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Filter & sort

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❓FAQ

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❓Do horizontal or vertical filters work better?

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❓Should you combine Sort & Filter into a single panel?

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❓Should you autoload results after every filter selection, or use an Apply button?

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❓Should you rank filters by popularity, number of results, or alphabetically?

💡 Ideas and tips

Menu layout

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Consider a horizontal filter pattern on desktop

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Use a “peekaboo” menu for horizontal filters on mobile

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Make your horizontal filter chips POP against a colored background

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Promote most-used filters to the category header

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Promote category-specific filters to the header

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🦄 Promote a Get it Today filter (for store pickup or same-day delivery)

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Promote active promotions to the top of your filter list

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Consider a “You are here” indicator

Sort menu styling

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Provide a clear visual distinction between Sort and Filter

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If you combine Sort + Filter, style the button like a primary CTA

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If you combine Sort + Filter to a single menu, auto-expand the Sort list

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Style your Sort menu as a call to action

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Give your Sort menu an icon

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Consider a Percent Off sort option (for Sale collections)

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Consider a Most Reviewed sort option

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Apply custom design to your Sort menu

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Highlight your currently applied sort option

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🦄 Consider a “nudge” effect in your mobile shelf

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Try emoji bullets

Filter data and behavior

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Expand only the most useful/popular filter accordions by default

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Keep sort and filter buttons sticky on mobile

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Provide contextual attribute filters at sub-category levels

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Sort list items by number of results (where appropriate)

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Offer a Search box for long filter lists

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🦄 Try nested multi-level filters

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Group size families together (vs one mashed up uni-list)

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Don’t be afraid of scrollbars (desktop)

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Truncate long lists with a “Show more” link

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If you use price sliders, provide text field fallbacks

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Consider filter nudges for long lists

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🦄 Use toggles for sections with 2 important attribute groups

Filter panel behavior

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Make it clear which filters have been selected

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Include a very conspicuous Apply button

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Show number of matching results on the Apply button

Filter menu styling

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Make your link targets tap-friendly

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Consider tooltips for filter headings where additional context is helpful

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Include contextual illustrations where relevant

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Consider descriptive microcopy (where appropriate)

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Consider image thumbnails, where relevant

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Label your color swatches

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Consider separating Categories and Sort & Filter menus

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🦄 Break sizes into sub-groups for cross-category collections

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🦄 Try an animated banner inside the filter sidebar

Filter results (post application)

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Make your applied filter chips POP

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🦄 Request customer feedback on your filters

Creative filter ideas

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Try a “Just dropped” recency filter

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Consider a % Off filter

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Consider a “Hide out of stock” filter

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Include a Sustainable section

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🦄 Let customers apply custom filters from saved profile data

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Promote % off filters to header in Sale and Clearance collections

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🦄 Include Size filters in Sale and Clearance collections

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🦄 Promote a “Get it by [date]” filter for time sensitive occasions

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Build an interactive map as “regional” filter (e.g. wine)

🫣 Cautions

Filter data and logic

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ALWAYS audit your filters category by category

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Keep filters out of your Sort options!

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Consider dropping star rating filters

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Avoid overly tight or loose price tiers

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Beware of data gaps in numeric-range filters

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Make sure your international price tiers make sense

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Always define units of measure (where relevant)

Menu styling and layout

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Place your Sort menu in the top right position

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DON’T USE ALLCAPS

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Avoid tabbed design patterns

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Don’t use radio buttons when you should use checkboxes

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Be careful with 2+ column lists

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Make sure sticky elements don’t cover your Apply button

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Avoid list items that break over 2 lines

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Don’t underline list items

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Avoid using colored links for all filter list items

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Don’t get TOO creative with Sort options

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Don’t use too many characters when abbreviations will do

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Don’t align your list items like a tag cloud

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