Make a collection exclusive
Overview
An exclusive collection lets you show products only inside a specific collection while hiding them from the rest of the site, including search results, product carousels, and other general browsing areas.
This is useful for:
- Private drops
- Outlet pages
- Early-access releases
- Collections shared only through a direct URL
Products in an exclusive collection can still be set to Listed and available Online. The exclusivity tags control whether they appear generally across the site.
Why use an exclusive collection?
Exclusive collections give you tighter control over product visibility.
Common use cases
Private drops or outlet pages
Use an exclusive collection when you want selected products to:
- Appear in one collection only
- Stay hidden from site search
- Stay hidden from product carousels
- Stay hidden from other general site locations
Preparing a drop before public launch
You can prepare a collection in advance by:
- Setting the collection to Listed
- Keeping products available Online
- Applying exclusive tags so the products do not appear elsewhere on the site
This also allows you to share access with selected customers by sending them the collection URL directly.
How exclusivity works
The system uses tags plus the collection ID to decide where a product appears.
Required logic
- Products tagged
exclusiveare hidden from other pages and collections - Products tagged
exclusive-to-collectionIDare matched to a specific collection ID - A product appears only in the exclusive collection whose ID matches its
exclusive-to-...tag
Example
If the collection ID is womens-outlet, the product must include:
exclusiveexclusive-to-womens-outlet
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Create the collection and mark it exclusive
Create the collection as you normally would, then:
- Enter a user-friendly collection ID, such as
womens-outlet - Scroll to Details
- Set Make collection exclusive? to Yes
- Click Save
Next:
- Scroll to Products
- Add Conditions for the products you want included in the collection
- Click Apply
- Click Save
Choose a clear, readable collection ID because the exclusivity tag must match it exactly.
Step 2: Select the products you want to include
To assign products to the exclusive collection:
- Go to the All Products tab
- Filter the products you want to include
- Use filters such as:
- Category
- Existing tags
- Click Select All
- Click Actions > Add Tags
Step 3: Add the required tags
You must add two tags to the selected products.
| Tag | Purpose |
|---|---|
exclusive | Hides the product from general site visibility |
exclusive-to-collectionID | Allows the product to appear in the matching exclusive collection |
Tag format
Replace collectionID with the actual collection ID.
Example:
- Collection ID:
womens-outlet - Required tag:
exclusive-to-womens-outlet
After adding both tags, click Submit.
Step 4: Repeat for additional product groups if needed
If the exclusive collection should include products from more than one segment or category:
- Repeat the product filtering process
- Select the next product group
- Add the same two tags
This is useful when the collection pulls from multiple departments or tag groups.
Step 5: Confirm the products can still display online
To ensure products remain visible inside the intended exclusive collection, make sure they still have:
- The
availableOnlinetag status: Listed
If you remove both of the following tags:
exclusiveexclusive-to-collectionID
the product is no longer exclusive to that collection and may appear throughout the site.
Removing the exclusivity tags changes visibility behavior. Products may begin appearing in standard site search, carousels, and other general site locations.
Step 6: Add products to multiple exclusive collections
A product can appear in more than one exclusive collection.
To do this:
- Keep the
exclusivetag - Add multiple
exclusive-to-collectionIDtags
Example
A product that should appear in both Womens Outlet and Womens Knitwear Outlet could have:
exclusiveexclusive-to-womens-outletexclusive-to-womens-knitwear-outlet
Tagging examples
Single exclusive collection
exclusive
exclusive-to-womens-outlet
Multiple exclusive collections
exclusive
exclusive-to-womens-outlet
exclusive-to-womens-knitwear-outlet
Checklist
Use this checklist when setting up an exclusive collection:
- Create the collection
- Add a clear collection ID
- Set Make collection exclusive? to Yes
- Save the collection
- Add product conditions to the collection
- Save again
- Go to All Products
- Filter and bulk select the relevant products
- Add the
exclusivetag - Add the matching
exclusive-to-collectionIDtag - Confirm products still have
availableOnline - Confirm products are
Listed
Troubleshooting
Products are not showing in the exclusive collection
Check that:
- The collection is marked as exclusive
- The collection ID is correct
- The product includes the
exclusivetag - The product includes the exact matching
exclusive-to-collectionIDtag - The product is
Listed - The product has the
availableOnlinetag
Products are showing elsewhere on the site
Check whether:
- The
exclusivetag is missing - The product does not have the correct
exclusive-to-collectionIDtag combination - The exclusivity tags were removed during a bulk update
Summary
To make a collection exclusive:
- Create the collection
- Mark it as exclusive
- Add collection conditions
- Bulk edit the relevant products
- Add both required tags:
exclusiveexclusive-to-collectionID
Once configured:
- Products will not appear elsewhere on the site
- Products will appear only in the matching exclusive collection
- Products can appear in multiple exclusive collections if multiple
exclusive-to-...tags are added