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Product Discoverability
Spree Commerce
December 19, 2024

How to Create and Edit Products to Improve Discovery, Conversions and SEO

The latest Spree 5 open-source eCommerce admin dashboard represents a significant leap forward in product management capabilities. By consolidating product creation and editing into a streamlined single-page interface, it empowers merchandising teams to elevate their product presentation game to new heights.

But the improvements go far beyond just productivity gains – the new dashboard provides sophisticated tools for making products more discoverable and appealing while incorporating powerful SEO optimization features.

How to improve Discovery, Conversions and SEO:

  1. The Power of Single-Page Product Management
  2. Rich Product Descriptions: Converting Browsers to Buyers
  3. Product Attributes: Enhancing Discovery and Decision-Making
  4. Product Images: Visual Selling Power
  5. SEO Tools: Maximizing Visibility
  6. Product Taxonomies: Creating Multiple Discovery Paths
  7. Advanced Features for Enhanced Performance
  8. Measuring and Optimizing Performance
  9. Mastering Time-Limited Product Availability
  10. Putting It All Together

The Power of Single-Page Product Management

Gone are the days of jumping between multiple tabs and screens to create or update a product. Spree 5’s unified product management interface brings all critical elements together in one place, allowing your team to craft compelling product stories efficiently. Let’s explore how each feature contributes to better discovery, higher conversions, and improved SEO performance.

Product Basic Information: Setting the Foundation

The basic product information section might seem straightforward, but it’s crucial for both customer understanding and search engine visibility. A well-crafted product name and SKU are your first opportunities to improve discoverability:

Product Name Optimization
Your product name should balance search-friendliness with readability. For example, instead of just “Blue T-Shirt”, consider “Men’s Cotton Crew Neck T-Shirt – Ocean Blue”. This approach:

SKU Strategy
While SKUs are primarily for internal use, a logical SKU system can improve team efficiency and help with inventory management. Consider including:

Rich Product Descriptions: Converting Browsers to Buyers

Product descriptions are where you can really shine in both conversion optimization and SEO. Spree 5’s rich text editor allows you to:

Create Scannable Content
Break your description into clear sections:

Incorporate SEO Elements

Product Attributes: Enhancing Discovery and Decision-Making

Product attributes serve multiple crucial functions:

Technical Specifications
Detailed attributes help customers make informed decisions:

Searchable Characteristics
Attributes also power your internal search and filtering:

Product Images: Visual Selling Power

High-quality product images are essential for conversion, and Spree 5 makes image management more efficient than ever:

Image Optimization Features

SEO Tools: Maximizing Visibility

Spree 5’s SEO features help you optimize every product for search engines:

Google Preview Tool
See exactly how your product will appear in search results and optimize:

SEO Best Practices
The platform enables you to conveniently comply with all the best practices regarding:

Product Taxonomies: Creating Multiple Discovery Paths

One of Spree 5’s most powerful features is its flexible taxonomy system:

Multiple Category Assignments
Products can belong to multiple relevant categories:

Collection Integration
Easily add products to:

Brand Catalog Management
Organize products within brand-specific sections:

Advanced Features for Enhanced Performance

Product Tags

Tags provide additional ways to group and discover products:

Related Products

Build connections between items to increase average order value:

Mastering Time-Limited Product Availability

One of the most powerful features in Spree 5’s product management toolkit is the ability to precisely control when products appear on your storefront. Through three key timing controls – Make Active At, Available On, and Discontinue On – you can create sophisticated product release strategies that drive engagement and sales.

Understanding the Time Controls

Think of these controls as your product’s scheduling assistant. Each serves a specific purpose in managing your product’s lifecycle:

Make Active At This setting determines when a product first becomes visible in your admin panel. It’s particularly useful when preparing seasonal merchandise or planning future collections. Your team can set up products well in advance, complete with descriptions, images, and categorization, while keeping them hidden until you’re ready to start internal preparations.

For example, imagine you’re planning your holiday collection. You might set Make Active At to October 1st, giving your team a full month to arrange categories, prepare marketing materials, and set up promotions before the products go live to customers in November.

Available On This is when your product becomes visible to customers on your storefront. It’s your product’s official launch date, when it appears in searches, categories, and collections. The power of Available On comes from its ability to create anticipation and coordinate complex product launches.

Consider a fashion retailer launching a new designer collaboration. You might set Available On to coincide with a major fashion event, ensuring your products go live exactly when media coverage and customer interest peak.

Discontinue On This setting determines when a product should automatically disappear from your storefront. It’s invaluable for managing limited-time offers, seasonal items, or products with specific expiration dates.

Strategic Applications

Let’s explore some powerful ways to use these timing controls:

Pre-launch Visibility By setting Make Active At earlier than Available On, you can:

Seasonal Merchandise Management For seasonal products, you might set:

This creates a clean transition between seasons while giving your team plenty of preparation time.

Flash Sales and Limited Releases Create urgency with precise timing:

Real-World Examples

Let’s look at how different businesses might use these controls:

Fashion Retailer’s Summer Collection

This schedule allows for proper merchandising setup, marketing preparation, and a clean transition to fall inventory.

Limited Edition Product Launch

Perfect for creating buzz around exclusive releases.

Holiday Merchandise

Ensures smooth holiday season execution with plenty of prep time.

Best Practices for Time-Limited Promotions

To make the most of these timing controls:

Plan Your Timeline Create a detailed schedule that includes:

Coordinate Across Teams Ensure all departments know the timeline:

Monitor and Adjust Use Spree 5’s analytics to:

Benefits of Time-Limited Availability

When used strategically, these timing controls can:

The key to success is thinking of these controls not just as scheduling tools, but as strategic instruments for creating compelling shopping experiences. By mastering their use in Spree 5, you can create sophisticated product release strategies that drive engagement and sales while reducing the operational overhead of managing product visibility.

Measuring and Optimizing Performance

Spree 5’s analytics help you understand how your product content performs:

Putting It All Together

The Spree 5 admin dashboard brings all these elements together in a cohesive interface that helps you:

By leveraging these tools effectively, your team can create product listings that not only rank well in search results but also convert browsers into buyers more effectively. The single-page interface reduces the time needed for product management while ensuring no critical elements are overlooked.

Remember, great product content is an ongoing process of creation, measurement, and refinement. Spree 5 provides all the tools you need to excel at each stage of this process, helping you build a product catalog that’s both discoverable and converting.

Check out this User Doc on how to Create a Product.

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Written by: Michal Faber Spree Evangelist. Co-founder and CEO of Vendo.

Mike is a Spree Evangelist, promoting the platform's features and keeping the community updated on its roadmap. Mike is also a co-founder and CEO of Vendo, a major Spree contributor and provider of its Enterprise Edition, getting you more features, more security, more integrations so you can go live faster and get all the latest improvements first.

Let's use Spree to build exactly what your business needs

Get started See demo
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