Understand what your customers look for
A catalogue is more than a product list. It shapes categories, navigation, filters and much of your store’s content. Before choosing a visual direction, consider how customers describe their needs.
Organising products by use can be clearer than organising them around internal product ranges. The aim is to help someone unfamiliar with your references find the right item.
Gather the information people need to buy
Prepare names, descriptions, variants, dimensions and images. Identify the questions each product page needs to answer: compatibility, care, materials or usage, depending on your business.
Delivery and returns information should also be easy to find. Plan its place in the journey before customers have to ask for it.
Connect the store to your operations
List the tools involved in handling an order: stock management, invoicing, logistics and customer support. For each one, explain what information needs to move, when it should move and who handles exceptions.
This map helps distinguish launch-critical connections from automations that can wait. It also provides a concrete basis for evaluating integrations.
Define the journeys to check
Before launch, plan checks that reflect your catalogue: a product with variants, a search with no results, quantity changes and an order from a phone. Useful scenarios depend on your store and commercial rules.
A brief built around products, customers and operations creates a coherent foundation. Design then makes that foundation clear and enjoyable to use.