Glass display windows filled with stylish mannequins, seasonal floral arrangements, and outfit and accessory pairings have long been brick-and-mortar retail’s secret weapon. These tactics silently sell to strolling shoppers before they even enter the store.
Online store owners can wield similar persuasive power with a well-crafted featured products section. Highlighting your bestsellers, sale offers, or new collections can recreate the allure of a physical storefront. But instead of foot traffic, it encourages clicks and invites virtual visitors to scroll through more of your store.
Learn where to place featured products on your site and how to add them to your Shopify store to boost sales.
What are featured products?
Featured products are items you highlight on your ecommerce website to catch your customers’ attention. You’ll typically displayfeatured products on your homepage, product pages, or dedicated landing pages. Your featured products might include new arrivals, seasonal offerings, popular items, or products you want to promote due to their high profit margins or top customer ratings.
A featured products campaign encourages customers to dig deeper into your site by elevating your most appealing or best-selling items. It can also help increase visibility for particular products you’re keen to promote, whether they’re fresh stock, seasonal must-haves, or items you’re looking to move quickly.
Where to showcase featured products online
Your featured products deserve prominent placement across your online presence. Take advantage of these main types of digital real estate to display featured products and attract attention:
Homepage
Your online store homepage is often the first impression for potential customers, so make it count. A featured products section above the fold (what viewers can see without needing to scroll) can immediately put focus on your best offerings. Consider using a carousel or grid layout to display featured products without overwhelming visitors.
Ruggable, a washable rug company, presents Trending Styles on its homepage with a diverse selection of designs, including holiday-themed rugs and collaborations with brands like Goop and Morris & Co. This curated display features product variety, seasonal offerings, and exclusive partnerships to entice customers.
Product pages
Your product pages don’t have to be one-hit wonders. Use the space below the main product to emphasize related or complementary items from your product line. This not only helps increase sales through cross-selling but also gives shoppers a broader view of your merchandise.
Mejuri, a contemporary jewelry brand, boosts its product pages with pitches for related items. When you scroll down the product page for its Duo Beaded Stacker Ring, you see a “You May Also Like” section that shares complementary pieces, encouraging bundled purchases for stylish ring stacking.
Checkout
The checkout page is your last chance to boost your average order value. Curate low-cost, high-margin add-ons that complement the items in the shopper’s cart. Just be careful not to distract from the main goal: completing the purchase.
Luxy Hair, a premium hair extensions brand, leverages its checkout page for additional sales opportunities. When customers add a hair extension product to their cart, the cart checkout sidebar displays a “You may also like” section featuring three high-margin accessories—styling tools and care products—encouraging impulse purchases to complement the main item.
Offsite
Your featured products can shine beyond your online store. Here are some key places to present them:
- Paid ads. Create eye-catching displays of your top products to attract clicks and build brand awareness.
- Email campaigns. Show off new or popular items to encourage customers to revisit your store.
- Social media posts. Share product photos or user-generated content featuring your bestsellers.
- Affiliate marketing. Partner with influencers to share your featured products with their engaged audiences—whether that’s on TikTok or Instagram.
Linjer, a jewelry brand known for minimalist designs, offers up “This Season’s Bestsellers” with an image of layered necklaces in its email campaign. It follows up with close-ups of two specific pieces—the Bezel Set Diamond Necklace and the Graduated Diamond Necklace—presented as “Everyday Essentials” to entice subscribers to shop a curated selection.
Linjer doesn’t stop there with the offsite featured products efforts. The company also uses Instagram ads to promote the bestselling Fleur necklace, combining a close-up product photo with text drawing attention to a sitewide sale, promoting both a specific item and a broader shopping incentive.
Which products should you feature?
Don’t limit yourself to your top sellers when featuring products. Consider a mix of items that can serve different purposes for your business and appeal to various customer segments:
Bestselling
Your bestselling products are usually a safe bet for a featured section. These items have proven themselves popular with your customer base, and touting them can reinforce their success. Customer feedback and high ratings on these products can boost the confidence of new buyers. Featuring bestselling products can also help maintain their popularity, which is especially useful if you’ve recently restocked. Consistent sales of these items can also mean low return rates, which is great for your supply chain efficiency.
New products
Giving prominence to new releases helps with building initial momentum. Featuring products that have just hit your digital shelves helps draw attention to your growing catalog and keeps your ecommerce store feeling fresh. New items can intrigue your loyal customers and attract new ones looking for the latest trends. Don’t be afraid to display these newcomers alongside your established favorites.
Seasonal
Seasonal products deserve special attention during their prime selling windows. Whether it’s cozy sweaters for winter, spooky decorations for Halloween, or thoughtful gifts for Father’s Day, these seasonal items can tap into timely shopping needs. Playing up seasonal products helps customers find relevant items quickly, especially during busy gifting periods like Christmas or Valentine’s Day. This strategy can boost sales and show that your store is in tune with your customers’ changing needs throughout the year.
Slow moving
Sometimes, items aren’t selling well simply because they lack visibility, not because they’re unpopular. Don’t overlook the potential of slow-moving inventory when selecting featured products. Giving these products a featured spot can breathe new life into forgotten inventory. However, be careful—avoid featuring items that are nearly out of stock, which could lead to customer disappointment. Instead, use this as an opportunity to present quality products that just need a little extra push.
High margin
Featuring high-margin products can boost your bottom line. These items might not always be your top sellers, but they offer great profit potential. For example, a clothing store might feature a gold-plated necklace at checkout, tempting customers to add this high-margin accessory to their purchase. This works particularly well for complementary items that boost the value of a customer’s total purchase. By promoting these products, you can increase average order value while providing customers with relevant add-ons.
How to add featured products to your Shopify store
The process of adding featured products to your Shopify store can vary slightly depending on your chosen theme. Although the general process is similar across themes, some specific steps or options might differ slightly.
Here is how you can add featured products to your Shopify store:
1. Navigate to your Shopify store admin. Go to the left-hand menu bar, and under “Sales channels,” select “Online Store.” Then, under “Online Store,” click on “Themes.”
2. Locate your current theme and click “Customize” next to it. This will open the theme editor, where you can make changes to your Shopify store appearance and layout.
3. In the theme editor, navigate to the “Template” section. Click on “Add Section” and look for the options “Featured collection” or “Featured product.” These options let you accent specific products or collections on your chosen page.
4. Once you’ve selected either “Featured product” or “Featured collection,” you can choose which items to showcase. You may also have options to customize the display, such as choosing the number of products to show or adjusting the layout.
5. After selecting your featured products or featured collections, click “Save” to apply your changes. Preview your Shopify store to see how the featured products look, and make any necessary adjustments. Once you’re satisfied, publish your changes to make them live on your online store.
Featured products FAQ
What are examples of featured products?
A particular product—like a bestselling smartphone or a new seasonal clothing line—might be featured prominently on a store’s homepage or dedicated category pages.
What does it mean to feature a product?
Featuring a product means giving it a prominent placement on your website, typically on the homepage or on a product page. This special treatment aims to increase visibility and drive sales for selected items, which you can further promote using compelling descriptions or by highlighting positive customer reviews.
What is the difference between featured and popular products?
The retailer deliberately chooses featured products for promotion, while popular products are determined by customer behavior and sales data. Both might appear on the same page, but featured products are intentionally placed to influence buying decisions, whereas popular items reflect existing customer preferences.
