Catalog Structure
This section covers the structure of how the catalog is setup within the PIM to centralize the product information and implement simpler flow across your organization.
├── Product Family │ ├── Category │ │ ├── n level sub-categories │ │ | ├── Products ├── Brand │ ├── Sub-brand / Range │ ├── Products (eg. Shirt) │ │ ├── Variant Groups (eg. Blue Color) │ │ | ├── Variants (eg. s/m/l) │ │ ├── Serialization
Product Family
Product Family sits right at the top of the taxonomy tree, i.e. think of it as a big group of similar products. Imagine it like the top of the category tree, such as "Electronics". Now, within the family, you can setup a category tree which is specific to "Electronics" and assign to the specific team to manage the same without creating any noise. Each of these smaller groups has different laptop models that are alike in how they work and what they can do.
In BetterCommerce PIM, you can setup your own product families as per business suitability. Each family can have their independent category tree. When you're making a new product, you first pick which family it belongs to. Then, you can choose the right category from the list for that product. This helps keep product data well organized and structured and helps your internal teams to manage product data better.
Category
A category serves to group together similar products within a business. For instance, consider clothing: this can be a fundamental category encompassing various subcategories like tops, bottoms, and inner wear. Each subcategory, such as tops, can then be further divided into finer distinctions like t-shirts, shorts, and jackets. Advanced PIM systems offer the capability to establish multi-layered categories. Consequently, a product can be associated with any level of this hierarchical category structure.
In essence, the ability to create multi-layer categories within an advanced PIM system offers an intricate yet efficient framework for structuring and presenting products. This approach harmonizes product organization, searchability, navigation, and site design, culminating in an improved customer journey and richer user satisfaction.
Brand
If you're a trading business dealing with multiple brands, then maintaining the brand directory and their relevant association with products becomes quite essential. The PIM empowers you to setup as many brands as you want and also setup range within the brands as sub-brands, providing an organized framework for your data.
Core System Attributes
In a PIM system, the core attributes are extremely important. They act as the foundation, and you can build on them by adding custom attributes. Core attributes include basic things like the name, stock code, category, brand, images, and price. In Better PIM, you have access to all these core attributes as well as the option to create your own custom attributes.
Custom Attributes
In the dynamic landscape of modern retailing retailing, custom attributes form a critical pillar in product information managememt world for creating robust and product profiles. These attributes allow the business to enrich the product information beyond the basic information, providing a tailored and comprehensive representation of your products depending upon business & category needs.
Importance of Custom Attributes
- Tailored Product Information: Custom attributes enable you to capture specific details unique to your products. They empower you to showcase distinct features, specifications, and characteristics that set your offerings apart in the competitive online market.
- Complete and Contextual Descriptions: Custom attributes allow you to provide in-depth and contextual descriptions. This fosters a deeper understanding of your products, reducing ambiguity and uncertainties for potential customers.
- Precise Filtering and Search: By incorporating custom attributes, you enhance the precision of filtering and search options. Customers can easily narrow down their choices based on specific criteria, leading to more accurate and satisfactory results.
- Improved User Experience: Personalized product information, made possible by custom attributes, contributes to an enhanced user experience. Customers feel more informed and empowered, which leads to increased trust and confidence in making purchasing decisions.
- SEO Optimization: Custom attributes provide additional content that can be optimized for search engines. This boosts the visibility of your products in search results, driving organic traffic to your online store.
Types of Custom Attributes
By incorporating these attribute types into your PIM system, you enrich your product information with depth, precision, and versatility. This not only empowers customers with detailed insights but also positions your online retail business as a reliable and informative destination for their needs.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| Text | Textfields accommodate open-ended responses, allowing you to include detailed descriptions, specifications, and additional information about your products. This comprehensive narrative assists customers in making informed choices. |
| Text Area | Text area attributes accommodate longer descriptions and narratives. This provides a deeper connection with customers and offers a platform for sharing comprehensive insights. |
| Date | Date attributes are valuable for communicating time-sensitive information such as release dates, availability, or expiration dates. Customers can make purchase decisions based on up-to-date information. |
| Dropdown | Dropdown menus offer predefined choices, ensuring consistency and ease of selection. They are ideal for attributes like size or material, simplifying the browsing and comparison process for customers. |
| Multi-Select | Multi-select attributes permit customers to choose multiple options from a list, accommodating products with multiple attributes, such as ingredients, features, or components. |
| HTML | HTML attributes offer flexibility in presenting rich content, such as detailed product specifications, user guides, or multimedia presentations. They create an immersive product experience for customers. |
| Yes/No | Yes/no attributes provide concise answers to specific questions. Customers quickly grasp essential product features, such as warranty availability or compatibility with certain devices like eligible for return, replacement etc. |
| Color Picker | Color picker attributes allow customers to visualize and select product colors accurately. This feature is particularly beneficial for fashion, home décor, and other visually oriented industries. |
| Completeness | Completeness attributes indicate the degree of information provided for a product. They encourage detailed data entry, ensuring that your products are well-represented and informative before going live on the website. |
Custom Attribute Sets
Depending upon business, different category of products require different data to be captured for enrichment. This allows you to group custom attributes based on category or any business suitable taxonomy, think of it as the parent for custom attributes. In Better PIM, you can gather related custom attributes for a specific product category and group them under a single category known as a custom attribute set. The products can then be associated with a specific custom attribute set to capture the relevant attribute information for the products.
Custom Attribute Groups
Custom Attribute Groups sit inside a custom attribute set allowing you to organize the custom attributes for easier navigation, permissions, roles within a specific Custom Attribute Set. To enhance the structure's appeal and user-friendliness, you can further categorize attributes into distinct sections within an attribute set. For instance, attributes for a footwear product could include Age, Color, Gender, Type, Upper Material, Lower Material, Heels, Style Code, and more. You can group them under different headings in Better PIM and visualize how they'll be displayed for various teams, streamlining the data enrichment process. Moreover, you can even assign different attribute groups to different roles and individuals within your organization. This tailored approach can contribute to effective data management and collaboration, ensuring that the right people handle the right attributes in your product information ecosystem.
