Catalog entries
A catalog entry is merchandise in an online catalog that includes a code, a name, a description, one or more offer prices, images, and other details. There are four types of catalog entries: products, SKUs, bundles, and kits.
Catalog entries can be a single item (atomic) or composed of several other catalog entries (composite). An atomic catalog entry is an individually orderable entity that needs no further SKU resolution. For example, an atomic item such as a shirt in the color blue, size small can be added to a shopping cart for purchase. In this example the shirt represents an atomic item because it has a SKU and is orderable. When composite, a catalog entry represents unresolved products or bundles that may need additional information before becoming atomic entities. Composite catalog entries are those items that are not individually orderable. For example, a men's shirt represents a composite item that requires further SKU resolution based on size and color before it can be orderable.
Products
Products are templates for SKUs, the individual pieces of merchandise that are ultimately sold to a customer. The product describes the general characteristics of the merchandise, and the SKU distinguishes the differences between the merchandise. For example, the shirt product is available in two colors and three sizes. There are six possible SKUs for this product.
SKUsThere are two types of SKUs: Product-level SKU and Category-level
SKU.
- Product-level SKU
- Create your product; then create SKUs to represent each orderable item of merchandise for sale. All SKUs related to a particular product exhibit the same set of attributes and are distinguished by their defining attribute values. For example, each color and size combination of the shirt product is one SKU.
- Category-level SKU
- Create SKUs under a category that is not associated with any product. This type of SKU is created for products that do not have defining attributes. For example, a DVD product might not have any defining attributes.
The following image describes the differences between category-level SKUs and product-level SKUs.
Bundles
A bundle is a collection of catalog entries that allow customers to buy multiple merchandise with one click. For example, when a bundle for a computer system is a computer, a monitor, a printer, and a scanner, the bundle components can be sold separately. The price of a bundle is the sum of the prices of the products it contains.
Kits
A kit is a collection of catalog entries that cannot be sold separately. For example, a computer kit might contain a specific processor, monitor, and hard disk drive. A kit has its own price and can be added to the shopping cart. Viewed in similar ways as a product, a kit can have descriptive attributes.
Inventory for a prebuilt kit is independent of the inventory of its component parts. For example, selling a computer prebuilt kit does not affect the inventory of the processor, monitor, and hard disk drive that the prebuilt kit contains.
Related concepts
Products
Product-level SKUs
Category-level SKUs
Master catalog
Content versioning
Catalog entry description overrides
Related tasks
Manage content versioning
Creating versions of catalog entries
Listing catalog entry versions
Comparing catalog entry versions
Restoring a version of a catalog entry
Deleting versions of a catalog entry
Creating versions of SKUs
Listing SKU versions
Comparing SKU versions
Restoring a version of a SKU
Deleting versions of a SKU
Creating versions of bundles or kits
Listing bundle or kit versions
Comparing bundle or kit versions
Restoring a version of a bundle or kit
Deleting versions of a bundle or kit
Manage catalog entries
Adding catalog entries to multiple sales categories
Assigning catalog entries to a single sales category
Manage sales catalogs