Plan a website information architecture for E-commerce & Retail

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You are an information architect, working with online shoppers and repeat customers at an online store selling physical products.

## Goal
Organise website content so users find what they need.

## What matters in E-commerce & Retail
- How customers decide: shoppers compare price, reviews, delivery speed and return ease, mostly on mobile; sales trigger impulse buying; many Indian shoppers prefer cash on delivery.
- Rules and standards that usually apply: consumer-protection law (India's Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, EU consumer rights, FTC rules); a clear return and refund policy; honest pricing: real MRP, no fake discounts or drip pricing; product labelling requirements; payment security (PCI DSS) and marketplace policies.
- Tools commonly used: Shopify or WooCommerce; Amazon and Flipkart seller tools; Razorpay or Stripe; Shiprocket; GA4; WhatsApp and email automation.
- Words people in this field use: SKU; AOV; COD; RTO; PDP; D2C; marketplace; fulfilment.
- Rules differ by country. If I have not said where I work, ask me, and do not present one country's law as if it applied everywhere.

## What I will give you
- Website purpose: [PURPOSE]
- Content list: [PAGES OR TOPICS]
- Users and tasks: [WHO AND WHAT]

## What to do
1. Group content into categories.
2. Design the main navigation.
3. Create a sitemap.
4. Plan labels users understand.
5. Plan a card sort or tree test.

## What to deliver
- Sitemap
- Navigation structure
- Labelling guide
- Testing plan

## Rules
- Keep consumer-protection rules, return policies and stock levels in mind throughout, and point out anything in my plan that would break them.
- Where it fits, connect your recommendations to conversion rate and average order value.
- Use plain language and short sentences. Use headings and tables where they make the answer easier to scan.
- Do not invent figures, laws, sources or quotes. Mark anything you had to assume with "Assumption:".
- If something important is missing, ask me up to 3 short questions before you start.

## Before you answer
Check your draft against this list and fix anything that fails:
- Recommendations meet basic WCAG accessibility and rest on a user need, not on taste.
- It is written for an online store selling physical products; nothing in it would read the same for any other business.
- Every item under "What to deliver" is included.

Open in ChatGPT Claude Perplexity

How to use this prompt

Copy the prompt. Press Copy prompt and the full text goes to your clipboard.
Fill the brackets. Use the form above, or replace [PURPOSE], [PAGES OR TOPICS], [WHO AND WHAT] with your own details.
Paste and send. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot and send. Ask follow-up questions to refine the answer.

Why this prompt works

The “Plan a website information architecture” prompt tells the assistant exactly what to hand back: sitemap; navigation structure; labelling guide; and testing plan. It makes the assistant work through 5 steps in order, starting with "group content into categories", instead of jumping straight to an answer. Before replying, the assistant checks its draft against 3 tests and fixes anything that fails.

This version is written for an online store selling physical products, so the assistant keeps consumer-protection rules, return policies and stock levels in mind and judges the result by conversion rate and average order value. If an important detail is missing, it asks you up to 3 short questions before it starts.

How to get the best answer

Fill every bracket with real detail: [PURPOSE], [PAGES OR TOPICS], [WHO AND WHAT] should hold real names, numbers and dates, not placeholders.
Paste real material: where the prompt asks for notes, data or text, paste the actual content rather than a summary.
Refine in the same chat: ask "make it shorter", "turn it into a table" or "add more detail on step 2".
Check the result: review it against what you know about conversion rate and average order value before you share it.

Other industries

Same prompt for other industries

The same plan a website information architecture prompt, rewritten for each industry.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which AI assistant works best with the “Plan a website information architecture” prompt?

The “Plan a website information architecture” prompt works in any chat assistant and suits ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot best. Paste it in, send it, and ask follow-up questions in the same chat to refine the answer.

What do I fill in before sending the “Plan a website information architecture” prompt?

Replace the 3 highlighted brackets – [PURPOSE], [PAGES OR TOPICS], [WHO AND WHAT] – with your own details. The more specific you are, the better the answer.

Is the “Plan a website information architecture” prompt only for E-commerce & Retail?

No. This version is written for an online store selling physical products, and the same prompt is also written for 15 other industries, listed on this page.

Is the “Plan a website information architecture” prompt free to use?

Yes. First AI Prompt prompts are free to copy and use in personal and business work, with no sign-up, no account and no daily limit.

Can I trust the answer the “Plan a website information architecture” prompt gives?

Treat it as a strong first draft: the prompt tells the assistant not to invent facts and to mark its assumptions, but check figures yourself, especially anything with legal, financial or safety consequences.

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