Creating an intuitive and user-friendly navigation system is essential for any successful eCommerce platform. For Shopify store owners, one effective way to enhance user experience is by implementing a vendor or brand-based alphabetical filter. This filter allows customers to easily browse products by their favorite brands or vendors, listed alphabetically. In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps to create this type of filter in your Shopify store.
Step 1: Understand Your Shopify Theme
Step 2: Collect Your Vendors
Your first task is to gather a list of all vendors or brands present in your store. Shopify’s shop.vendors object can be utilized for this purpose. This object automatically compiles a list of all the vendors associated with the products in your store.
Step 3: Edit the Theme Code
Access your Shopify Admin, go to Online Store > Themes, and click on Actions > Edit code…
- Create the Alphabetical Navigation: Add a new snippet and include the following code to create the alphabetical navigation:
<ul class="alphabetical-filter"> {% assign alphabet = 'A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z' | split: ',' %} {% for letter in alphabet %} <li> <a href="#{{ letter }}">{{ letter }}</a> </li> {% endfor %} </ul> - List Vendors under Each Letter: In the same or a different snippet, write the code to list vendors under each alphabet letter. For simplicity, let’s continue in
vendor-alphabet-filter.liquid:
{% for letter in alphabet %} <div id="{{ letter }}" class="vendor-list"> <h3>{{ letter }}</h3> <ul> {% for vendor in shop.vendors %} {% if vendor.first == letter %} <li><a href="{{ vendor.url }}">{{ vendor }}</a></li> {% endif %} {% endfor %} </ul> </div> {% endfor %}
Step 4: Include the Snippet in Your Theme
Now, include the vendor-alphabet-filter.liquid snippet in your theme where you want the filter to appear. This is often done in a collection template or a custom page template. You can include it with:
Step 5: Add Styling
Add CSS to your theme’s stylesheet to style the alphabetical filter according to your store’s design. You’ll likely want to style the list of letters and the vendor list for a clean and navigable layout.
Step 6: Test the Filter
After implementing the filter, test it thoroughly. Check to ensure that each letter navigates to the correct section and that all vendors are listed correctly.
Optional Step 7: Implement a Search Functionality
For stores with a large number of brands, consider adding a search functionality that allows customers to quickly find a specific brand.
