Shopify’s product_type field is a merchant-set category label (like "Shirts" or "Accessories") separate from tags or collections. It comes through as its own column in the standard export, and the tool’s summary shows a live count of how many distinct types a catalog uses before you download anything.

That makes it straightforward to answer questions like "how many product categories does this store use" or "how are products distributed across categories" - pivot the exported CSV by product_type and count.

Keep in mind it’s a single free-text field set by the merchant, not a structured taxonomy - some stores use it consistently, others barely at all, and that variation shows up directly in the export.

It’s a useful sanity check before assuming a store’s navigation menu reflects its actual catalog structure - the two don’t always match, since collections (what shoppers browse) and product_type (an internal label) are configured separately in Shopify and can drift apart over time.