Category rules for merchandising
Category rules dynamically change the product selection according to a set of conditions. Each category can have only one category rule, although the single rule can have multiple conditions. For example, you can create a category rule for a specific brand. Products of the same brand are automatically added to the list, even if they’re not assigned to the same category. You can add as many conditions to the expression as needed to describe the products that you want to include.
In Stock or Out of Stock and products in the category should be sorted according to the Automatic Sorting rule, you must click Save Category.Each condition consists of an attribute, value, and logical operator. Only attributes with the Use in Product Listing property set to Yes can be used in category rules. You must set this property for the attribute if you want to use an attribute that is not included in product listings. Although Date attributes are not supported, you can use the Date Created or Date Modified attributes to define a date, or range of dates. For example, to include only products that were created during the past week, set “Date Created” to a value of <7.
Category product rules can speed up the process of assigning specific products to categories, based on conditions that determine which products appear in the category. The “smart” attributes that can be used with category product rules are specified in the Visual Merchandiser configuration.
Step 1: Configure the smart attributes
-
For each attribute that is to be used in the rule, make sure that the Use in Product Listing storefront property is set to
Yes.note note NOTE Make sure the attribute that you select is NOT a multiselect Input Type. -
Complete the configuration to identify each smart attribute that is to be used with Visual Merchandiser.
Step 2: Create the category rule
-
In the category tree, open the category to be edited.
-
In the Products in Category section, set Match products by rule to
Yes.The automatic sorting and condition options appear.
-
Click Add Condition.
-
Choose the Attribute that is the basis of the condition.
-
Set Operator to one of the following:
EqualNot equalGreater thanGreater than or equal toLess thanLess than or equal toContains
-
Enter the Value that is to be matched.
-
Repeat this process for each attribute that is needed to describe the conditions to be met.
For example, to match products that were created between seven and 30 days ago, do the following:
-
Set Date Created to
Less than 30. -
Set Logic to
AND.note note NOTE When you choose AND, the rule applies to products where all the conditions are met. WHen you chooseOR, it applies to products where at least one condition is met. -
Set Date Modified to
Greater than 7.
-
-
To apply a sort order automatically to the dynamically generated product list, set Automatic Sorting.
Sort order options are defined globally and applied based on current conditions. You cannot set a different sort order for the website, store, or store view level.
table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2 5-row-2 6-row-2 7-row-2 layout-auto Sort option Description Stock quantity Sort based on stock, from top or bottom: Move low stock to toporMove out of stock to bottomSpecial price Sort based on price, from top or bottom: Special price to toporSpecial price to bottomNew Products List newest products: Newest products firstColor Sort alphabetically by color: Sort by colorProduct Names Sort by name in ascending or descending order: Name A - ZorName Z -ASKU Sort by SKU in ascending or descending order: SKU: AscendingorSKU: DescendingPrice Sort by price in ascending or descending order: Price: High to loworPrice: Low to high -
When complete, click Save Category.
Menu options
-
Match products by rule - Determines if the list of products in the category is dynamically generated by a category rule. Options:
Yes/No -
Automatic Sorting - Automatically applies a sorting order to the list of category products. Options:
None,Move low stock to top,Move low stock to bottom,Special price to top,Special price to bottom,Newest products first,Sort by color,Name: A - Z,Name: Z - A,SKU: Ascending,SKU: Descending,Price: High to Low, andPrice: Low to Highnote note NOTE If you have a configurable product with child products, the parent product stock is calculated based on the combined total of child product stocks. Consider an example where you have configurable product Proteus Fitness Shirt with orange, red, and yellow child products with different stock quantities of each. The parent product stock is calculated based on the combined total of stock of orange, red, and yellow child products. With the Move low stock to topoption, it calculates the stock of parent products by combining all of its salable child products stock and sorts it accordingly. -
Add Condition - Adds another condition to the rule.
-
Attribute - Determines the attribute that is used as the basis of the condition. Options:
table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2 5-row-2 6-row-2 7-row-2 8-row-2 layout-auto Option Description Clone Category ID(s)Dynamically clones products, without their sorting and order, from multiple categories based on Category ID. ColorIncludes products based on color. Date Created (days ago)Includes products based on the number of days since the products were added to the catalog. Date Modified (days ago)Includes products based on the number of days since the products were last modified. NameIncludes products based on the product name. PriceIncludes products based on price. This attribute not applicable for configurable products because they don’t have their own price. QuantityIncludes products based on the quantity in stock. SKUIncludes products based on SKU. note note NOTE The quantity of a configurable product with child options is calculated by combining all the salable child product quantities. Consider an example where you have a configurable product Basic Fitness Tank with purple, red, and yellow color options and different quantities of each. In this case, the parent product (Basic Fitness Tank) quantity is the combined salable quantity of the purple, red, and yellow color child products. -
Operator - Specifies the operator that is applied to the attribute value to meet the condition. Unless an operator is specified,
Equalis used as the default. Options:Equal,Not equal,Greater than,Greater than or equal to,Less than,Less than or equal to, andContains -
Value - Specifies the value that the attribute must have to meet the condition.
-
Logic - The Logic column is used to define multiple conditions, and appears only when another condition is added. The operators follow the rules of precedence for MySQL boolean operators. Options:
AND/OR