List View or Grid View and Collection Page Customization

List view or grid view? Which should you choose as the default for your ecommerce store collection page? I make this decision based on the option I believe better converts leads into buying customers. The major difference between grid view and list view is that grid view shows the image in a larger format but displays less of the product description text. The converse is true for the list view.

Ultimately therefore, buying motivators are likely to depend on the product type and target market. For instance, products whose perceived value is more readily assessed visually suit the grid view. Examples of this product type include shoes, clothes, decorative accents and furniture.

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Conversely, products whose perceived value is more readily assessed through descriptive details are better displayed using the list view. This allows you to make the product details more prominent. Examples of this product type include highly technical products whose differentiating qualities are not immediately apparent through seeing them like electronics, cameras and car tires. Furthermore, list view is especially noteworthy when products look alike despite critical unseen details. For instance, a product line of cars may look very similar but have considerable differences regarding some key aspect of performance. 

You can switch the default view in Shopify accordingly by logging into the backend / admin account and using using the following selections.

• Online Store
• Products
• Collections
• As pictured below, use the drop down menu to select the type of collection template to use (the grid view or list view template)

Customizing Collection Displays (with shopping carts, security codes, item counter, etc)

Themes (like Shopify's Supply theme) may not display more than just the image, title, price and some part of the product description on the collection display. If your target market knows your product very well, buys repeatedly and already knows his or her choice, you may improve the shopping experience by allowing customers to shop directly from the collection page. 

The good news is that this level of customization is possible. However, customization requires knowledge of css and Shopify's liquid files which goes beyond the scope of this blog post. Needless to say, you may feel free to show your coder the following screen shot for ideas for including security badges in a section called the 'breadcrumbs' to the top of the collection display page. 

Here is what the CSS looks like.

Needless to say, if you hire someone to customize your collection page, you may as well request the same customizations on the product page template as pictured below.

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RELATED CONTENT

• Back to basics. What are collections and other Shopify elements?