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Overview

Product Sequences allow you to create a consistent browsing experience by grouping related products together. This feature is particularly useful for ensuring sets of matching products (such as coordinating tops and bottoms) appear next to each other in collection pages.
Product Sequences work in conjunction with Sort Orders and require sequence mode to be enabled in your Sort Order settings.

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How sequences work

When you create a product sequence, you’re defining a group of products that should always appear together in your storefront. The sequence logic ensures that:
  1. Products within the same sequence group stay together
  2. Products maintain their defined order within the sequence
  3. The sequence applies across your selected collection or all collections
This creates a consistent browsing experience for your customers, regardless of the collection they’re viewing.

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Draft product support

You can include draft (unpublished) products in a sequence. This lets you prepare sequences ahead of time — for example, adding upcoming products before they go live. Draft products within a sequence are marked with a Draft badge in the sequence form so you can easily distinguish them from active products. A sequence requires at least 2 active (published) products to become enabled on your storefront. If a sequence contains fewer than 2 active products — for example, because some are still in draft — the sequence remains in Draft status and is excluded from storefront results. Once enough products are published and meet any configured conditions, Layers automatically activates the sequence.

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Sequence control

Sequences can be controlled at multiple levels:
  • Sort Orders: Enable sequences in your sort order settings to activate sequence mode
  • Merchandising Rules: Control whether sequences are preserved or disabled for specific segments. When you create a new merchandising rule and select a sort order with sequences enabled, Group Related Products Sequentially defaults to on so your sequences are preserved automatically. You can turn it off if you need to override this for a specific rule.
  • Blocks: Blocks can independently control sequence behavior through a dashboard option, bypassing merchandising rules entirely
When a block has sequence control configured, it uses the block’s setting instead of looking up merchandising rules, providing independent control over segmented sorting.

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Sequence architecture

Product Sequences operate at multiple scopes and integrate with Sort Orders to maintain consistent product groupings.

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Example use case

A common use case for Product Sequences is coordinating fashion items:
  • A matching top and bottom that should appear side by side
  • A complete outfit (shirt, pants, accessories) that should be displayed as a group
  • A set of products that are frequently purchased together

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Automatic sequence creation

Beta Feature: Automatic sequence creation via metafields is currently in beta and only processes during bulk operations, not incrementally. This means sequences are created or updated when performing bulk data imports from Shopify, but not during real-time product updates.
Layers can automatically create product sequences based on Shopify metafields. This feature allows you to define sequences directly in your Shopify admin using metafields, which are then automatically synchronized to create sequences in Layers. When an automatic sequence is created or updated, Layers automatically resolves conflicts for global sequences (those scoped to all collections). If a product already belongs to another global sequence, Layers removes it from the old group before adding it to the new one. If this reduces an old group to one or fewer products, Layers deletes the entire group since single-product sequences are not meaningful.

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Configuration dashboard

You can configure which metafields should be used for automatic sequence creation through the dashboard at Settings > Sequences. This interface allows you to:
  • Add multiple metafield configurations (namespace and key pairs)
  • Control whether each metafield already includes the current product
  • Remove metafield configurations that are no longer needed
Each configured metafield will automatically create sequences during bulk data synchronization, with sequences named as Auto: {namespace}.{key} (e.g., “Auto: layers.global_sequence” or “Auto: custom.related_products”).

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Metafield configuration options

When configuring a sequence metafield, you need to specify:
  • Namespace: The metafield namespace (e.g., layers, custom)
  • Key: The metafield key (e.g., global_sequence, related_products)
  • Includes current product: Whether the metafield value already contains the current product
The “includes current product” setting controls how Layers processes the metafield value:
  • Enabled (default): The metafield value already includes the current product. Layers will use the product list as-is.
  • Disabled: The metafield value contains only related products. Layers will automatically prepend the current product to create the sequence.

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AI-powered ordering

When automatic sequences are created from metafields, products are grouped in the order they appear in the metafield value. With AI-powered ordering enabled, Layers uses AI to rearrange the products into a more logical merchandising order before saving the sequence. For example, the AI may place tops before bottoms, outerwear before innerwear, and accessories last.
AI-powered ordering only applies to automatic sequences created from metafields. Manually created sequences are not affected.

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Enabling AI-powered ordering

You can enable AI-powered ordering for your store under Settings > Sequences. Toggle AI sequence ordering on to activate the feature. When disabled, automatic sequences use the order products appear in the metafield value.

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How it works

When AI-powered ordering is enabled and a metafield triggers an automatic sequence:
  1. Layers reads the product titles from your catalog
  2. The AI evaluates the titles and determines a logical display order based on merchandising best practices
  3. The reordered product list is saved as the sequence
If the AI is temporarily unavailable, Layers falls back to the original metafield order so sequence creation is never blocked.

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Custom ordering rules

You can provide custom ordering instructions that guide how the AI arranges products within a sequence. This is useful when your catalog has domain-specific conventions that the default ordering logic may not capture. To configure custom rules:
  1. Go to Settings > Sequences.
  2. In the AI sequence ordering card, enter your instructions in the Ordering rules text field.
  3. Save.
Your rules are appended to the AI’s base instructions, so you can be specific about how products should be prioritized. For example:
  • “Always place dresses before skirts”
  • “Group products by color family, with neutrals last”
  • “Place best-selling categories first: tops, then bottoms, then accessories”
Rules can be up to 5,000 characters. Keep instructions clear and concise for the best results.

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When to use it

AI-powered ordering is useful when:
  • Your metafield values don’t have a deliberate product order
  • You want a consistent merchandising presentation without manually sorting each sequence
  • Your catalog contains outfit sets, coordinated collections, or product bundles where display order matters
If you already maintain a specific order in your metafield values and want to preserve it, leave this feature disabled.

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Default configuration example

The default configuration uses the layers.global_sequence metafield: 
Namespace: layers
Key: global_sequence
Type: list.product_reference (in Shopify)
Includes current product: Yes
In your Shopify admin, create a metafield with: 
Namespace: layers
Key: global_sequence  
Type: List of product references
Value: [Product A, Product B, Product C]
This will automatically create a sequence named “Auto: layers.global_sequence” grouping these three products together across all collections.

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Custom configuration example

You can configure custom metafields for different use cases. For example, a “related products” metafield where the current product should be included: 
Namespace: custom
Key: related_products
Type: list.product_reference (in Shopify)
Includes current product: No
In your Shopify admin, on Product A: 
Namespace: custom
Key: related_products
Type: List of product references
Value: [Product B, Product C]
This will automatically create a sequence named “Auto: custom.related_products” containing [Product A, Product B, Product C], with Product A prepended automatically.

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Sequence conditions

You can attach conditions to a product sequence so it only becomes active when every product in the group satisfies those conditions. Sequences that fail their conditions are automatically set to Draft status and excluded from storefront results until the conditions are met again. Conditions are evaluated against product attributes such as title, vendor, product type, tags, price range, availability, metafields, and calculated attributes. Layers re-evaluates conditions automatically whenever a product in the sequence is updated during catalog sync.

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Per-sequence conditions

Each sequence can have its own set of conditions. When you create or edit a sequence, the Conditions section lets you build rules using product attributes. The sequence is active only when all products in the group match every rule. For example, you could create a condition that checks whether all products in the sequence are available. If one product sells out, the entire sequence moves to Draft until stock is replenished.

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Global sequence conditions

Global conditions apply to every sequence in your store and are configured under Settings > Sequences. They work alongside per-sequence conditions — a sequence must satisfy both global and per-sequence conditions to be active. Global conditions are useful when you want a store-wide policy, such as requiring all sequenced products to be in stock or to belong to a particular product type. When you update global conditions, Layers re-evaluates every sequence in the background.

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Active and draft status

Each sequence displays a status badge in the sequences table:
  • Active — The sequence has at least 2 active (published) products and all products satisfy both global and per-sequence conditions. The sequence appears on your storefront.
  • Draft — The sequence has fewer than 2 active products, or at least one product fails a condition. The sequence is hidden from storefront results.
Sequences without any conditions still require at least 2 active products to become active. Layers re-evaluates sequence status automatically whenever products are synced from your catalog.

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Why sequences matter

Sequences keep related products together so shoppers can quickly see matching items and complete looks. They work alongside your base sort order to preserve both relevance and grouping. For step‑by‑step instructions, see:

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Managing product sequences

For editing or removing sequences, use the Help tutorials for clear, step‑by‑step guidance:

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Best practices

  • Be strategic with sequences: Only create sequences for products that genuinely benefit from being grouped together
  • Consider collection specificity: Use the “all” collection with caution - it’s often better to create specific sequences for relevant collections
  • Maintain reasonable group sizes: Keep sequence groups to a manageable size (typically 2-5 products) for the best visual presentation
  • Update regularly: Review your sequences when adding new products or during seasonal changes to ensure they remain relevant

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Troubleshooting

Issue: Products in a sequence aren’t appearing together. Solution: Verify that you’re using a sort order with sequence mode enabled. Issue: Error when adding a product to a sequence manually. Solution: The product already belongs to another sequence in the same collection. Layers prevents a product from appearing in multiple sequences within the same collection and shows you which products are causing the conflict. Remove the product from the other sequence first, then add it to the new one. Note that the same product can appear in sequences for different collections without conflict. Issue: A product disappeared from an existing automatic sequence. Solution: When automatic sequences are created or updated via metafields, Layers resolves conflicts by moving products to their new sequence group. If the product was in a previous global sequence and a new metafield sync assigned it elsewhere, it is automatically removed from the old group. If the old group was reduced to one or fewer products, it is deleted entirely. Issue: A sequence shows a “Draft” badge unexpectedly. Solution: This can happen for two reasons. First, the sequence may have fewer than 2 active (published) products — check whether any products in the group are still in draft status in Shopify. Second, one or more products may no longer satisfy the configured conditions (per-sequence or global). Check the conditions and verify that every product in the group meets them. Conditions and active product counts are re-evaluated automatically during catalog sync. Issue: Sequences aren’t visible in the dashboard. Solution: Ensure you have the proper permissions to view and manage sequences.

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See also