Sorting Product Categories in Magento: A Complete Guide
🎯 Why Category Organisation Matters
Well-organised categories help customers navigate your store efficiently. Whether you're grouping products by price range, type (Electronics, Clothing), or any other attribute, clear category structure directly impacts the shopping experience and conversion rates.
This guide covers everything you need to know about sorting products into categories, controlling display order, and managing your category structure.
📂 How to Sort Products into Categories in Magento
Sorting products into categories is straightforward once you've decided on your organisational structure.
🏗️ Planning Your Category Structure
Before creating categories, consider how customers will browse your store:
🏷️ By Product Type — Electronics, Clothing, Home & Garden
💰 By Price Range — Budget, Mid-Range, Premium
⭐ By Collection — New Arrivals, Bestsellers, Sale Items
🎯 By Use Case — Work, Leisure, Sport
➕ Creating Categories and Adding Products
To create a category and add products:
1️⃣ Navigate to Catalog > Categories
2️⃣ Click Add Subcategory (or Add Root Category for top-level categories)
3️⃣ Enter your category name and configure settings
4️⃣ Open the Products in Category tab
5️⃣ Select the products to include
6️⃣ Save the category
⚠️ Note: Manually adding products can be time-consuming for large catalogues. If you have hundreds or thousands of products to organise, consider using Magento's category rules or a PIM system to automate assignments.
📁 Creating Multiple Categories
You can create as many categories and subcategories as your store requires. The main tasks are:
- Adding products to each category
- Configuring category display settings
- Setting up category navigation menus
🔢 What is Sort Order in Magento?
Sort order determines how products appear on category pages in your store. This affects what customers see first when browsing.
📊 Automatic Sort Options
Magento offers several automatic sorting methods:
📅 Date Added — Newest products appear first (great for stores with frequent new arrivals)
💷 Price — Order by price, ascending or descending
🔤 Alphabetical — A-Z ordering by product name
⭐ Position — Custom manual ordering (see below)
✋ Manual Position Control
For precise control over product order:
1️⃣ Navigate to Catalog > Categories
2️⃣ Select your category from the tree
3️⃣ Open the Products in Category tab
4️⃣ Find the Position column
5️⃣ Enter numerical values (lower numbers appear first)
6️⃣ Save the category
💡 Strategic Positioning Tips
Consider which products should appear first:
🆕 New Products — Keep fresh stock visible to returning customers
🏆 Bestsellers — Show proven performers prominently
💰 High-Margin Items — Feature products with better profitability
🎯 Promotional Items — Highlight current offers or seasonal products
🔄 How to Change Category Order in Magento
Rearranging your category structure is simple with drag-and-drop functionality.
📋 Step-by-Step: Reordering Categories
1️⃣ Select — Navigate to Catalog > Categories and click on the category you want to move
2️⃣ Drag — Click and hold the category, then drag it to the new position
3️⃣ Drop — Release the category in its new location within the category tree
The change takes effect immediately. You can move categories:
- Up or down within the same level
- Into another category (making it a subcategory)
- Out of a parent category (promoting it to a higher level)
🗑️ How Do I Delete a Category in Magento?
Removing categories is straightforward, but proceed with caution.
⚠️ Before You Delete
Consider what happens to products in the deleted category:
- Products remain in your catalogue but lose this category assignment
- Products may become harder to find if they're not in other categories
- Any links to the deleted category will break
🗑️ Deleting a Category
1️⃣ Navigate to Catalog > Categories
2️⃣ Select the category you want to delete from the tree
3️⃣ Verify you have the correct category selected
4️⃣ Click Delete in the top right corner
5️⃣ Confirm the deletion when prompted
💡 Tip: Before deleting, check whether products in this category exist in other categories. If not, consider reassigning them first to maintain discoverability.
⏱️ Category Management at Scale
These manual processes work well for small catalogues with a few dozen products and categories. However, challenges multiply as your store grows:
- Manually assigning hundreds of products to categories
- Maintaining consistent categorisation across product ranges
- Updating category assignments when products change
- Synchronising categories with other sales channels
🚀 Streamlined Category Management with PIM
A PIM system transforms category management:
📂 Centralised Categories — Define your category structure once and push it to Magento automatically
📦 Bulk Assignment — Assign hundreds of products to categories with a few clicks
🔄 Automatic Sync — Category changes in your PIM reflect in Magento instantly
🌐 Multi-Channel Consistency — Maintain the same category logic across Magento, Amazon, and other channels
🏷️ Rule-Based Assignment — Set criteria to automatically categorise products as they're added
Book a demo to discover how OneTimePIM can simplify your Magento category management.