One of the conveniences of online shopping is the ability to research products before making a purchase decision. By carrying a large inventory and enabling the comparison functionality in your store, you empower customers to make informed choices and get exactly what they need.

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For example, say your store offers patio umbrellas. You may have a number of styles, colors, sizes and prices to choose from. With the Product Comparison feature, a shopper can see each selection side-by-side (without having to click between pages) to decide which one is the perfect fit for them.

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Talk about a confident purchasing decision. They also wont have to worry as much about selecting the wrong item and going through the return process. And thats better for you too!

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To set up the Product Comparison feature:

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Go to Design > Product Display Settings.
On the Product Comparison Page section, enable Product Comparison for use with Searches, Categories or both by selecting the appropriate box(es).
Select the maximum number of products you want a customer to be able to compare. This can be between 2 and 5.
Select the details you want to be displayed for each product on the comparison page.
Click Save.

You can remove specific categories from Product Comparison by going into the category page, opening the Advanced Settings section, selecting the Misc tab, and selecting Product Comparison Opt-Out.

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Note that the Product Comparison feature is incompatible with categories that use the Responsive Grid display mode. If you want to offer Product Comparison while using a responsive template, you must set the Product Display Mode to Lightweight Grid for all categories.

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How Customers Use Product Comparison

On the storefront, a Compare check box is shown for product in the category and/or search result page being displayed.

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Checking this box on two or more products on the storefront and clicking a Compare link will display the appropriate product details in columns.

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The customer can remove one or all items from the comparison display by clicking Remove Item or Remove All Items.

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If a customer tries to select more than the maximum number of products set, a pop-up is displayed telling them so. They can either do the compare on the selected products or change their selection.

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Linking to Comparison Pages

You can use a specially designed URL to provide direct links to specially designed comparisons for marketing purposes:

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http://www.myvolusionstore.com/ProductComparison.asp?ProductCode1=ABC-123&ProductCode2=DEF-456&ProductCode3=GHI-789

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where:

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ProductCode1=ABC-123

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indicates the product being compared (in this case, ABC-123).

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If the URL contains more than the maximum number of comparison products, only the first n will be used (where n is the maximum).

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Meta Tags

Meta tags are generated on the fly, based on the products being compared.

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The Meta Tag Title for the Product Compare page will be :

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$(WebsiteTitle) - Comparing ProductName1 vs ProductName2 vs ProductName3

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The Meta Tag Description will be:

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This is a comparison of several products available on $(WebsiteTitle). Currently comparing ProductName1 vs ProductName2 vs ProductName3

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The Meta Tag Keywords will be:

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comparison, ProductName1, ProductName2, ProductName3\

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Summary

By enabling the Product Comparison feature in your store, you give customers the ultimate convenience to check out similar items in your inventory side-by-side. This keeps them from shopping at other websites and helps them build a better relationship with your store.