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Intermediary Category Page
203 design examples manually annotated by Baymard researchers
What’s this? Here you’ll find 203 annotated “Intermediary Category Page” design examples from Baymard’s UX benchmark of 60 major e-commerce sites. (Note: this is less than 1% of the full research catalog.)
Intermediary Category Pages are category pages used at the first 1–3 levels of a site’s category hierarchy (depending on the size of the product catalog). They are unique because they don’t show a list of products, but rather show all the available subcategories they contain — each depicted with a representative thumbnail. Despite consistently performing well in usability testing, 22% of e-commerce sites still don’t have any kind of category pages.
More ‘Intermediary Category Page’ Insights
- In testing we observe that when users land on an intermediary category page, they exhibit much of the same behavior as they do when landing on the homepage — they try to infer the category taxonomy, the breadth of the particular category, and which path will suit them best. Therefore the intermediary category page often faces the same challenges as the homepage, such as instantly conveying the category contents and making the primary paths (the subcategories) stand out among any featured promotions and products.
- Showing the entire list of products for a top-level category often won’t make sense, as the list will simply be too long or generic (e.g., “Women’s clothing”). Instead, the scope must be further defined before a meaningful and manageable list of products can be shown (e.g., “Women’s Jackets”). Intermediary category pages solve this exact problem and should be utilized in the 1–2 top levels of the hierarchy. It’s almost like a storefront for a particular product category, guiding the user to select subcategories, filters, or even specific promoted products.
Learn More: Besides exploring the 203 “Intermediary Category Page” design examples below, you may also want to read our related articles on “Implement the First 1-2 Levels of the E-Commerce Hierarchy as Intermediary Category Pages” and “7 Navigational Implementations that Make Kohl’s Best-in-Class”.
Get Full Access: To see all of Baymard’s 62 homepage and category navigation research findings you’ll need Baymard Premium access. (Premium also provides you full access to 37,000 hours of UX research findings, 690+ e-commerce UX guidelines, and 50,000+ UX performance scores.)
Build.com (2018)
17 adhered 3 violated
L.L. Bean (2018)
15 adhered 2 violated
REI (2018)
14 adhered 4 violated
HP (2018)
14 adhered 3 violated
Musician's Friend (2018)
13 adhered 1 violated
J.C. Penney (2018)
13 adhered 3 violated
Overstock (2018)
13 adhered 6 violated
Sears (2018)
13 adhered 2 violated
Ann Taylor (2018)
12 adhered 4 violated
Costco (2018)
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Urban Outfitters (2018)
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Staples (2018)
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Williams-Sonoma (2018)
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Kohl's (2018)
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Nordstrom (2018)
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Marks & Spencer (2018)
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Sephora (2018)
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American Eagle Outfitters (2018)
11 adhered 5 violated
Newegg (2018)
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B&H Photo (2018)
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Crutchfield (2018)
11 adhered 3 violated
Best Buy (2018)
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Lowe's (2018)
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Grainger (2018)
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Rakuten (2018)
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ASOS (2018)
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Home Depot (2018)
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Tesco (2018)
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Neiman Marcus (2018)
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TigerDirect (2018)
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Etsy (2018)
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Nike (2018)
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Hayneedle (2018)
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Macy's (2018)
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Walmart (2018)
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Apple (2018)
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Adidas (2018)
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Microsoft (2018)
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Crate & Barrel (2018)
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IKEA (2018)
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Lowe's (2018)
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Wayfair (2018)
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H&M (2018)
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Bass Pro Shops (2018)
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Disney Store (2018)
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B&H Photo (2018)
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Best Buy (2018)
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Office Depot (2018)
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Hayneedle (2018)
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Walmart (2018)
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Target (2018)
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Debenhams (2018)
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Argos (2018)
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Walgreen Co. (2018)
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Walgreen Co. (2018)
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Victoria's Secret (2018)
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Office Depot (2018)
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Amazon (2018)
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Amazon (2018)
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Debenhams (2018)
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Argos (2018)
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Cabela's (2018)
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Crutchfield (2018)
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Amazon (2018)
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Sears (2018)
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Target (2018)
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Tesco (2018)
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Northern Tool (2018)
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Newegg (2018)
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Home Depot (2018)
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Grainger (2018)
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Office Depot (2016)
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REI (2016)
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Williams-Sonoma (2016)
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Urban Outfitters (2016)
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Gap (2016)
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Ann Taylor (2016)
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Newegg (2016)
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Lowe's (2016)
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Amazon (2016)
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Walgreens (2016)
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Gilt (2016)
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Best Buy (2016)
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Wayfair (2016)
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Costco (2016)
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Kohl's (2016)
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Staples (2016)
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Overstock (2016)
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Nike (2016)
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L.L. Bean (2016)
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Dell (2016)
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HP (2016)
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Microsoft (2016)
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TigerDirect (2016)
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Crutchfield (2016)
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Crutchfield (2016)
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Toys'R'Us (2016)
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Hayneedle (2016)
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Sears (2016)
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J.C. Penney (2016)
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Victoria's Secret (2016)
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Dell (2016)
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Bass Pro Shops (2016)
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B&H Photo (2016)
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Sony (2016)
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Sony (2016)
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Walmart (2016)
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Walmart (2016)
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Rakuten (2016)
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Etsy (2016)
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Barnes & Noble (2016)
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Grainger (2016)
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Hayneedle (2016)
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Sears (2016)
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Home Depot (2016)
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Build.com (2016)
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Overstock (2016)
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Macy's (2016)
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Wayfair (2016)
3 adhered 1 violated
Costco (2016)
2 adhered 1 violated
Sephora (2016)
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Sephora (2016)
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Best Buy (2016)
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Staples (2016)
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Barnes & Noble (2016)
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Grainger (2016)
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Lowe's (2016)
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Hayneedle (2016)
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Crate & Barrel (2016)
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Home Depot (2016)
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Wayfair (2016)
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Sephora (2016)
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Disney (2016)
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Disney (2016)
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Office Depot (2016)
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Cabela's (2016)
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Macy's (2016)
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Sephora (2016)
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Amazon (2016)
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Etsy (2016)
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Etsy (2016)
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Toys'R'Us (2016)
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Newegg (2016)
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Newegg (2016)
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American Eagle Outfitters (2016)
0 adhered 4 violated
Ann Taylor (2013)
8 adhered 2 violated
Kohl's (2013)
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HSN (2013)
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Office Depot (2013)
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Target (2013)
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Target (2013)
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J.C. Penney (2013)
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Lowe's (2013)
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Barnes & Noble (2013)
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Grainger (2013)
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Home Depot (2013)
6 adhered 0 violated
J.C. Penney (2013)
5 adhered 4 violated
Overstock (2013)
5 adhered 4 violated
Best Buy (2013)
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Best Buy (2013)
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Macy's (2013)
5 adhered 1 violated
Hayneedle (2013)
4 adhered 1 violated
American Eagle Outfitters (2013)
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PC Connection (2013)
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Walmart (2013)
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OfficeMax (2013)
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OfficeMax (2013)
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Crate & Barrel (2013)
4 adhered 1 violated
Bass Pro Shops (2013)
3 adhered 2 violated
Wayfair (2013)
3 adhered 0 violated
Amazon (2013)
3 adhered 2 violated
Nordstrom (2013)
3 adhered 1 violated
Sony (2013)
3 adhered 1 violated
Costco (2013)
3 adhered 1 violated
Etsy (2013)
3 adhered 0 violated
Office Depot (2013)
3 adhered 1 violated
Sears (2013)
3 adhered 0 violated
Staples (2013)
3 adhered 4 violated
Hayneedle (2013)
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Hayneedle (2013)
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Walgreens (2013)
2 adhered 3 violated
Barnes & Noble (2013)
2 adhered 2 violated
TigerDirect (2013)
2 adhered 4 violated
Dell (2013)
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Urban Outfitters (2013)
2 adhered 0 violated
Walmart (2013)
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CDW (2013)
2 adhered 0 violated
Newegg (2013)
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OfficeMax (2013)
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Sears (2013)
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Bass Pro Shops (2013)
1 adhered 5 violated
Disney (2013)
1 adhered 0 violated
Wayfair (2013)
1 adhered 3 violated
Cabela's (2013)
1 adhered 3 violated
Home Depot (2013)
1 adhered 0 violated
Staples (2013)
1 adhered 3 violated
Crate & Barrel (2013)
1 adhered 0 violated
Nike (2013)
0 adhered 3 violated
Toys'R'Us (2013)
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