Get started with catalogs
A catalog consists of products and variants (SKUs) organized into a structure based on product categories or nodes. Products and variants have associated information such as:
- assets, such as images and documents
Catalogs are independent of one another and a product can exist in multiple catalogs.
- You can create as many catalogs as you want and assign them to multiple websites.
- You can import product catalogs from an externally integrated system, or create them manually.
- You can define dates when a catalog is available, so you can prepare future revisions to items and review them before the release date.
Note
This article describes examples from the sample catalog delivered with the Optimizely Commerce Connect sample site. Your installation may look different from the sample catalog.
Catalog structure
A catalog is the top-level container for all types of products. You can structure a catalog in several ways. For example, your site has several brands or product lines, and each brand or product line has its own catalog. Or, a retailer may have multiple suppliers, and you can segment each supplier into its own catalog. See Work with catalog entries.
Catalog meta-classes and meta-fields
You can define meta-classes and meta-fields for both catalogs and orders in the Administration page. For example, you create a meta-class called Wine. Then, add meta-fields to capture characteristics of wine, such as color, taste, vintage, and maturity.