About Catalogs

A catalog is a way of organizing the products you want to sell. Business Desk helps you create and organize catalogs by maintaining a description of what properties various catalog items must have. This description is called the catalog schema. The schema lists all the types of categories, products, and properties allowed in your catalog.

In Commerce Server 2000 you use catalogs to organize and manage the product data in your database for display on your site, and to target products to users.

Using Catalogs in Web Site Management

Populating Your Catalog with Product Data

Exchanging Catalogs Using BizTalk Server

Catalog Structure

Catalog Organization: Hierarchies and Relationships

Unique Identifiers in a Catalog

Base Catalogs, Custom Catalogs, and Catalog Sets

Product Pricing Methods

Analyzing Catalog Sales

Using Catalogs in Web Site Management

You use the Catalogs modules in Commerce Server Business Desk to maintain, analyze, and enhance your catalogs. For example, when your site is in production, you can run reports from Business Desk to identify which products are not selling, and then create a discount campaign to sell more of these products.

Using Business Desk, you can:

• Import catalogs from other data sources. You can import catalogs in Extensible Markup Language (XML) or comma-separated value (CSV) format from external sources. For example, if you have catalogs in other databases, you can import them to the Commerce Server database, and then use Business Desk to manage them.

  To convert a catalog to XML or CSV format, you can use your existing database management system to save the catalog in XML or CSV format, or a site developer can write a script using Microsoft Visual Basic to convert the catalog for you.

  Before you can import a catalog, the system administrator must create a shared folder on Commerce Server. You can use Windows Explorer to copy the catalog to the shared folder, and then use Business Desk to import it to the Commerce Server database.

• Export catalogs. You can export your catalogs in XML format. You may want to export a catalog if, for example, you are selling products wholesale, and you want to export your catalogs to retailers. Or you may want to export a catalog to another application, for example, an inventory system or a pricing system.

  Before you can export a catalog, the system administrator must create a shared folder on Commerce Server or you must know the name of a directory on the server that you have access to. You can then use Business Desk to export the catalog to the shared folder or the directory.

  If you want Commerce Server to import or export catalogs on a scheduled basis, a site developer can provide this functionality.

• Apply discounts to products. You can apply discounts to all products in a category, or to certain products that meet specified criteria. For example, if a Product.price = 20.00, then a discount of 10 percent is applied to the price of that product when users add it to their shopping baskets. For information about applying discounts to products, see Campaigns: Ads, Discounts, and Direct Mail. For instructions about adding a discount campaign, see Adding a Discount Campaign Item.
  
  
• Edit products in the catalog. You can change the product name, price, description, and so on.
  
  
• Update product information in real time. You can update product information, such as the product price, and then publish the changes to your Web site. For example, if shoppers have added the product to their baskets, and your site is updated before they check out, Commerce Server applies the new price to their basket. If shoppers have saved their baskets, and then return to them after you have updated the price, the new price is displayed.
  
  
• Identify which products are selling. You can run Commerce Server reports to identify the top-selling products by units sold and by total sales, and you can identify the top-selling categories by units sold and by total sales. You can use the results of your analysis, for example, to discount products that are not selling well, or to promote accessories for products that are selling well. In addition, your site developer can customize your site to support related sells such as up sells and intelligent cross-sells.
  
  
• Search for products. You can find products easily by performing a property search or a free text search.

Populating Your Catalog with Product Data

You can use the Catalog Editor module in Business Desk to manually enter product data, or you can use it to import data from an XML file or a CSV file. If, for example, you already have a catalog in another database, your system administrator can export it as an XML file, and then you can use the Catalog Editor module to import the catalog into your Commerce Server database.

Exchanging Catalogs Using BizTalk Server

BizTalk Server 2000 acts as a gateway for sending business documents between your company and your trading partners (also known as vendors). If your company and your trading partners all use BizTalk Server, you can trade catalogs, orders, documents, and other electronic forms. For example, vendors can send you their catalogs, and you can post them on your Web site with your own catalog. When users enter orders on your Web site, the orders are sent to the vendor directly to fill them.

Each of your trading partners can send you one or more catalogs of their products. Depending on how you set up your site, you can present these catalogs on your Web site as one catalog, or as different catalogs. For more information about using BizTalk Server, see Using BizTalk Server.

Catalog Structure

A Commerce Server catalog consists of two main parts:

• Catalog schema. A description of the categories and products for a site. The catalog schema is available to all catalogs in the site.
  
  
• Catalog. A single instance of the catalog schema that contains data.

The following table shows a sample catalog schema, Clothes, and then a single instance of the Clothes catalog schema with data for the catalog Sports Clothes.

Catalog Schema

The catalog schema describes the characteristics of the categories and products in a particular type of catalog. For example, the catalog schema for a Sports Clothes catalog could contain the following product definitions: Shirts, Pants, and Shoes. To create a catalog schema, you use the Catalog Designer module in Business Desk.

The catalog schema consists of category definitions, product definitions, and property definitions. Category definitions and product definitions are created by using property definitions. The following figure shows the parts of a sample catalog schema.

Name (Text)
Manufacturer (Text)
Price (Currency)

Catagory Definition

Color (Multiple Choice) Description (Text) Image_filename (File Name) Image_width (Number) Image_height (Number) Manufacture (Text)
Name (Text)
Price (Currency)
Size (Multiple Choice)
SKU (Number)

Properties

Product Definition

Color (Multiple Choice) Description (Text) Image_filename (File Name) Image_width (Number) Image_height (Number) Manufacture (Text)
Name (Text)
Price (Currency)
Size (Multiple Choice)
SKU (Number)

Name (Text) Description (Text) Image_file name (File Name) Image_width (Number) Image_height (Number)

Variant Properties

Size (Multiple Choice)
Color (Multiple Choice)
SKU (Number)

Catalog Schema

Category definitions describe the specific qualities of the categories in your catalog. These category qualities are called category properties. You create a category definition by assigning category properties to it. For example, the Department category definition might have the following category properties: Name, Description, Image File Name, Image Height, and Image Width. When you create a category based on the Department category definition, you will enter values for the category properties. For example, the Name category property might be "Sport Shirts Department."

Product definitions describe the specific qualities of a particular product. These product qualities are called product properties. You create a product definition by assigning product properties to it. For example, you might create a product definition named Shirt that would include three product properties: Name, Manufacturer, and Price. When you create a product based on the Shirt product definition, you will enter values for the product properties. For example, the Name product property might be "Ace Soccer Shirt."

Both product properties and category properties are based on property definitions. A property definition describes information about the property such as the data type of the property (for example, number, text, and decimal), the name of the property, and a minimum value for the property. For example, you can create a property named Shirt_Size with the values Small, Medium, and Large, or a property named Length with a minimum value of 10 and a maximum value of 120.

Catalog schema can be changed. You can edit a catalog schema even after a catalog has data in it. For example, you can add, remove, or rename property definitions, and you can change the data type of the property, for example, from a number to a string.

For instructions about creating a catalog schema, see Creating a Catalog Schema.

Catalogs

A catalog is an instance of a catalog schema that contains data about individual products and the categories in which they are organized. To create a catalog, you use the Catalog Editor module in Business Desk.

A catalog consists of categories, products, product variants, and properties. The following figure shows the parts of a sample catalog schema, and how they map to the parts of a catalog. Properties are used in the category definition and the product definition. The category definition "Dept" is the used for the "Soccer Shirts" category. The product definition "Soccer Shirt" is used for the "Ace Soccer Shirt" product.

Catalog Schema

Catalog Data

Category Definition

Category Type 'DEPT'

Property Name

Property Size

Property Color

Property 'SKU'

Price: 20

Properties

Product Definition

Soccer Shirt

Soccer Shirt Category

Ace Soccer Shirt Price: 20

Sports Clothes Catalog

Size: S

Size: S

Size: M

Size: M

Size: L
Color: Green
SKU:115

Category

Catalog

Product Family Unique ID = Name

Product Variants Unique ID = SKU

Categories are individual instances of a category definition. For example, a category definition named Department might be used to create the category Soccer Shirts.

Products are single items in your catalog. A product is defined by a combination of property definitions. For example, if you have a product definition named Soccer Shirts, which has the properties Name, Color, and Size, you create a product for each name, color, and size combination that you want to include in your catalog.

Products can be arranged into groups of closely related items, which are called product families. A product family is a group of products that contain product variants. For example, a large-sized, green shirt with the SKU 114 is one product variant of the Soccer Shirt product; taken together, size, color, and SKU form one variant. A product variant always includes a unique identifier, such as a SKU, and a price. Each product variant is based on the same product definition.

For instructions about creating a catalog, see Creating a Catalog.

Catalog Organization: Hierarchies and Relationships

To organize the products in your catalog and make it easier for users to navigate to what they want, you can create category hierarchies and relationships among categories and products. For example, you can create a parent category that includes two different categories, known as child categories. When users navigate to the parent category, the child categories are displayed, enabling users to quickly find the products they want.

The following figure illustrates how a parent category can have several child categories, and how each child category can also be a parent category.

Catalog Collection

Catalog B

Catalog C

Sport Clothes Catalog

Pants

Shirts

Soccer Shirts

Two-Piece
Track Suits

Ace Soccer Shirt

Ace Soccer Shorts

Accessory

Size:
Color:
SKU:

Size:
Color:
SKU:

Size:
Color:
SKU:

S
Black
113

M
Blue
114

L
Green
115

In the above figure, the Sports Clothes Catalog has two categories: Shirts and Pants. The Shirts category has two children categories: Soccer Shirts and Two-piece Track Suits. This organization gives users two paths to the Two-piece Track Suits category. They can navigate to track suits through the Shirts category or through the Pants category. This figure also illustrates an accessory relationship between Ace Soccer Shirt and Ace Soccer Shorts. If the users are interested in the shirts, they may also be interested in the shorts.

For instructions about creating hierarchies, see Creating Category Hierarchies. For instructions about creating relationships, see Creating Category and Product Relationships.

Unique Identifiers in a Catalog

Both products and product variants have unique identifiers. The unique identifiers are either a text or a number type of property. For example, if you have a catalog of books, the title of the book might be the unique identifier for the product, and the ISBN number might be the unique identifier for the product variant. For the book The Quest Ahead, the hard cover version would be one variant, the paperback version another, and the audio version a third. All three product variants are part of the product family The Quest Ahead.

The following example shows the components of the product family The Quest Ahead.

Product Family = The Quest Ahead
  Unique ID = Title: The Quest Ahead

Product Variant = The Quest Ahead hardback
  Unique ID = ISBN: 1102334
  Price = 20.00

Product Variant = The Quest Ahead paperback
  Unique ID = ISBN: 1102335
  Price = 10.00

Product Variant = The Quest Ahead audio
  Unique ID = ISBN: 1102336
  Price = 15.00

When you create a catalog, you specify which properties are the unique identifiers for products and product variants.

Base Catalogs, Custom Catalogs, and Catalog Sets

You can create two types of catalogs. You can also join two or more catalogs into catalog sets.

• Base catalogs contain categories and products, but they do not contain any specific pricing rules. For information about creating a base catalog, see Creating a New Catalog.
  
  
• Custom catalogs are derived from base catalogs, but they contain specific pricing rules for the products in that catalog. The prices in a custom catalog override the prices in a base catalog. You use custom catalogs in a supplier site, for example, when you want to give one or more companies a custom price on certain products. You use custom catalogs in a retail site, for example, when you have different membership levels for customers, and you want to price products according to the membership level. Or you might want to show different prices to users who shop at your site frequently. For information about creating a custom catalog, see Creating a Custom Catalog.

You determine which catalog a user sees on your site by creating catalog sets. A catalog set is a group of one or more catalogs that you make available to different users or organizations. For example, you may create one custom catalog, and then combine it with a general catalog, and then display that catalog set to members of a specific organization. The following figure illustrates how members of a soccer club can view a team clothes catalog that has special pricing.

Sports Clothes Catalog

Winter Clothes Catalog

Sports Clothes Catalog

Winter Clothes Catalog

Team Clothes Catalog (Custom pricing at the category level)

Soccer Member Catalog Sets

Members of a Soccer Club

All Users

General Catalog Set

For information about creating catalog sets, see Creating a Catalog Set.

You specify which catalog set a user sees in the Users module in Business Desk. When you create a new user, you specify the catalog set name. For information about creating a new user and specifying the catalog set, see Adding a User.

Product Pricing Methods

You can set the price of a product in a catalog using one of three methods:

• Direct pricing. You define the price for a product in the product definition. You can do this either when you create the product or when you edit it to change the price. For instructions about applying direct pricing, see Pricing a Product and Pricing at the Product Variant Level.
  
  
• Indirect pricing. The price is determined by its association with a particular pricing category. When a product is associated with a pricing category, the price on the product is overwritten by the price defined on the pricing category. Indirect pricing is typically used when you want to price a group of products the same way, for example, to create special category where all products are $1.99. For instructions about applying indirect pricing, see Pricing Products in a Category.
  
  
• Custom pricing. You apply the price to a category. By doing this you create a custom catalog. There are three types of custom pricing that you can apply to a custom catalog:
  • Percentage adjustment. Specifies the percentage of the list price that should be charged for a product. For example, to apply a 10 percent discount, you would enter 90, indicating that the product is selling for 90 percent of the list price.
    
    
  • Fixed adjustment. Specifies the exact amount to either increase or decrease the list price. For example, to take $2.00 off, you would type –2, indicating that the product is selling for $2 less; to increase the cost by $2.00, type 2, indicating that it is selling for $2.00 more.
    
    
  • Set Price. Specifies the exact price of the product. For example, the product is selling for exactly $10.00.

  For instructions about applying custom pricing, see Pricing a Custom Catalog.

Analyzing Catalog Sales

The following table lists the reports included with Commerce Server that you use to analyze catalog sales data.

For a list of all Commerce Server reports, see Commerce Server Reports. For information about running reports, see Running Reports.

See Also

Importing a Catalog

Creating a Catalog Schema

Creating a Catalog

Pricing Products

Using BizTalk Server