Creating Shopify sub-collections: 2 methods

Shopify doesn’t natively support sub-collections, but simply organizing products into collections may not be enough to improve navigation and user experience in a growing store. However, there are simple workarounds for mimicking sub-collections.

You can link a sub-collection under the main collection to create a parent-child relationship through menu items, or you can create a new collection page template and add it as a collection list.

In this guide, I’ll break down how to add a sub-collection to Shopify in both ways – through menu items and collection page templates.

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How to add sub-collections on Shopify: 2 methods

To add a sub-collection to Shopify, you first need to create it as a collection in your Shopify Admin > Collections section. Then, you can either add it as a subset of a menu item or create a template section and add a list of sub-collections.

Add sub-collections as menu items

You can create a sub-collection by adding it as a subset of a collection through menu items on Shopify. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Shopify Admin and go to Content > Menus.
2. Click the menu that you want to add a sub-collection to.
3. Press “Add menu item” and add a sub-collection.
4. Drag the sub-collection under the collection you want to associate it with and slide it to the right.
5. Click Save. You can now view the sub-collection on your store.

Add sub-collections to a template section

If you want to display sub-collections on a separate category page of your Shopify store, then you need to create a new collection page template. Here’s how to add sub-collections through a template section:

1. In Shopify, go to Online store > Edit theme.
2. Click the “Home page” section at the top menu, go to Collections > Create a template.
3. Add a collection page title and press Create template.
4. Under the Template section, click Add section > Collection list.
5. Drag and drop the collection list at the top of the page.
6. Click one of the collection items in the list to assign a collection. You can add up to 10 collections to the list.
7. Click Select and press the sub-collection you want to display.
8. Click Save.

Note that you can’t add a collection to multiple collection lists, only a single collection list.

Why use sub-collections for your Shopify store?

Adding sub-collections to your Shopify store helps organize products, improve navigation, and increase sales. They break large categories into smaller product groups, which helps customers find products faster.

Sub-collections also let you target long-tail keywords, which are easier to rank for than short-tail keywords. For example, instead of targeting “Coffee,” you can target specific coffee types, like “Arabica coffee” or “Liberica coffee.” Highly specific collections perform great in search results, even without detailed collection descriptions.

When you rank higher, you’re more likely to get more traffic to your pages. If visitors find your store’s navigation simple, you may see higher engagement rates, which will potentially help generate sales.

Adding products to sub-collections in bulk

Shopify makes it easy to add products to sub-collections in bulk, which can save you loads of time if you have thousands of products. You can bulk add products following these steps:

1. Go to Shopify Admin > Products.
2. Checkmark the products you want to include in the same sub-collection.
3. Click More (three dots) and press Add to collection(s).
4. Select the sub-collection you want and click Save.

Tips for managing sub-collections on Shopify

Before creating sub-collections on Shopify, make sure you plan out a clear collection hierarchy so customers can easily navigate your products. Here are the main sub-collection management tips to take into account:

How to remove a sub-collection on Shopify?

Deleting sub-collections in Shopify follows the same process as deleting collections. It will remove the sub-collection but not the products that were assigned to it. 

1. Before you delete the sub-collection, make a note of the sub-collection URL. 
2. Navigate to Products > Collections. 
3. Checkmark the sub-collection you want to delete. 
4. Click More (three dots) and press Delete collection. 
5. You’ll be prompted to confirm your choice.
6. Click Delete.

If you delete a sub-collection, you need to create a 301 redirect so your customers don’t encounter a 404 error (broken link). You can fix a broken link by going to Content > Menus > URL redirects and creating a redirect with a destination URL.

Final thoughts

Using sub-collections is essential to ensure a better shopping journey for your customers, helping them find products they’re looking for more easily. It’s also a great way to improve SEO, targeting long-tail keywords instead of hard-to-rank short-tail keywords.

Although Shopify doesn’t offer sub-collections natively, you can still mimic them without using advanced apps or custom coding. The fastest way to add a sub-collection is to create it as a collection and drag and drop it as a menu item under the main collection.

If you want to display sub-collections on a collection page, you can create a new collection page template, add the collection list section, and link up to 10 sub-collections you want.

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About the author

Kristina Jaruseviciute

Kristina is a Content Lead at TinyIMG responsible for informing and educating readers on all things Shopify-related. She covers a broad range of topics around SEO, AI visibility, website performance, and conversion rates to help merchants stand out in a competitive landscape.