Can Shopify support multiple levels of product subcategories?

[promovladimir]

Hello everyone,

we are setting up product categorization in Shopify and would like to better understand what is possible.

We understand that products can be organized using Collections, and that one product can belong to multiple Collections.

However, what we would like to know is whether Shopify allows a deeper category structure, for example:

Main category → Subcategory → Additional subcategory

In other words, we would like to add products not only to Collections, but also organize them into two additional subcategory levels, so that customers can browse the store in a more structured way.

Is this possible natively in Shopify, or should this be handled through navigation menus, tags, metafields, automated Collections, or a custom theme/app solution?

What would be the recommended best practice for setting this up?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Gimmesales]

Hi @promovladimir

This is Vineet from Identixweb, a Shopify Development Agency.

Shopify doesn’t really have a native “category > subcategory > sub-subcategory” system. Collections are mostly flat pages, and one product can belong to multiple collections. They can be manual or automated, and you can add collection links to menus so customers can browse them.

What I usually do is to build the hierarchy through navigation menus, not by trying to make collections nested inside other collections.

For example:

Main menu:
Men → Shoes → Running Shoes
Men → Shoes → Formal Shoes
Women → Bags → Tote Bags

Each level can link to a collection, page, or filtered collection depending on your setup. Shopify supports dropdown menus for grouping products, collections, and pages in the online store navigation.

For product organization, I’d use:

• Collections for customer-facing category pages

• Automated collections using tags, product type, vendor, price, etc.

• Tags or metafields for internal grouping and filters

• Search & Discovery filters for size, color, brand, material, use case, etc.

• Navigation menus to create the visible category structure

Shopify’s product category/taxonomy field can also help with product organization and sales channels, but each product can have only one product category, so I wouldn’t use it as the main customer-facing category hierarchy.

[Wsp]

Hey @promovladimir
STEP 1. Create main Collections

Go to: Shopify Admin → Products → Collections → Create Collection

Create main categories like:

Men
Women
Kids
Accessories

These are your main store categories

STEP 2. Create subcategory Collections

Create more specific collections like:

Men Shoes
Men Clothing
Women Dresses
Women Tops

These act as subcategories

Use:

Automated collections
Or manual selection
STEP 3. Add rules for automated collections

For each subcategory collection, set rules like:

Example (Running Shoes collection):

Product tag = running
OR
Product type = shoes

This makes collections auto-update.

STEP 4. Create navigation menu

Go to: Online Store → Navigation → Main Menu

Build structure like:

Men
→ Shoes
→ Running Shoes
→ Formal Shoes

Women
→ Clothing
→ Dresses
→ Tops

This creates the category tree look for customers

STEP 5. Assign products correctly

For every product:

Add correct tags (running, casual, premium)
Set product type
Ensure it matches correct collections

This powers automation.

STEP 6.Enable filters for better browsing

Go to:
Apps → Search & Discovery → Filters

Enable:

Size
Color
Brand
Material

This replaces deep category levels.

STEP 7. Test full structure

Check frontend:

Menu shows proper hierarchy
Collections show correct products
Filters work correctly
Products appear in right categories

Thank You !

[promovladimir]

Thank you for your helpful replies.
This clarifies that Shopify does not have true native nested collections, but the same structure can be achieved using collections, navigation menus, tags/metafields and filters.
Thanks again!

[devcoders]

Hi @promovladimir

Shopify does not support true nested product categories natively like:

Main Category → Subcategory → Additional Subcategory

Instead, Shopify mainly uses:

• Collections

• Navigation menus

• Tags

• Metafields

• Automated collections

The most common and recommended approach is:

Use Collections for main categories
Use Navigation/Mega Menu for nested structure
Use tags or metafields for filtering and additional organization
Use automated collections to dynamically group products

One product can belong to multiple collections, which gives you flexibility for complex structures.

If you want a deeper and more advanced category system, it usually requires:

• A custom theme setup

• Advanced mega menu

• Filtering app

• Or custom metafield-based architecture

Best regards,
Devcoder

[cxsnippets]

Hey @promovladimir
Yes, you can definitely set this up in Shopify.While Shopify doesn’t have true nested collections built in, most stores handle this by using collections along with nested menu items for navigation.
For example, you can structure it like this:
Main Category
→ Subcategory
→ Additional Subcategory
To do this, first create separate collections for each category or subcategory. A product can also belong to multiple collections if needed.Then go to Online Store → Navigation and open your main menu. Add the collection links there and simply drag the submenu items slightly under the parent category to create the hierarchy.Shopify will automatically turn those into dropdown menus.
After that, you can go to: Online Store → Customize → Headerand choose the menu you want to display. Depending on your theme, you can use either a regular dropdown menu or a mega menu layout.This is the approach most Shopify stores use for multi-level category navigation.

[Robert_Kanaan]

@promovladimir Subcollections don’t exist in Shopify in a true parent/child collection structure. The most common way to achieve a similar setup is through the store’s navigation menus, where collections can be nested under one another for display purposes.

[Justas_AugmentStudio]

@promovladimir ,

Deep catalogues or even visual hierarchical presence of many categories make useful products easy to bury. Besides menus/filters, targeted product-page add-ons, frequently bought together blocks, and cart drawer cross-sells can surface relevant products at the right moment.

You may already know this, but your customers won’t always know the exact naming of products they’re trying to find, they might land into specific product pages, etc., so a well structured upselling and cross-selling strategy could help with product visibility.

If you’re ever shopping around for a robust yet affordable solution, check out AS Quantity Break & Upsell app.

You can set bulk triggers and show these upsells on specific products, collections, or for products tagged with specific tags in your store.

And you can match your store’s styling with no-code and re-use those styles to launch many more different offers fast if needed.