20 Proven Ideas to Improve eCommerce Filtering For a Better Shopping Experience

It's proven that shoppers convert more when they use filters and find specific products.

However, a study shows only 16% of eCommerce brands provide good filtering experiences to shoppers.

In this article, we’ll explore ways online stores can improve product filtering UX make shopping easier. )

4 reasons why eCommerce filters matter

• Too many choices overwhelm people, making it easier for shoppers to reduce product options leads to increased conversion.
• Filtering matches product discovery to shoppers’ intent.
• It makes eCommerce website navigation sweet and seamless.
• Filters cut down on the time shoppers spend searching for products, leading to a quicker checkout. 

How is filtering different from sorting?

People often mix up filtering and sorting. Though both make shoppers’ buying decisions a lot faster, they differ, and here, we demystified them.

Filtering helps shoppers narrow down the number of items displayed in any category into a manageable list. It helps streamline navigation in websites with an overwhelming number of products.

Sorting, on the other hand, helps shoppers rearrange the product range based on selected criteria. Users could sort products based on alphabetical order, brands, price range, or the most recent.

Filtering reduces the number of results based on the filter attributes. 

Sorting re-ranks the list without reducing the number of products. It ranks relevant products on top based on the sort attributes.

When a shopper filters by ‘$10 to $15,’ filtering removes products with prices that fall outside the range. But when they sort by that attribute, the website ranks products within the price range top of the result, pushing the rest below.

Other ways they differ include:

• Shoppers can further refine filters by using facets. Facets don’t often work with the sort functionality.
• The sort feature often appears as a drop-down menu above the product grid, while filters typically sit on the left-hand column.
• By default, eCommerce websites don’t filter the product list, but they often apply a default sort option. For example, the eCommerce website sorts the product list by ‘Top Rated’ at default in the screenshot above.
• Filters personalize the list; sorting adds relevance.‍

20 eCommerce Filtering UX Best Practices That Make A Major Impact On Sales

Implement these small filtering UX changes to drive faster checkout and more sales.

1. Cover your fundamental product categories

Implementing eCommerce filters across all product categories ensures that shoppers have a streamlined and personalized browsing experience. 

Prioritizing key categories first can help create a solid foundation for your eCommerce product filter strategy. 

Here’s how you can get started effectively:

✅ Start with Essential Product Categories

• Focus on the most frequently visited product categories to optimize your eCommerce search filters for the largest shopper segments.
• Use filtering UX best practices to offer intuitive filtering options like size, color, and brand within these categories.
• Gradually expand filtering options to cover all categories for a comprehensive shopping experience.

✅ Leverage Google Analytics for Insights

• Use Google Analytics’ All Pages Report under the Behavior tab to identify the most visited product categories on your site.
• This report highlights where shoppers spend the most time, helping you prioritize eCommerce filters for those high-traffic sections.
• Avoid feeling overwhelmed by page-level data on large websites; instead, use tools like content grouping to organize and analyze product categories more efficiently.

✅ Implement Content Grouping for Better Analysis

• Group related pages or product categories in Google Analytics to understand performance metrics at a broader level.
• Content grouping provides clarity on which sections drive the most engagement, helping you refine your eCommerce product filter implementation.
• Drill down further into subcategories or popular filters like “Top-Selling Colors” or “Best-Selling Sizes” to create more targeted filtering options.

✅ Act Quickly to Capture Shoppers’ Attention

• The faster you implement eCommerce search filters across critical categories, the better the shopping experience for your customers.
• Early implementation enhances customer satisfaction and sets a strong foundation for filtering UX best practices.
• Draw inspiration from website filter examples like ASOS or Nike, which prioritize intuitive, category-specific filters for a seamless experience.

2. Build filters based on the product description

One of the most effective ways to create intuitive eCommerce filters is to derive them directly from your product descriptions. 

If a specification is important enough to appear in the product title or description, it’s worth turning into a filter. 

Here’s how you can implement this strategy to enhance your eCommerce filtering UX:

✅ Start with Key Product Specifications

• Review your product descriptions to identify specifications that are vital to customer decision-making, such as size, material, or features.
• For example, if you sell laptops, specifications like screen size, processor type, RAM, and storage capacity should be filters.
• Leading website filter examples, like Amazon, excel at converting product specs into filters for intuitive navigation.

✅ Use Customer-Friendly Language

• Design filters using words and phrases shoppers use naturally.
• In fashion, for instance, filters like “high-waist pants” or “summer wear” resonate more with shoppers than generic terms like “pants” or “seasonal clothing.”
• Relatable terminology makes eCommerce search filters easier to understand and more effective.

✅ Ensure Adequate Product Quantities

• Only create filters if you have sufficient inventory for each option.
• Filters for products with limited availability can frustrate shoppers by leading them to sparse results.
• Align your eCommerce product filter with your catalog to ensure a smooth browsing experience.

✅ Solve Key Usability Issues

Using product description specs as filters addresses common filtering challenges, such as:

• Shoppers quickly recognize and relate to filters based on familiar product specs.
• Using everyday language enhances clarity and accessibility.
• Clear, spec-based filters guide shoppers to their desired products faster.

3. Break the disconnect 

A filter checkbox UI may indicate active filters, but it’s often not enough. 

According to research, many shoppers question whether their selected filters have been applied due to poor visibility and placement. 

Here’s how to fix this and improve your eCommerce filtering UX:

✅ Address Key Usability Issues

Failing to provide a clear view of applied filters can lead to the following challenges:

• Desktop users have to scroll through lengthy sidebars to review all active filters.
• Lack of visibility makes unselecting unwanted filters difficult.
• Without an overview, finding and removing filters is even harder on small screens.
• Shoppers may accidentally apply filters and not realize it, unnecessarily limiting their options.

✅ Enhance Context with Applied Filters

• A quick glance at the applied filters provides shoppers with immediate context about their product list.
• This visibility empowers users to adjust their filters confidently without frustration.
• Baymard Institute’s research shows that improving applied filter views boosts navigation efficiency and checkout rates.

✅ Learn from Common Mistakes

• Surprisingly, 32% of top eCommerce websites, including Amazon, fail to display applied filters in an overview.
• This oversight can disrupt the shopping experience, making navigation and filter adjustments more challenging.

4. Interactive batch filtering 

Choosing between interactive and batch filtering is crucial for creating seamless eCommerce filters. 

While interactive filtering offers instant feedback and improves the shopping experience, batch filtering is better suited for slower-loading websites. 

Here’s how to make the right choice and improve your eCommerce filtering UX:

✅ Interactive Filtering for Instant Gratification

• What It Does: Applies filters in real-time as shoppers select or deselect options.
• Advantages:some text
  • Saves time by instantly updating product results.
  • Makes filtering quick, engaging, and user-friendly.
  • Helps shoppers fine-tune searches as they see immediate results.
• When to Use: Best for fast-loading websites, where the server can handle rapid filter changes without delays.

✅ Batch Filtering for Slower Websites

• What It Does: Applies filters only when shoppers click the "Apply" button.
• Advantages:some text
  • Reduces the load on servers for slower websites.
  • Minimizes delays between filter adjustments and results.
• When to Use: Ideal for websites with load times exceeding four seconds or high traffic during peak periods.

✅ Avoiding Usability Pitfalls

• Interactive Filtering Risks: On slow websites, it can frustrate users with delays, leading to a poor experience.
• Batch Filtering Challenges: While practical for slower sites, it lacks the dynamic engagement shoppers expect.

Pro tip 🚀

Interactive filtering works great for super-fast websites, while batch filtering is suitable for websites with speed problems. Using it on slow slow-loading website saves users time between requests.

Four seconds load times is a good rule of thumb—use batch filtering when it’s more and interactive filtering when it’s less. 

‍

5. Make changing filters super simple

Shoppers frequently experiment with different filters while researching products. 

If your eCommerce filters make deselecting options challenging or unintuitive, it can lead to frustration and abandoned sessions. 

Simplify the process to enhance the user experience. Here’s how:

✅ Add a ‘Clear All Filters’ Button

• Provide a prominent ‘Clear All Filters’ button that allows shoppers to remove all applied filters with a single click.
• Place it in an easily visible location, such as near the applied filters overview or at the top of the filtering section.

✅ Enable Easy Individual Filter Removal

• Use a checkbox UI that lets shoppers uncheck individual filters effortlessly.
• Include a simple ‘❌’ icon next to each applied filter in the overview to remove specific options quickly.
• Make sure changes are applied in real-time or with minimal delay for seamless interactions.

✅ Solve Key Usability Issues

Simplifying filter removal addresses several common challenges:

• Shoppers can quickly reset or fine-tune their searches without unnecessary effort.
• Minimize frustration with easy filter deselection improves navigation and reduces cognitive load.
• Supports search refinement by removing filters so shoppers can adjust their criteria and explore more relevant products.

6. Enable product filters with multiple criteria

Enabling shoppers to filter by multiple criteria simultaneously is a cornerstone of effective eCommerce filters. 

It ensures that customers can seamlessly narrow their search to match their exact needs, creating a more engaging and efficient shopping experience. 

Here’s why and how you should implement this feature:

✅ Offer Simultaneous Filtering

• Design your eCommerce product filter system to let shoppers apply multiple filters at once, such as size, color, price, and brand.
• Avoid limiting filtering to one parameter at a time, as this forces shoppers to memorize previous results and risks overwhelming them.

✅ Address several common UX pain points

• Shoppers can easily match their searches to specific preferences, making the experience more personal.
• Applying multiple filters at once streamlines navigation and reduces the time spent refining results.
• Combining filters simplifies the process and eliminates the frustration of repetitive adjustments.
• Multiple filters allow shoppers to drill down to precise product matches, enhancing satisfaction.

✅ Make It Intuitive

• Use a clear and well-organized checkbox UI or dropdown menus for each filter category.
• Provide visual feedback by instantly updating results when multiple filters are selected.
• Offer an applied filters overview so shoppers can see and adjust their selections effortlessly.

7. Keep Filter Options Lists Short and Manageable

Excessively long lists can frustrate shoppers and disrupt usability. 

So, keep those eCommerce filter options lists concise, and create a smoother and more intuitive shopping experience. 

Here’s how to do it:

✅ Limit Visible Filter Options

• Display no more than ten filter options per category by default.
• Hide additional options within an expandable accordion or drop-down menu to avoid clutter and maintain accessibility.
• Ensure the "Show More" option is easy to spot for users who need to see the extended list.

✅ Implementation Tips

• Use clear headings and categorize options logically (e.g., brands, price, colors).
• Add search bars within filter categories for quick access to specific options.
• Provide a visual indicator (like a "+" or "v") for expandable lists, ensuring intuitive interaction.

✅ Learn from Best and Worst Practices

Amazon fails this usability test—the eCommerce website doesn’t truncate filter lists that exceeded ten options, making some overwhelming.

It makes more sense to neatly hide the brands (HP, Acer and Qotom), operating system (Windows and Chrome OS), processor type (Intel Core i5, i7, i9, Intel Celeron and AMD Ryzen 5) in drop-down menus.

Macy’s neatly solves this kind of issue with drop-down menus.

Macy’s doesn’t display more than ten filter options, ensuring all the options are within view.

Here’s a quick look at some of the usability issues the short filter options list solve:

• It keeps the filters within sight and easily accessible.
• A short filter option list saves time and makes filtering less frustrating.

8. Eliminate zero results on filters 

Null search results negatively impact user experience. So, remove filters that return zero results.

No shopper would be happy to visit a website, search for a product, and apply filters to streamline the search, only to get a ‘Result Not Found’ message, and studies show they might not return.

About 88 percent of consumers are less likely to return to a website after a poor user experience.

Here are why eliminating zero filter results matter:

• It prevents shoppers from feeling discontented.
• It helps maintain customer satisfaction.
• It prevents misalignment with customer expectations—shoppers expect filtering to return relevant results.

9. Make filter changes separate events in browser history

Shoppers generally think clicking the browser’s back button after applying filters will return them to the previous page. But this is not always true for most eCommerce websites.

Filters are not separate events in browser history, but you could make them one.

Shoppers often rely on the browser back button, and many expect it to revert recent filter changes to the previous filter. Make their product filtering experience frictionless by aligning back button behavior to this expectation.

Some of the reasons the principle matters include:

• Users can quickly clear filters.
• It aligns with shoppers’ expectations.
• Misalignment with this expectation could lead to customer dissatisfaction.

10. Talk your customers’ talk 

You are creating the filters for your customer; it’s best to rely on them for help.

Create filters based on your customers’ search terms. Refer to your GA reports and your site search data to decide what terms to use. You could survey a sample of your active customers to learn what they want.

Some of what makes listening to your customers a great idea include:

• Surveys and GA reports help you make a data-driven decision.
• It makes you create filters that are relevant to your customers.
• It eliminates guesswork.
• Or like The Red Zone (as a case study)

11. Apply thematic filters

Thematic filters help shoppers see products that match specific themes. 

Amazon shoppers can filter dresses based on the occasion—like casuals, nights out, work, and more, or seasons—like winter, or summer.

Shoppers looking for work dresses on Amazon don’t have to dig through the overwhelming product list—they can easily use the thematic filter to hone in on the right product.

About 20 percent of the US’ top eCommerce websites lack this attribute.

12. Allows shoppers to filter by customer rating

The best-selling products have 4.2 to 4.7 ratings, so Amazon makes it straightforward for shoppers to filter products by customer rating.

About 70 percent of shoppers use rating filters to weed out bad businesses; of course, no customer would want to spend on products with low ratings. Amazon uses a rating filter to enable shoppers to simplify their searches.

13. Display filters visually 

While the product listing page loads again, it’s important shoppers need to know that the correct filters have been applied. 

First, let the filters stand out from the rest of the page. You can achieve this by highlighting it through a headline or a different color for the filtering text. While choosing, make the check box a different color as well.  

Then, show applied filters in the original location on the left side and an overview right under the webpage header.  

14. Order filters by importance, not alphabetically

While sorting, stores usually go alphabetically. However, to set up your filtering system, it’s best to display them according to certain criteria. 

Take a look at what shoppers are searching for in the search bar and the most applied filters. These will help online stores to create a filtering system that’s more useful for a seamless shopping experience. 

15. Consider using different filters for mobile and touchscreen devices

More than half of the global eCommerce traffic comes from mobile, meaning more product filtering likely happens on mobile devices. So making it sweet on mobile is a no-brainer.

Fullscreen and slide-over are two popular ways you could approach mobile filtering, but which one is right for you? Let’s quickly examine them.

Full-screen mobile filtering takes up the entire screen to give mobile shoppers a focused experience. Its biggest downside is taking shoppers out of the browsing context.

Kayak uses full-screen mobile filtering.

Slide over onscreen filters appears on the screen of the results, usually from the side of the panel. It lays the filters over the search result to give content to the displayed items.

Amazon uses this mobile filtering approach.

Full-screen and slide-over filtering both makes shoppers’ mobile filtering experiences sweet and intuitive. But when is the best time to use them? Here’s what we found:

• Slide-over filtering is perfect when you have fewer filter options and want to retain context.
• Use full-screen filtering when your site has multiple filter options and wants the customer to have full focus. 

Whichever you pick, ensure that the filter design suits different click patterns and finger sizes. This article could help you quickly optimize your mobile eCommerce website for more conversions.

Implementing these mobile filter UX design best practices will help you stay ahead of the game:

• Show only relevant filters.
• Put your most essential filters within view and hide the less important ones.
• Use drop-down menus to organize the filters neatly.
• Make the filters easy to change.
• Use the proper UI controls to make filtering intuitive (like checkboxes, toggles, sliders).
• Find the filters shoppers use the most and rearrange them accordingly.
• Use sorting to make filter results more tailored

16. Decide on placement on different screen sizes

Vertical sidebar or slide-in bar has been the traditional placement for filters, but today, the horizontal toolbar is becoming increasingly popular. 

Let’s quickly examine how the two filtering UI compare:

• A Baymard analysis found that shoppers often ignore or miss the sidebar filters and sometimes mix up the sorting and filtering tools. This usability issue also applies to the desktop, but it’s less damaging because of its larger view.
• The central position of the horizontal toolbar grabs visitors’ attention without taking screen space.
• Horizontal filters take up smaller screen space, making them come in handy for industries with naturally fewer filters, like apparel and home decorations.
• Vertical sidebar filters sit in a column, making the number of filters it could contain endless—hence, finding practical applications in industries with larger filter options or spec-driven products.

17. Optimize for Filter Speed 

Speed is paramount when it comes to eCommerce search filters. 

Shoppers expect filters to apply changes instantly without waiting for a full-page reload. 

A delay of even a few seconds can lead to frustration and cart abandonment.

How to Optimize:

• Use AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) or similar technologies to update product results in real-time without refreshing the entire page.
• Enable predictive filtering to adjust filter options based on previously selected filters to minimize unnecessary choices.
• Prioritize server performance to handle simultaneous filter queries during peak times by leveraging caching, load balancers, and database indexing.

Why It Works:

• Instant feedback improves user satisfaction and keeps shoppers engaged.
• Fast eCommerce filters reduce bounce rates and encourage deeper exploration of your catalog.

18. Indicate Product Quantity to Avoid Dead Ends

One of the most frustrating experiences for shoppers is applying a filter only to find zero results. 

This issue can be avoided by displaying the number of available products next to each filter option.

How to Implement:

• Show product availability in parentheses (e.g., “Size: Medium (25)” or “Color: Black (15)”).
• Adjust product counts in real-time as shoppers apply additional filters.
• Grey out or hide filters that would return no results to guide shoppers more effectively.

19. Avoid Full-Page Scrolling by Adding Nested, Scrollable Categories

When dealing with large catalogs, endless scrolling through filters can overwhelm shoppers. 

Instead, structure your eCommerce product filter system into organized, nested categories with individual scrollable sections.

How to Execute:

• Introduce collapsible menus that expand or collapse filter sections (e.g., “Size,” “Color,” “Material”).
• Enable scrollable subcategories and keep the main filter menu static so shoppers can scroll through individual options within each category.
• Use sticky filters so that all the filters stay visible as shoppers scroll through the product list.

20. Highlight Applied Filters 

Shoppers need to know which filters are currently active to feel in control of their journey. 

Displaying applied filters improves navigation and enhances the overall filtering UX.

Best Practices:

• Show active filters in a prominent location, such as above the product grid or at the top of the filter sidebar.
• Add a “Clear All” button to reset all filters with one click.
• Visually emphasize selected filters in the filter menu (e.g., bold text, checkmarks).

What Next?

98% of visitors who visit a site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.

And this is the problem ConvertCart solves.

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.

Contact our conversion experts to audit your site and skyrocket your eCommerce conversions.