The category system between Retail POS (R-Series) and eCom (C-Series) is designed around product-category syncing. Adding a category to a product in Retail POS automatically does the same in eCom. This feature keeps everything consistent and saves you the time of making changes in both systems.

Category guidelines

Retail POS POS can have an identical or a different category structure compared to eCom.

To maintain the same category structure in eCom as Retail POS, restrict your category management to Retail POS. Anytime you need to create, rename, rearrange, merge or delete a category, do it in Retail POS. Performing any of these actions in eCom will misalign your Retail POS and eCom category structures.

To have a different category structure, use eCom to rename or rearrange categories as you see fit. Changing category names and locations does not affect product category syncing. However, changing the name and the location can easily confuse which Retail POS category syncs to which eCom category. Only rename or rearrange categories methodically and track your changes. Read Category syncing issues for more info.

Category syncing

Both Retail POS and eCom can manage categories. To make sure both systems work together, the system has been designed with these rules:

• Nothing restricts Retail POS from creating, merging and deleting the categories that are synced to eCom.
• Retail POS can only rename or rearrange eCom categories when they both have the same configuration for that setting.
• eCom cannot create, rename, rearrange, merge or delete categories in Retail POS.
• Retail POS resyncs categories and products when saved.

Category levels

Retail POS is can have 10 levels of categories. eCom supports 6 levels. eCom's navigation displays a maximum of 3 category levels.

• The first 6 levels of categories and subcategories in Retail POS are pushed to eCom with the correct category tree structure.
• The 7th and subsequent subcategories in Retail POS are still pushed to eCom, but outside of their category tree structure. This 7th category becomes a top level category in eCom and creates its own category tree with the remaining subcategories.
• You can only display up to three levels of categories and subcategories in your navigation on your eCom store. To make your products accessible via navigation:
  • A depth to a sixth level category can be achieved by using five levels of index type categories.
  • In order to ensure all products are accessible via the navigation, rearrange your categories.

Creating categories in Retail POS

1. In your Retail account click Inventory.
2. Click Categories, located at the bottom of the page under Inventory settings.
3. Click New category.
4. Type the category name and click Save changes.

The new Retail category is displayed in the eCom back office under Products > Categories.

You can create categories by import when adding items to a category.

Creating categories in eCom

Creating categories in eCom can make it difficult to trace which categories have come from Retail. Since the product-category syncing will still continue for other categories synced from Retail, it's important to keep track of the categories that were created in eCom. Making a personal note including the category's original title and the reason it was created can help.

Your online store's navigation is based on product categories. Categories allow you to organize your product range conveniently for customers, so that they can quickly find what they're looking for. This can, in turn, help with increasing your turnover opportunities.

Adding a category

1. On the left menu of the Back Office go to Products > Categories.
2. At the top of the screen click Add Category.
3. Specify a name and type for the category.
   • Title – title for the category to display in the menu.
   • Full title – long title to display on the Categories page.
   • Put in category – leave this field blank if the category is a main category. If it is a sub-category choose the parent category. You can't place an overview page under a product or text page.
   • Type – Select either Products, Overview or Textpage.
4. Click Save.
5. After you create the category, click it in the grid on the Categories page to modify settings for it.

Adding a subcategory

You can add sub-categories using the Add button.

1. On the left menu of the Back Office go to Products > Categories.
2. Click Add next to a category to create a sub-category for it.
3. Choose a name and type for the category.
   • Title – title for the category to display in the menu
   • Full title – long title to display on the category page
   • Put in category - choose the parent category
   • Type –Select either Products, Overview or Textpage.
4. After you create the sub-category, click it in the grid on the Categories page to modify settings for it.

Troubleshooting category syncing issues with eCom (C-Series)

Category syncing issues can look different depending on the cause of the problem:

• Multiple categories with the same name in eCom.
• Items added to categories in Retail POS aren't appearing in the same categories in eCom.
• Renamed or rearranged categories in Retail POS aren't reflected in eCom.

Most issues can be prevented by ensuring that you manage your categories following the eCom (C-Series) category guidelines. Renaming or rearranging your categories can cause issues if you don't consider the differences in category structures between Retail POS and eCom.

Organizing your categories for troubleshooting

Before troubleshooting, sort your categories into three different lists:

1. The categories in Retail POS that sync.
   • Retail category title
   • Retail category URL
   • eCom category URL
2. The categories in Retail POS that don't sync.
   • Retail category title
   • Retail category URL
3. The eCom categories to rename.
   • eCom category title
   • eCom category URL

Testing category connections

After creating your list, you need to test to see how categories are connected.

1. Slightly modify the title of a category in Retail POS by adding a unique value that's easily identifiable. For example, add 1 to the end of the title.
2. Click Save changes.
3. Open your eCom (C-Series) admin and select Products > Categories.
4. Review the category titles in eCom (C-Series) to find the change.
   1. If the change is found, add the category title, URL from Retail and eCom to list one.
   2. If you can't locate the change, add the name and the URL of the Retail category to list two.
5. Repeat these steps until all Retail POS categories have been tested.

Renaming similar eCom categories

1. Open your eCom admin and select Products > Categories.
2. If a category title and URL don't appear in list one, add it to list three.
3. Compare the category titles in the first and third list. Check for similar category titles.
4. For any similarities, rename the category titles in eCom to match exactly the category titles in Retail POS. If none are similar, proceed to Trial and Error.
5. Continue testing for category connections. When you find a connection, remove it from the third list and add it to the first. If not, rename the eCom category back to the original name.

Trial and error

1. Review list two, and select a Retail POS category to investigate.
2. Rename the first category title appearing in the list three.
3. Test again for connections.
   • If found, document the categories in list one, then move onto the next category in list two.
   • If not found, revert the title change. Repeat step two with the next category from list three until a connection is found.
4. Review list two and select the next Retail POS category to investigate.
5. Repeat this process until all the Retail POS categories in list two have connected eCom categories. The category titles remaining in list three have been created in eCom. These don't sync with Retail.