too hard to reach the right product.

A clear collection structure shortens the path from your homepage to a product page. This is why collections are a core part of any plan to lift your Shopify conversion rate.

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2. Shopify collection types

Merchants use 5 main Shopify collection types: manual collections, automated collections, sub collections, nested collections, and variant collections.

Shopify is replacing its legacy collections model with a new collections model, according to the Shopify Help Center. The legacy model is Shopify’s original collection system, where each collection is either manual or smart, while the new model is Shopify’s updated system that is gradually rolling out to stores and lets one collection mix both methods.

In the new model, you fill a collection with sources that can combine hand-picked products, automatic conditions, specific variants, other collections, and exclusions. If your admin already has the new model, your old collections were converted automatically. If Shopify still asks you to choose “Manual” or “Automated” when you create a collection, your store is on the legacy model.

#1 Shopify manual collections

A manual collection contains only the products you pick by hand. It stays the same until you add or remove products yourself.

Manual collections work best for small, curated groups, such as staff picks, a gift guide, or an influencer collaboration. In the new model, manual collections are hand-picked products inside a collection’s source, and you can add conditions to the same collection later.

#2 Shopify automated collections

A Shopify automated collection, also called a smart collection, adds every product that matches the conditions you set, such as a tag, price, or vendor. New products that match join the collection on their own, so automated collections suit large or growing catalogs.

For example, a “Gifts under $50” collection with a price condition picks up every new product priced under $50 the moment you publish it. In the new model, you can also add hand-picked products and exclusions to an automated collection, so one unwanted product no longer forces you to rewrite your conditions.

#3 Shopify sub collections

Shopify sub collections are smaller collections that sit under a broader parent collection, such as “Joggers” under “Pants.” You build them by creating each collection on its own and then placing the child collections under the parent in your store menu or in a collection list on the parent page.

Sub collections help shoppers move from a broad group to a narrow one in 1 or 2 clicks. Sub collections work the same way in both models, because you build them through menus and collection lists.

#4 Shopify nested collections

A Shopify nested collection combines the products of 2 or more existing collections into 1 new collection. Shopify’s own example is a “Teaware” collection built from the “Teapots,” “Steepers,” and “Infusers” collections.

Nested collections are part of the new collections model, and a store can have up to 50 collections that contain another collection. Sub collections help shoppers move down to a narrower group, while nested collections pull several groups together into one wider page.

Stores on the legacy model can get a similar result by adding one shared tag to every product in the child collections and building an automated collection from that tag.

#5 Shopify variant collections

A Shopify variant collection includes only specific variants instead of whole products, such as only the red versions of your products for Valentine’s Day. When a collection includes only specific variants, its storefront filters show the price range, swatches, and options for those variants only.

Variant collections are part of the new collections model, and a store can have up to 100 collections that contain variants. Stores on the legacy model can only add whole products, so every variant of a product appears in the collection.

Collection type	How products get in	Best for	Available in
Manual	You pick each product by hand	Small curated groups, such as gift guides	Both models
Automated (smart)	Products match conditions you set	Large or growing catalogs	Both models
Sub collection	Separate collections placed under a parent in menus or lists	Narrowing a broad category	Both models
Nested	Products pulled from other collections	Combining related categories into one page	New model only
Variant	Specific variants added by hand or by conditions	Color-specific or size-specific pages	New model only

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3. Components of a Shopify collection page

A Shopify collection page usually has 7 parts: a title and description, a banner image, breadcrumbs, a sort menu, filters, a product grid, and pagination. The exact layout depends on your theme and the template assigned to the collection.

• Title and description: The title names the collection, and the description explains what is inside and helps search engines understand the page.
• Banner image: The featured image you upload in the admin can appear at the top of the page, depending on your theme.
• Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs show where the page sits in your store, such as Home > Pants > Joggers, so shoppers can step back to a broader page.
• Sort menu: The sort menu lets shoppers reorder products by price, best selling, name, or date.
• Filters: Filters let shoppers narrow the list by price, size, color, availability, and other attributes.
• Product grid: The grid shows product cards with an image, title, and price, and many themes add sale badges, color swatches, or star ratings.
• Pagination: Pagination splits long collections into pages, and some themes use a “load more” button instead.

Every part has the same job, which is helping a shopper reach the right product page in fewer clicks.

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4. How to create a basic collection in Shopify

You can create a basic collection in 9 steps from Products > Collections in your Shopify admin:

• Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Collections.
• Step 2: Click Add collection.
• Step 3: Add a title, such as “Women’s boots.”
• Step 4: Add a short description that explains what the collection contains.
• Step 5: Upload a featured image.
• Step 6: Add products in the Products source, either by picking them or by adding conditions.
• Step 7: Choose a default sort order for the products.
• Step 8: Check the sales channels and edit the search engine listing.
• Step 9: Click Save.

After you save, add the collection to a menu or a homepage section. Shopify notes that publishing a collection to the Online Store doesn’t add it to your menus automatically, according to its collection settings guide.

You can also create collections in the Shopify mobile app with the same fields. If your admin still uses the legacy model, you choose Manual or Automated as the collection type during setup.

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5. How to add products to a Shopify collection

You can add products to a Shopify collection in 2 ways: by picking them by hand or by setting conditions that add matching products automatically. You can also exclude products you want to keep out.

Add products manually

To add products manually, open the collection, click Add products in the Products source, select the products, and click Save.

You can also add a product from its own page. On the product details page, use the Collections field in the Product organization section to pick one or more collections. This shortcut works only for collections where products were added by hand.

Add products automatically with conditions

Conditions add every product that matches the rules you set, so new matching products join the collection without extra work. A single collection can have up to 60 conditions, according to Shopify’s collection conditions guide.

The most useful condition types are product tag, product type, vendor, price, product category, and metafields. Shopify also supports conditions for product title, variant title, compare-at price, weight, inventory stock, and product status.

Match all conditions includes only products that meet every rule. Match any condition includes products that meet at least one rule.

Shopify’s own example uses 2 conditions: the tag “shirt” and a price less than $100.01. With match all, the collection shows only shirts priced at $100 or less. With match any, it shows every shirt plus every product priced at $100 or less.

Keep these 4 tips in mind when you write conditions:

• Price conditions have no “equal to or less than” option, so use “less than $100.01” to include products priced at exactly $100.
• Tags give the most reliable matching, and Shopify recommends tags with “is equal to” over “is not equal to” when you want to exclude products.
• Tags with special characters count as the same tag, so a condition for “red-new” also matches “red_new” and “red&new.”
• Archived products stay inside collections, but shoppers can’t see them on your store.

Exclude products from a collection

Exclusions remove products that would otherwise match, and they always override inclusions. You can exclude products by hand, by condition, or by excluding a whole collection.

Exclusion conditions work with 4 condition types only: category, tag, type, and vendor. A store can have up to 5 collections that exclude another collection.

For example, a “Summer sale” collection can include every product tagged “summer” and exclude your “New arrivals” collection. This keeps full-price launches out of the sale.

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6. How to show collections on your Shopify store

You can show a collection to shoppers in 2 main places: your store menus and your homepage sections. A collection that isn’t linked anywhere stays hard to find, even when it is published.

Add a collection to your main menu

• Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Content > Menus.
• Step 2: Click the menu you want to edit, such as Main menu.
• Step 3: Click Add menu item.
• Step 4: Enter a label, click the Link field, choose Collections, and select the collection.
• Step 5: Click Save.

To create sub collections in the menu, drag a menu item under another item. The child collection then appears in a dropdown under the parent.

Add a collection list or featured collection to the homepage

A collection list shows clickable tiles that link to several collections. A featured collection shows products from one collection directly on the page.

• Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes and click Customize.
• Step 2: On the home page, click Add section.
• Step 3: Choose Collection list or Featured collection.
• Step 4: Select the collections you want to show.
• Step 5: Click Save.

Give each collection a clear featured image for these tiles. Baymard’s navigation research found that 39% of sites have missing or hard-to-read subcategory thumbnails, which makes shoppers hesitate before they click.

Set the sort order

The sort order decides which products shoppers see first when they open a collection. New collections use Most relevant by default, which Shopify bases on sales performance.

Shopify offers 6 default sort options: most relevant, best selling, alphabetical, price, product date, and manual. To change it, open the collection, click the Default sort drop-down in the Collection items section, choose an option, and click Save.

If you choose Manually, you can drag products into place or move selected products to the top. You can also ask Shopify Sidekick to reorder products with a prompt such as “Move the linen tote to the end of my Summer Sale collection,” according to Shopify‘s collection layout guide.

Sorting by price uses each product’s base price. Markets and B2B catalog prices don’t change the order, so a price sort can look out of order to shoppers in other markets.

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7. How to change a Shopify collection page template

You can give one collection a different page design by creating a new collection template in the theme editor and assigning it to that collection.

• Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes and click Customize.
• Step 2: Open the page selector at the top of the editor, choose Collections, and click Create template.
• Step 3: Name the template, such as “sale,” then add or remove sections, such as a promotional banner.
• Step 4: Click Save.
• Step 5: In your Shopify admin, open the collection, select the new template in the Theme template setting, and click Save.

A custom template works well for sale, seasonal, or launch collections that need extra content above the product grid.

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8. Shopify collection filters

Shopify collection filters let shoppers narrow a collection by price, size, color, brand, and other attributes. You add them with the free Shopify Search & Discovery app, and your theme must support filters to show them.

Every store gets 6 standard filters: availability, category, price, product type, tags, and vendor. You can add custom filters from product options and metafields, up to 25 filters in total.

Filters are worth the setup time. Baymard’s product list benchmark found that 51% of sites don’t offer all 5 essential filter types: price, user rating, color, size, and brand.

Filters don’t show on collections with more than 5,000 products, and the price filter only shows in your store’s default currency.

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9. Shopify collections vs tags vs product types vs product categories

Collections, tags, product types, and product categories all group products, but only collections create a page that shoppers can browse.

Field	What it is	Who sees it	How it helps collections
Collection	A group of products with its own page	Shoppers	It is the page shoppers browse and filter
Tag	A free-text keyword you add to products	Mostly you, and shoppers only if you add a tag filter	Tag conditions fill automated collections
Product type	A custom label for what the product is, such as “Sweater”	Mostly you	Type conditions and the product type filter
Product category	A category from Shopify’s Standard Product Taxonomy	Mostly you	Category conditions, category filters, and standard attributes such as color

A simple system works for most stores. Set a product category and type for every product, use tags for campaigns and special groups, and let collections pull from those fields.

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10. How to organize your Shopify collections

Organize collections around how shoppers search: a few broad parent collections, clear sub collections under each, and filters for details like size or color.

Keep each level short. Baymard’s navigation research found that test users felt overwhelmed when they saw more than about 10 subcategory options, and Baymard recommends splitting a level at around 10 categories.

Keep each collection full enough to browse. Baymard recommends at least 10 products in each category at the deepest level.

Use filters instead of near-duplicate collections. Baymard found that 79% of sites create separate categories where filters would work better, such as separate “Skinny jeans” and “Slim jeans” pages instead of one “Jeans” collection with a Fit filter.

Name collections with the words shoppers use. “Winter coats” is clearer than a creative name like “Cold front.”

Use unpublished collections for work behind the scenes. Shopify lets you hide a collection from all sales channels and use it only in the admin, for example to apply a tax override or a discount to a group of products.

A simple 3-level example for a clothing store is Women > Tops > T-shirts, with size, color, and price as filters on the T-shirts page.

Collection ideas by store type

• A beauty store can group products by skin type (“Oily skin”), routine step (“Cleansers,” “Serums”), and routine (“Night routine”).
• A fashion store can group products by audience (“Women”), garment (“Dresses”), occasion (“Wedding guest”), and season (“Summer”).
• A home store can group products by room (“Bedroom”), product type (“Lamps”), and style (“Minimalist”).
• A food store can group products by diet (“Vegan”), meal (“Breakfast”), and pack size (“Family packs”).
• Every store can use “New arrivals,” “Best sellers,” “Sale,” and “Gift ideas” collections.

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11. How to optimize Shopify collection pages for SEO

Collection pages can rank on Google for broad category searches like “linen shirts,” so each collection needs its own page title, meta description, and URL handle. You edit all 3 in the Search engine listing section of the collection.

• Write a page title under 70 characters, because Shopify warns that longer titles may get cut off in search results.
• Write a meta description under 320 characters that includes the main keyword and your store name.
• Keep the URL handle short and stable, because Shopify warns that changing it too often can stop the collection from showing in search results.
• Turn on the redirect option whenever you change a handle, so old links lead to the new page.
• Add a short, unique description that explains what the collection includes and who it suits.
• Add descriptive alt text to the collection’s featured image.
• Link to important collections from your menu, homepage, product pages, and blog posts.

The character limits and handle advice come from Shopify’s collection settings guide.

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12. How to make collection pages convert

A collection page converts better when shoppers see the right products first and can compare them without opening every product page.

• Put best sellers first with the Best selling sort or a manual sort, because shoppers who don’t know your range often start with popular items.
• Show each product once with color swatches, because Baymard’s product list benchmark found that 42% of sites list color variations as separate items, which clutters the page.
• Turn on more product images in the grid if your theme allows it, because Baymard found that 80% of sites don’t provide 3 or more thumbnails in product lists.
• Offer the 4 sort types shoppers expect: price, user rating, best selling, and newest.
• Add a banner for active offers, such as “Buy 2, get 1 free on all serums,” at the top of the matching collection.

Shopify’s built-in sort menu covers price, best selling, and date, so a rating sort usually needs a reviews app. Baymard found that 68% of desktop sites and 69% of mobile sites don’t offer all 4 essential sort types.

Offer banners on collection pages also encourage shoppers to add more items, which is one of the tactics in our breakdown of Shopify average order value.

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13. How to use collections in promotions

Collections let you apply one promotion to a whole group of products. You set up the offer once, and every product in the collection follows it.

Discount a whole collection

Shopify’s built-in discounts can apply to specific collections, so a “20% off Summer sale” discount covers every product in that collection. Shopify suggests an unpublished collection when you need a product group only for a discount.

Collections also help you keep products out of a sale. The collection method is shown step by step in our guide on how to exclude products from a discount on Shopify, and a similar setup lets you block discount codes from applying to sale items.

Free gifts and BXGY offers by collection

Collections make gift-with-purchase and Buy X Get Y offers easier to manage, because the offer updates when products join or leave the collection. Shopify’s built-in Buy X Get Y discount lets you choose specific collections as the products customers must buy.

Apps add more options for these offers. In BOGOS, for example, a gift offer can count only products from selected collections toward the spend or quantity goal, or count everything except selected collections, according to its help docs. Its quantity rules also support offers like “buy at least 2 items from Collection A and 1 from Collection B to get a gift.”

If you are planning your first offer, our Shopify free gift with purchase guide covers gift strategy, and the walkthrough on Shopify Buy X Get Y discounts covers the setup options.

Mix and match bundles from a collection

A mix and match bundle lets shoppers pick a set number of items from a collection for one bundle price, such as any 3 candles for $45. When your bundle tool pulls choices from a collection, adding a new candle to that collection adds it to the bundle options.

You can see setup methods and app options in our guide to the Shopify mix and match bundle. Other formats, such as fixed bundles and build-your-own boxes, are covered in our overview of Shopify product bundles.

Seasonal and sale collections

Seasonal and sale collections let you launch a campaign page on a set date and hide it when the campaign ends.

Schedule the publish date in the collection’s sales channel settings, so a Black Friday collection goes live at the exact hour your sale starts. Hide the collection after the sale instead of deleting it, because deleting removes it permanently and also removes its menu links.

For a sale collection that updates on its own, add the condition “Compare-at price is set.” Shopify includes a product only when all its variants have a compare-at price, so check the variants if a sale product is missing.

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14. Shopify collection limits at a glance

Shopify sets 8 limits that matter most for collections and collection filters.

Limit	Maximum
Conditions in one collection	60
Collections with conditions in one store	5,000
Collections that contain another collection	50
Collections that exclude another collection	5
Collections that contain variants	100
Filters in one store	25
Products in a collection before filters stop showing	5,000
Values shown in one filter on your store	100

These limits come from Shopify’s guide to creating collections, its collection conditions guide, and its Search & Discovery filters guide.

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Conclusion

Shopify collections turn a long product list into pages that shoppers can browse, filter, and buy from. The right collection type depends on your catalog: manual for curated picks, automated for growing catalogs, and sub, nested, or variant collections for more detailed structures.

Start with a few clear parent collections, fill them with conditions where you can, and add each one to your menu. Then add filters, write a unique title and description for each collection page, and put your best sellers first.

Once your collections are in place, use them to run offers on whole product groups. Shopify’s built-in discounts handle simple cases, and apps such as BOGOS add collection-based free gifts, bundles, and discounts when you need more control. For more ways to grow revenue from the traffic you already have, see our guide on how to increase sales on Shopify.

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