Categories organize your inventory into groups and subgroups and give more specific, in-depth results in your reports and inventory counts. We recommend deciding on a category structure for your inventory and creating it before adding items to your inventory.

Creating item categories

Creating item categories in Retail POS allows you to sort items into groups and subgroups for easier organization.

If you import products into Lightspeed Retail from a database that includes category information, enter the categories you want your items to be assigned to in your import file. Retail POS will automatically create the category structure of your inventory.

1. Navigate to Inventory > Categories.

   

2. Click + New Category.

   

3. Type in the category name.

   

4. Click Save Changes to return to the details page of your new category.

You will be brought to the details page for your new category.

You can create up to 2,000 categories and subcategories in Lightspeed Retail. If you need more than 2,000 categories and subcategories, contact our Support team to upgrade your limit.

Editing item categories

Once your category is created, you can change the parent category, add subcategories, rename, delete, or merge your category.

Changing the parent category

Parent categories change the path for a category branch. For example, if you’ve created the category Accessories which you want to organize under the larger category Apparel, you would change the parent of Accessories to Apparel. 

To change the parent of the category:

1. Click the current parent option. If this is a new or unassigned category, this will be set to None.

   

2. Select the new parent category from the pop-up window.

   

3. Click Save Changes.

Your category will now be moved to become a subcategory of its parent.

You can change the category path for an entire branch by selecting a different parent category. When you change its parent category, the structure of the branch that you’re moving is maintained. For example, if you have the branch Apparel > Accessories > Hats, moving the Accessories branch also moves the Hats subcategory.

If you have an eCom store, make sure to adjust the visibility of the new category via your eCom back office to ensure the category is available on your eCom storefront.

Adding a subcategory

Subcategories allow you to further organize your inventory into smaller sections. To create a subcategory:

1. Select your parent category from your category list.
2. Type in your subcategory’s name in the Name field.

   

3. Click + Add Subcategory.

Your subcategory will now appear in the list of subcategories.

Renaming categories

If you need to edit your category’s name, you can make this change at any time. To rename a category:

1. Click the category you wish to rename.
2. In the Category Name field, type the new name.

   

3. Click Save Changes.

Your category will have been renamed and will remain in its organizational hierarchy.

Merging categories

Merging categories allows you to combine categories that were previously separate. 

Merging cannot be undone. To separate merged categories, you must make a new category and move items manually into the new category.

To merge two or more categories:

1. Select the primary category that you want to keep.
2. Click Merge.

   

3. Select the checkbox(es) of the secondary category/categories that you want to merge into the primary one.

   

4. Click Merge.
5. Click OK.

Your secondary category will now be merged into the primary category. The secondary category will no longer exist, but all items in that category will now be organized into the primary category.

Deleting a category

Deleting a category will remove the category from your organizational structure, but will not delete the items within that category. 

Deleting a category cannot be undone.

To delete a category:

1. Click the category you wish to delete.
2. Click Delete.

   

3. Click OK.

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