How to target product category preferences with segments
Last updated: June 16, 2025
Overview
Understanding your customers’ category-level buying behavior is a powerful way to personalize marketing, increase engagement, and boost conversions. By identifying customers who consistently purchase from specific product categories, such as apparel, accessories, or home goods, you can create targeted segments for more effective cross-sell and upsell campaigns.
When to segment customers based on product preferences
There's no need to wait for a signal to start product category segmentation; it's incredibly valuable to your business at any time.
In fact, the earlier you start creating and using product category segments, the more data you'll collect on your customers' buying habits.
Step One: Identify your brand's key categories
Before starting product category segmentation you need to determine which categories provide actionable information for your brand. You want to balance specificity with usability based on what makes sense for your business. For example, if you own a clothing brand that sells multiple types of clothing, "shirts" could be a usable category but would be too broad if your clothing brand only sells shirts.
Use the table below as a jumping off point for thinking about how to categorize the products your business sells:
Niche | Possible categories |
Clothing | Shirts, Bottoms, Dresses, Outerwear, Undergarments |
Footwear | Sneakers, Boots, Sandals, Dress Shoes, Athletic Shoes |
Accessories | Hats, Belts, Scarves, Jewelry, Sunglasses |
Beauty & Skincare | Moisturizers, Serums, Makeup, Cleansers, Haircare |
Health & Wellness | Supplements, Protein Powders, Vitamins, Essential Oils |
Home Decor | Wall Art, Vases, Rugs, Throw Pillows, Candles |
Baby & Kids | Baby Clothing, Toys, Diapers, Strollers, Swaddles |
Pets | Pet Food, Toys, Beds, Leashes, Grooming Supplies |
Kitchenware | Cookware, Utensils, Knives, Appliances, Storage Containers |
Outdoor & Garden | Patio Furniture, Gardening Tools, Planters, Outdoor Lighting |
Automotive | Car Accessories, Tools, Parts, Floor Mats, Cleaning Supplies, Seat Covers |
Travel & Luggage | Suitcases, Backpacks, Packing Cubes, Travel Pillows, Toiletry Bags |
Jewelry | Rings, Necklaces, Bracelets, Earrings, Watches |
Step Two: Create segments for each product category
The easiest way is to use product categories in your Shopify, BigCommerce, or custom store. Here's how to build a segment using product categories:
eCommerce integration > Order > Fulfilled > Product Collection > is > select category
Create one segment for each of your product categories.
See example
Step Three: Send targeted campaigns
Use the segments you built in step two as the audience for category-specific campaigns.
Include the following type of content in your category-specific campaigns: