How to Set Up Browse by Fit on Your Shopify Store

When customers shop for jeans or trousers, they usually start with fit. Slim, regular, relaxed, or wide leg are often the first decision they make before considering colour, wash, or price.

Large fashion retailers reflect this behaviour in their navigation. Sites such as ASOS, Levi's, and Uniqlo prominently display fit options when customers browse jeans.

Many Shopify stores do not provide this type of navigation. A standard Shopify collection page simply shows a grid of products. If a customer prefers slim fit jeans, they often have to scroll through every product in the collection or rely on filters.

Creating browse by fit navigation can make it easier for customers to reach the products that match their preference.

Why Fit Based Navigation Matters

Fit is different from many other product attributes because customers often already know their preference.

Someone who normally buys slim fit jeans is rarely browsing relaxed or wide leg styles at the same time. They want to go directly to the products that match their preferred fit.

Without clear fit navigation, a collection page may show dozens of products that the customer is not interested in. This increases the effort required to find the right item.

Fit based navigation is particularly useful for categories such as:

Any category where fit significantly changes how a garment looks or feels can benefit from clearer navigation.

Using Collections to Organise Fits

The simplest way to organise fit options on Shopify is to create a separate collection for each fit.

For example, a store might already have a collection called:

Additional collections could include:

Products can appear in multiple collections at the same time, so a pair of slim fit jeans can belong to both the main Jeans collection and the Slim Fit Jeans collection.

Each collection has its own URL and page, which also allows merchants to add specific descriptions or content for each fit category.

Connecting Fit Collections on the Collection Page

Once the fit collections exist, the next step is helping customers move between them easily.

A customer browsing the main Jeans collection should be able to see links to the available fits without returning to the site menu.

For example:

Each link leads to the collection that contains products for that specific fit.

Displaying this navigation directly on the collection page helps customers move quickly to the products they are most likely to buy.

Adding Fit Navigation with Collection Paths

Collection Paths is designed to display links between related collections on collection pages.

To create browse by fit navigation, a merchant can select the parent collection such as "Jeans" and link it to the collections representing each fit.

The navigation then appears above the product grid, allowing customers to choose their preferred fit before browsing products.

Text pills usually work well for fit navigation because the fit names are short and widely understood. Labels such as Slim, Regular, or Relaxed are typically clear without requiring an image.

Best Practices for Fit Navigation

A few simple decisions can make fit navigation easier for customers to understand.

Use consistent naming

Collection names and navigation labels should match. For example, if the collection is called "Slim Fit Jeans", the navigation label might use "Slim" or "Slim Fit".

Avoid mixing similar terms such as Skinny and Slim unless they represent genuinely different fits.

Limit the number of fit options

Three to five fit categories is usually easy for customers to scan.

Too many options can make navigation harder rather than easier. If several fits are very similar, grouping them into a single category can keep the navigation clearer.

Order fits logically

Many stores arrange fits from the most fitted style to the loosest style. For example:

This ordering reflects how customers often think about the spectrum of fits.

Highlight popular fits

If one fit represents the majority of sales, placing it first in the navigation can make it easier for customers to reach the products they are most likely to buy.

Apply Browse by Fit Across Relevant Categories

Once browse by fit navigation works well for jeans, the same approach can be used in other clothing categories.

Trousers, chinos, shorts, and shirts often benefit from the same structure. The process remains the same each time. Create a collection for each fit, then link those collections from the main category collection so customers can move between them easily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Fit is often the first decision customers make when shopping for clothing. Providing clear navigation between fits can make browsing faster and more intuitive.

By organising products into fit based collections and linking them on the collection page, stores can create a browsing experience that mirrors how customers actually shop.

Tools such as Collection Paths make it easier to display this navigation directly on the collection page without editing theme code.