The Power of Product Tagging in Shopify

If you’ve ever felt like your store’s product data is a bit chaotic – or that you’re missing clear patterns in sales – chances are, your tagging system could use a little love.

Product tags are one of the most underused but powerful tools available to Shopify merchants. Used well, they help you organize, segment, and analyze your inventory in ways that go far beyond basic categories or collections.

In this article, we’ll walk through how to create a simple Shopify tags strategy, what to avoid, and how smart tagging opens up a whole new level of insights – especially when paired with a tool like Portfolytics, which turns tags into visual dashboards and actionable comparisons. And in the end to more sales.

What Are Product Tags (and What Aren’t They)?

Let’s clarify the basics first.

In Shopify, product tags are flexible labels you can attach to products in Shopify. They are different from:

• Categories, which usually define high-level groupings like “Women’s shoes” or “Accessories”
• Collections, which are curated product groups like “Spring 2025” or “Gift Ideas”

Unlike categories or collections, tags are not part of your store’s navigation by default – but that’s also their best feature. You can use them however you want: to label features, materials, occasions, customer segments, product dimensions, and so on.

Example:
A hoodie might be in the “Outerwear” category and the “Winter Essentials” collection, but tagged with unisex, cotton-blend, color-black, and size-xl.

Why Tags Matter More Than You Think

Most stores use tags loosely — and that’s a missed opportunity.

Done well, tags allow you to:

• Segment products across your entire catalog based on shared traits
• Analyze sales trends by those traits — like which colors or materials perform better
• Compare performance across collections using those shared tags

With a tool like Portfolytics, tags become filters for discovering high-level patterns:

• Which tags consistently perform well across different collections?
• Are certain tags underperforming in specific categories?
• Do “eco-friendly” or “bestseller” tags hold up over time?

Instead of guessing, you start seeing.

Smart Tagging Strategies

Here’s how to set up Shopify product tagging system in a way that serves both organization and analytics.

Be Consistent

Use lowercase and hyphens: color-blue, not Blue or Blue_Shade

Stick to one tag per idea (don’t create multiple versions of the same thing)

Think in Dimensions

Break your tags down into clear dimensions like:

Size: size-s, size-m, size-xl

Color: color-red, color-green, color-black

Material: material-cotton, material-wool

Use-case: tag-gift, tag-beach, tag-office

Season: season-summer, season-winter

Avoid Over-tagging

Too many tags = messy data. Only tag what you plan to measure, filter, or act on.

Regular Cleanups

Every quarter, review your tag usage. Are some tags unused? Are there duplicates? Consolidate and refine.

Using Tags for Sizes, Colors & Dimensions (with Portfolytics in Mind)

One of the most valuable uses of tags is breaking down performance by physical attributes — like size, color, and product dimensions. Here’s how to do it properly:

1. Sizes

Use a consistent tag format like:

• size-xs, size-s, size-m, size-l, size-xl, size-xxl

This lets you analyze:

“Do size-xl products sell more in jackets or in tees?”

2. Colors

Stick to base colors first:

• color-blue, color-red, color-black

Optional: add sub-tags like color-blue-navy if needed.

You can then answer:

“Is color-white underperforming across all collections, or just in swimwear?”

3. Product Dimensions

Tag using logical buckets:

size-compact, size-medium, size-large

volume-500ml, length-long, etc.

Perfect for accessories, furniture, cosmetics — any product where size affects use.

And when plugged into Portfolytics, these tags become data filters:

See which size-compact items perform best in “Travel Essentials” vs “Everyday Carry.” (*)

This opens the door to real optimization:

• Restock smarter
• Bundle better
• Kill what’s not working

Tags + Portfolytics = Strategic Advantage

Without a tool like Portfolytics, tags are mostly for internal filtering or automation. If you export your store’s product catalog you will get ALL the tags per product. Good luck analyzing sales or inventory levels.

With Portfolytics, they become a powerful analytical layer. You can:

• Understand which tags sell and which don’t
• Spot sales patterns based on colors, materials, or use-cases
• See which tags lead to higher average order values

In short: tags go from being a backend tool to a business intelligence asset.

Final Thoughts: Tag With Purpose

If you’re going to use tags — and you should — do it intentionally.

Use consistent, strategic tags that reflect the dimensions you care about. Don’t tag for the sake of tagging. Tag to create visibility. And make sure you’re actually using your tags for analysis — not just storage.

Because once you start pairing structured tags with a visual tool like Portfolytics, you’ll stop guessing and start seeing. And that’s when real growth begins.

Download Portfolytics from the Shopify App Store and try it for free for 30 days. Installing it will literally just take a minute.

* In our roadmap. But you can already compared tags to each others on a store level.