# Categories & collections > Group products into categories so customers can filter and find things — and so offers and coupons can target a group. Guide: https://sitesplaced.com/help/online-stores/categories-and-collections · Section: Online Stores · Last reviewed: 2026-08-23 Categories are the groups your products belong to — *Rings*, *Earrings*, *Gifting*, *Under ₹999*. You define them once in **Settings → Categories**, tick them on each product, and they do three jobs at once: customers can filter your products page by category, your storefront can show a category section on the home page, and [coupons and Buy-X-Get-Y offers](https://sitesplaced.com/help/md/online-stores/discounts-and-offers.md) can be limited to one category. A product can sit in more than one category, and the first one you tick is its main category. ## Set up categories 1. Open **Settings → Categories** (or search *categories* in Settings). You'll see the **Product categories** card. 2. Type a name into the **New category** box (e.g. *Bestsellers*) and press Enter or click **+ Add**. Each category appears as a chip with the number of products currently in it. 3. Repeat for every group you sell. Keep names short — they become filter chips on your products page, so *Silver Rings* reads better than *Our Beautiful Collection of Silver Rings*. 4. Click **Save** in the bar at the bottom. The list is saved with the rest of your settings. 5. When adding or editing a product, open the **Categories** picker, tick the categories it belongs to, or type a new name to create one on the spot. The first one you tick is the **main category**. > **Tip:** Define your categories **before** you add lots of products — then you can assign them as you go instead of editing everything later. Already added products with stray category names? The Categories screen shows an **Import N from existing products** button that pulls those names into your defined list so you can tidy them up. ## Category images & descriptions Once you have at least one category, a **Category images & descriptions** area appears under the list. For each category you can upload an image (up to 2MB) and write a **one-line description**. Both are optional. They are used by the **Category Cards** section on your storefront — the tiled "browse by category" block you can add from the Design tab — so a category with a good photo looks far more clickable than a plain text chip. If you delete a category, its image and description are removed with it. ## Where categories show up - **Products page filters** — customers tap a category chip to narrow the list. In **Settings → Pages & policies** you can switch the filters from inline chips to a left sidebar that also adds attribute and price filters. - **Home page** — add a category section (**Browse by Category** / **Category Cards**, depending on your template) from the **Design** tab. It fills itself from your categories automatically. - **Products tab** — the **All categories** dropdown filters your own product list, and the table view has a **Category** column. - **Discounts** — the **Applies to → A category** option on coupons and offers lists your defined categories, plus any category names already used on products. ## Rename, merge or delete a category There is no rename button — to rename, add the new name, re-tick it on the affected products, then remove the old chip with its **×**. Removing a chip only removes it from the defined list; products that still carry the old name keep it until you edit them, and the old name will reappear in the **Import from existing products** button until those products are updated. Category names are matched **without regard to capital letters**, so *Short Necklace* and *SHORT NECKLACE* are treated as the same category rather than two. If you type a name that already exists in a different case, the store keeps the capitalisation you used first. ## Good to know - A product with no category is still sold normally — it simply does not appear under any filter chip. - Use a category like *Sale* or *New arrivals* as a merchandising tool: tick it on a handful of products, point a coupon at it, and feature it on the home page. Untick when the promotion ends. - Categories are per store. If you run two stores they each have their own list. - Importing a store with the [Importer](https://sitesplaced.com/import) carries categories across automatically; check this screen afterwards and tidy any duplicates. **Q: How many categories can a product have?** As many as you tick. The first one ticked is the main category and is used wherever only one can be shown, such as the product details table. **Q: Why does my coupon's category dropdown show a name I never defined?** The dropdown lists your defined categories plus any category name that a product already uses. Open Settings → Categories and click Import from existing products to bring those names into your list, or edit the product to fix the name. **Q: Can I put a category in the header menu?** Yes. Every category has its own page at a short address: a category called Bracelets lives at `yourstore.com/bracelets`. In **Settings → Navigation & menu**, add a menu link, choose **Custom link…** and type just `bracelets`. To link a whole group of categories as picture tiles, such as **Shop by brand**, see [Browse pages](https://sitesplaced.com/help/md/online-stores/browse-pages.md#menu). **Q: Do categories change my product URLs?** No. Product links stay the same whatever categories you assign, so you can reorganise freely without breaking links you have shared.