Choosing the most productive category for your product when creating a listing:

What is a product category? What should I be using it for?

What is a product category?
Amazon has a catalog of products sold with their respective product information. This information is used to place products in their appropriate category and sub-category. When customers search on Amazon, the resulting list of products is grouped into categories and sub-categories.

Why is having the correct product category important?

When your product is placed in the appropriate category, it helps customers find your product with ease. If your item is in the wrong category, it might not be viewed by the customer as they search. In order to have sales, your listing must be discoverable.

How to choose the most productive category for your product:

As the seller, you need to do the appropriate research to choose the most productive category for your product.

• Use the Amazon search box to type in your product and see what other phrases appear
• Use the Amazon search results page and see what categories and sub-categories populate on the left-hand side
• Use the Amazon Product Classifier Tool to browse and see all your category options
• Try and categorize your product at the most granular level possible, as this allows for more specific attributes to be included for your product. By selecting the appropriate product type (PT) that is the most granular for your specific product, these product-specific attributes will tag “recommended” by Amazon and help improve the customer shopping experience.
  • For example: A measuring cup would be best found under “measuring devices” as opposed to “kitchen“. “Kitchen” is too broad here, and your measuring cup might get lost in the sea of silverware, tablecloths, etc.

Also, it is important to note that Amazon has been adding more granular product types, so be sure to check the most updated list on Seller Central.

Amazon Bestseller Badge: A PDMG HACK

If you have products that are considered FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods, companies deliver products to customers at a high turnover rate), you can place the product into a specific, smaller sub-category to get the Amazon bestseller badge. In certain situations, having that badge is more rewarding than being in the correct category. We evaluate products and categories on behalf of clients to determine what route is most beneficial.

To download the full PDF on this information, click here.