The position of products in the category list can influence sales. Psychological studies show that our brains don’t like to do extra work, especially wait for something. This is why items at the bottom of the page often have a lackluster sale rate. Visitors simply won’t scroll far down from the first positions. For this reason, product sorting matters. Standard Magento has a built-in sorting system. However, modules, such as Magento 2 Product Sorting by Mirasvit, have unique useful functions. Today, we will guide you through both systems and their options.
Basic Magento 2 sorting options
Even without extensions like Magento Product Feed or Improved Sorting, you have power over items’ positioning. It depends on the edition of your platform. Open Source edition has fewer options than Commerce.
Both editions can change the sorting method via product listing settings. To access it, you need to click “Catalog” on the left sidebar in the admin panel. Then, choose the “Categories” menu. You need the “Display Setting” tab, where the “Default Product Listing Sort By” can be found. Sorting by product name and price will be automatic. If you want to change item positions manually – choose sorting by position.
Open Source
Product sorting in the Open Source edition is limited to manual position adjustment. To tamper with it, you need to open the “Catalog – Categories” menu again. Then, pick a Store View you need to sort items in. After that, choose the category to edit, open the “Products in Category” tab and simply change the Position.
Commerce
The Commerce edition of Magento has way more flexibility. The journey to settings starts just like with the Open Source edition. However, in the “Products in Category” tab, you will have new options. In the “Sort Order” dropdown menu, you will have manual sorting options. Visual merchandiser will also allow you to move individual items.
You can also set up an automatic sorting system. For that, locate the “Match products by rule” field and switch it to “Yes”. The “Automatic Sorting” menu will allow you to choose certain methods, but you can also create unique ones. Press “Add condition” and create your own rule for sorting products. After all is done, don’t forget to clear the shop’s cache.
Improved Sorting by Mirasvit
Now you may ask: “If Commerce Magento edition already has fairly flexible sorting options, why do I need an extension?”. That is a valid question indeed. We can answer it by highlighting the main features of Mirasvit’s Improved Sorting:
- Convenient UI. It’s the first thing that you will notice. Standard Magento UI if functional at best. The extension offers a much cleaner and more coherent interface that can be navigated even without experience. Color coding, grids, and labels will ensure that.
- More sorting options. Promote items of certain brands, seasonal offerings, discounted items, etc. Any variable can be used to create rules.
- Demotion options. You may not only promote but also demote certain goods. For example, push out-of-stock items to the bottom of the list. Allow customers to focus only on relevant items.
- Extended reach. With the extension, you may control search pages and widgets. Maybe you need to sell more black hoodies, so set the black color first in the widget.
- Debug mode. Enable it to see how sorting is done right on the website’s frontend. This clear vision can massively help with troubleshooting.
Not to mention, the module has more built-in sorting options. You can easily pick them from the extension’s settings tab.
