Working with Categories for Inventory

Categories

You can get to this part of the system by clicking on the Products link in the blue Admin Toolbar and then clicking on the Categories button in the drop-down bar.

For the purposes of your inventory management, you will occasionally want to add new Categories to the system whenever you work with a new product line, manufacturer, or other categorical type.

Setting Up Categories

Your Categories allow you to organize your products down to whatever level of detail you like. As a general rule, it is best to limit your Categories to 50 items or less; larger numbers of items in a single category will require your visitors to sift through multiple pages of products, so avoid that if you can.

One thing that is helpful when organizing your strategy for your Categories is to write them out on paper and put thought into what your subcategories should be. Your products can be in multiple categories, so it is beneficial to organize them in the major ways that your customers will be searching for them. For example, having a waterproof flashlight in both your Camping category and your Dive Accessories category would make sense, and customers searching both of those areas could find what they are looking for more easily.

After going to your list of Categories, you will see any top-level categories you've already created. To create a new top-level Category, click the New Category button. To create a sub-category, click on the title of the parent Category you want and find the New Subcategory button. For more information on setting up and organizing your Categories, click here.

To create your Category or Subcategory, add a Category Name (required). If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your online marketing, you can also add a Short Description and a Long Description.

After you have created your new Category, you will be able to add your new product inventory to that category once your complete your Receiving Order.