When do I use product groups? How are they different than subcategories? I just plain don't understand.

thanks.

I may be wrong because I have never used Product Groups before, but I believe product groups are like sub-categories of sub-categories. If you have a sub-category of say Metal Hardware you could have a product group of Buckles, etc.
Captain will correct me if I am wrong.
I imagine sub-categories will work just fine for you.

I use Product Groups, and the only difference I can see is that a product group shows up on a search. We have a number of products that have multiple pieces to put together, and a product group was the ideal way to have someone search for a Barrier Pac and actually get a result that showed all of the pieces.

Other than that, ummm, well, that's the only reason I used a Product Group instead of a subcategory called Barrier Pac.

Hello!

Product Groups allow you to have several products grouped together under one description and picture. This is useful if you would like to display a picture containing several items. For example, if you are selling bedding, you might have sheets, pillowcases and a bedskirt that go together. You can use the Product Grouping feature to associate all of these products under one picture that displays the products together. There are lots of other ways I have seen customers be creative with product groups!

Product groups appear at the top of the category they are associated with, above the product listing. Product Groups can also be a Homepage or Category special and are returned within search results. So there are some differences between product groups and subcategories.

Hope this helps!