A product taxonomy is the way a business organizes and categorizes its products, using a clear hierarchy of categories, subcategories, and attributes. It is the blueprint for how product information is stored, searched, and displayed across systems and channels.
A well-designed taxonomy is critical because it improves product discoverability, ensures consistent data across teams, and enables better search, filtering, and analytics. It also supports faster onboarding of new products, smoother customer experiences, and more effective marketing and merchandising turning product data from a messy list into a powerful growth asset.
Challenges for a brand implementing taxonomy
When a manufacturer sets out to build a product taxonomy for their brands, it generally starts with a framework that is neat and logical but in practice, it’s more like trying to organize a giant walk-in closet while 12 people are putting clothes into it at the same time.
Here are a few challenges that you might encounter as you set out to build a product taxonomy:
- Inconsistent product information – different word order for product names, alternate descriptions, and varied attributes – across teams, suppliers, or regions.
- The challenge of being overly complex vs. being oversimplified – too many nested categories can make it hard to follow the product hierarchy and confuse shoppers, too few categories lead to overly broad groupings, making products harder to find.
- The same product type may appear in multiple places under slightly different labels, leading to redundancy and confusion.
- The taxonomy may need to account for seasonal or trendy items that may need temporary categories
- Product classification might need to adapt for local languages, regulations, or cultural differences in product use.
- The conflicts might extend beyond categorization – teams sometimes disagree on which attributes are essential for filtering (e.g., “Material” vs. “Finish” vs. “Texture”).
- The brand’s taxonomy structure may be different from a retailer’s taxonomy requirements, and different retailers may have different taxonomies
- Changes to brand or retailer categories, products, or other services may cause the taxonomies to change, meaning new categorizations or formats for products.
Challenges for a retailer implementing taxonomy
Retailers implementing taxonomy face a lot of similar problems – overly complex vs oversimplified, seasonal or trendy categories, localization, etc. However, a few challenges unique to retailers are as follows:
- Consolidating products coming from multiple brands and vendors into a coherent category for display or storage in a store (or on an e-commerce website).
- Managing categories across a range of product lines, some of which might have similar or overlapping categories or hierarchies.
- Keeping up with additions of new vendors or new product lines from existing vendors.
- Linking up products across product lines, sometimes across brands in attempts to cross-sell or up-sell.
A few best practices to adopt
1. Follow consistent naming conventions
- Use singular nouns (e.g., “Shirt” not “Shirts”) unless plural is the norm.
- Be consistent in capitalization, tense, and word order.
- Avoid mixing verbs and nouns in the same level.
2. Use logical, mutually exclusive categories
- Each item should fit clearly in one category to reduce confusion.
- Avoid category overlaps like “Kitchen Appliances” and “Home Appliances” without clear boundaries.
3. Plan for scalability and change
- Design so you can add, merge, or retire categories without causing disruptions.
- Maintain a change log for future reference.
4. Document rules & governance
- Establish rules on who can add or edit categories.
- Create a taxonomy style guide (naming, hierarchy, attribute rules).
- Establish review cycles (e.g., quarterly or semi-annual).
5. Train and communicate
- Most importantly, communicate your plans with all stakeholders.
- Provide onboarding materials for anyone tagging or classifying content.
- Communicate updates so teams always use the latest version.
If you have any further questions, Contact us to help you with this process.
