Catalogs and sites are fundamental structural elements of your Unified Commerce tenant. Even for OMS-only implementations, a catalog is required to perform customer service actions such as adding line items to an order or applying discounts. While catalogs are easily managed in the user interface as shown here, there are a number of Catalog APIs that can be used to interface with different aspects of the catalog.
Refer to the following table for more information about master catalogs, catalogs, and sites:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Master catalog | A master catalog is a set of products that multiple catalogs can inherit from, with or without overridden properties. You can set global product properties that are shared across all associated catalogs at the master catalog level. |
| Catalog | A catalog is a subset of products tied to a specific site. You can override global product properties at the catalog level, such as price and description. |
| Sites | Sites are places from which you conduct transactions. You must tie each site to one and only one catalog. |
For example, you have multiple catalogs - one for each of your sites - and you have one master catalog with which each catalog is associated. This allows you to easily share products across all your catalogs. Within each catalog, you can override certain properties of a product, such as price and description.
When you go to System > Structure you'll find three sections.
- Sites: Lists your sites that are currently tied to a catalog.
- Catalogs: Lists your master catalogs and catalogs.
- Channels: Lists the channels your sites are associated with, such as online, kiosk, brick and mortar, etc.
Refer to Channel Settings for more information about channel settings.
Your master catalogs, catalogs, and sites are all named after the tenant as it was named in Dev Center during provisioning. You can edit the names by clicking the More Actions button and selecting Rename.
Deleting Master Catalogs
Do not delete a master catalog from your tenant if you only have one master catalog. If you need to delete a master catalog, ensure that you have an additional master catalog before deleting the master catalog. If you delete the only master catalog in your tenant, the tenant will no longer function properly and you will need to have an entire new tenant provisioned.
You can create additional catalogs within your master catalog, or additional master catalogs with as many catalogs as you like. For each catalog you create, you must create a corresponding site.
The following instructions only cover how to establish the catalog structure of your tenant. Refer to Catalog Structure and the corresponding catalog topics for more information on setting up catalogs.
Create Master Catalogs
To create master catalogs:
- Go to System > Structure > Catalogs.
- Click Create New Catalog.
- From the Catalog Type drop-down menu, choose Master Catalog.
- Enter a Master Catalog Name.
- Select a Locale Code.
- Select a Currency Code.
For example, you enter the following to create a master catalog for your Mystic Apparel clothing line:
- Click Save.
The locale and currency codes control language and currency localization respectively.
Create a Child Catalog
To create a child catalog:
- Go to System > Structure > Catalogs.
- Click Create New Catalog.
- From the Catalog Type drop-down menu, choose Catalog.
- Select a Master Catalog for the catalog to inherit.
- Enter a Catalog Name.
- Select a Locale Code.
- Select a Currency Code.
For example, you enter the following to create a catalog for your Mystic Sports clothing line that's a part of your Mystic Apparel master catalog:
- Click Save.
Create a Site
To create a site:
- Go to System > Structure > Sites.
- Click Create New Site.
- Enter a Site Name.
You use this value to identify the site in the context switcher throughout Admin. - Choose whether or not the site represents a storefront that online shoppers can visit.
- Choose a Catalog to associate with the site.
- Choose a Country Code.
For example, you enter the following to create a site for your Mystic Sports clothing line:
- Click Save.
Although you can only associate one catalog with any given site, you can associate as many sites as you like with any given catalog. In many modules in Admin, there's a context switcher in the top left that allows you to select which site you want to view or edit.
After creating a new site, it may take up to 30 minutes before the cache refreshes and the site settings are available for configuration.