Single products vs a multi product listing

[AM2021]

What would better…

A single product listing for sizes and colours or
A variation product with sizes and different colour drop downs?

For example a t-shirt that is on 10 different colours and 3 sizes.

Should it be listed by individual colours or one listing for all colours and sizes.


Thanks

 

[Chris Ashdown]

What would better…

A single product listing for sizes and colours or
A variation product with sizes and different colour drop downs?

For example a t-shirt that is on 10 different colours and 3 sizes.

Should it be listed by individual colours or one listing for all colours and sizes.


Thanks

I would go with one listing as it gives a one stop shop so easy for customers also makes the order easier for you as a single order, rather than a bunch of different orders. KIS Keep it simple

 

[AM2021]

Thanks Chris for your reply
What about for example…
Netting standard
Netting Fire retardant
With 2m and 3m sizes
Available in 10 colours

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

One product with size & colour options!!!!

 

[AmazonGeek]

Variations are there for a reason. They simplify the whole process for the shopper and tidy up the results page.

Some things to bear in mind (not sure how many of these only apply to Amazon):

- if they are set up as variations, then generally only one of them can appear in the organic results (PPC impressions are different and you have can have multiple) and the site will try and present the one that is most relevant to the search term
- when they are separate, if the customer lands on the listing and doesn't convert (maybe they landed on the black one but they really want a blue one), then they have no other options to choose from. They then leave and could go to another seller. But if you have the blue option you get the sale
- Also, they may want a black one but when they see you also do a blue one, they may buy both!
- (this one might be just for Amazon) Sales from all the variations funnel into one BSR and the lower the BSR the better the family will perform. If they are all separate, they all have their own BSR and fight for survival on their own
- reviews are shared (at least on Amazon). So if you have 100 reviews on the black one and 10 on each of the other 3, it will look like all 4 have 130 reviews. If you then launch a brand new colour and combine it into the family, that too will inherit the 130 reviews.

 

[AmazonGeek]

Thanks Chris for your reply
What about for example…
Netting standard
Netting Fire retardant
With 2m and 3m sizes
Available in 10 colours

It depends if you can use that structure. Amazon has certain theme combinations to choose from. They can be...

Single theme - colour, size, pack-size, etc.
Double - size-colour
Triple - size, colour, pack-size

But you are restricted to whatever theme combinations are available for the category you are in. On other sites, if that triple combination is available (type/size/colour) it would work well, for all the reasons in my previous reply.

 

[TCH]

yes, eBay has accustomed people to the page with several drop-down lists

if the eBay seller is offering steel tube then we will be told to specify length and diameter

 

[AM2021]

Thank you for all the replies

 

[AM2021]

Just coming back to this thread

We have gone with the multi listing on our website however if we were to add individual listings to bulk up the categories would this screw up our rankings? as in size 1 builders trestles vs a listing with all size s listed on the drop down.

As we have gone with the multi listing we only have 1 product in quite a few of our categories > is that okay or should we just come straight off the home page with the product and have a no category?

 

[fisicx]

You won’t know until you test.

Have both and split test to see which converts best. Spend some money on Google ads to run the test.

 

[AM2021]

Thanks Graham

We did have the multi listing and the individual products by size but was told that Google wouldn’t like it and it would mess up our rankings?

 

[fisicx]

Who told you this? Have you tried adding single product listing to see what happens? You can always exclude pages from being indexed to keep Google happy.

 

[AM2021]

Who told you this? Have you tried adding single product listing to see what happens? You can always exclude pages from being indexed to keep Google happy.

It was someone off another forum so we removed the individual products just in case.

It was someone off another forum so we removed the individual products just in case but will probsbly add them again.

From a user perspective would it be better to have a multi product coming straight off the homepage or should we always have a category even if only one product will be in that catergory?

 

[fisicx]

You have both, you split test and see what happens.

There is no single answer to the question, you need to test, adjust, test again and keep testing. I’ve got pages that took around a year to get right.

 

[AM2021]

Thanks so we need to test whether a product targeting a phrase “builder’s trestles” ranks better than a category targeting “builders trestles”

 

[fisicx]

That’s just one type of test. You also need to test if ‘type 1 trestle’ converts better than ‘type 1 builders trestle’. There are umpteen variants need testing. You also need to test using different images, words, layouts etc.

E-commerce is not easy.

 

[AM2021]

Ok thanks Graham

 

[fisicx]

Even 'builders trestles' compared with 'trestles for working platforms'. Until you test you just won't ever know.

Are you selling to builders or to the general public? How you describe the product will change depending on the target. You might even need a page for builders and another for numpties building a wall in their back garden.