Categories are used to organize your inventory and group products together on a page, helping your customers with navigation. You can further use subcategories to break product categories down into more specific groupings. For example, you can have all "Apparel" as a category, with subcategories organizing products into "Tops," "Bottoms," etc.

New products will receive the default category of "Storefront" if no other category is selected. Products in the "Storefront" category will appear on the front page of your store as "Featured products." 

All products must belong to at least one category, and they can belong to multiple categories at once.

Creating categories and subcategories

Creating a category

Creating categories helps to sort your products. They also show up as separate pages in your online store, where you can add an optional description and featured image.

To create a new category:

1. In Retail POS, click on Retail (R-Series)

   

2. Click eCom (E-Series) in the drop-down to navigate to eCom.
3. In eCom, navigate to Catalog > Categories.
4. Click + Add Root Category.

   

5. Type in the category's name.

   

6. Optionally, add an image and/or description for the category.
   1. To add alt text to an image, hover over the image and click Actions > Edit Alt Text. Type your text and click Save.

      

7. Click Save.

Your category will now be created and can be edited at any time from the Categories page.

Creating a subcategory

Subcategories allow you to break down your categories into smaller groupings. They also create a simple navigation path, helping customers see which subcategory they are in, in your online store.

To create a new subcategory:

1. In eCom, navigate to Catalog > Categories.
2. Select your category from the list.
3. Click + Add Subcategory.

   

4. Type in the subcategory's name.

   

5. Optionally, add an image and/or description for the subcategory.
   1. To add alt text to an image, hover over the image and click Actions > Edit Alt Text. Type your text and click Save.
6. Click Save.

To change the order your categories are displayed, click and hold a category's name. You can drag the category to a different placement in the list. This can only be done for categories shown in blue and without the Lock icon (indicating that they were created in eCom).

Assigning product(s) to a category

Once you've created a category, you will need to assign products to that category. You can assign products to a category from eCom or within Retail POS.

Assigning a product to a category

You can assign a specific product to a category in eCom. To do this:

1. In eCom, navigate to Catalog > Products.

   

2. Select your product, using the search filters if necessary.
3. Click on Assign categories to this product.

   

4. A drop-down list of your categories and subcategories will appear. Click the checkbox next to all applicable categories/subcategories.

   

   Only categories/subcategories created in eCom (shown without a Lock icon) can be selected.

5. Click Apply.
6. Click Save.

   

Your product will now be added to the chosen category.

Assigning multiple products to a category

eCom (E-Series) allows you to quickly assign multiple products to a category at once. To do this:

1. In eCom, navigate to Catalog > Categories.
2. Select the category from the list.
3. Click Category products.

   

4. Click Assign Products to Category.
5. Select your product(s) from the list, using the search filters as necessary.

   

6. When you have selected your product(s), click Add Products.

The product(s) you have selected will be assigned to the category. To remove a product from the category, click the trash can icon next to the item.

Editing category settings

eCom (E-Series) provides several different customization settings for the way your categories are displayed.

Changing category display order

By default, display order for all categories is defined by dragging and dropping your categories on the Catalog > Categories page. However, you can change this order to update automatically based on your specifications.

1. Navigate to Settings > Cart & Checkout.
2. Under Catalog settings, use the Default products sort order drop-down to select how you want your categories to be sorted.

   

3. Click Save.

Customizing category URLs

You can use eCom (E-Series) to provide specific URLs for a category, allowing customers to easily navigate to a page showing all products in the category specified.

Custom URLs are automatically available in all stores registered after June 17, 2024. If you signed up earlier and want to use this feature, you can enable it on eCom (E-Series) under Settings > What's New.

To edit a category's URL:

1. Navigate to Catalog > Categories.
2. Click on the category you wish to edit.

   

3. Click the SEO tab.

   

4. Click Customize category URL.
5. Your category's current URL will be displayed. Type in any desired changes.

   

6. Click Save.

The URL for your category will now be updated. Your previous URL will redirect to the new one.

Changing category name display

You can change how your category images are displayed or hide them on your eCom storefront.

1. Navigate to Design.
2. Under Category name position, select your preferred category image display option. A preview of your choice will appear to the right of the options list.

   

Your selection will save automatically and be instantly updated on your eCom storefront.

Changing the name of the Featured Products section

eCom (E-Series) automatically creates a category for Featured Products. If you want to change the name of this category, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Edit Store Labels.

   

2. Click + Get Started.
3. Type featured into the search bar.

   

4. In the Featured Products field, type your new category label.

The new label will automatically save and be updated on your eCom storefront.

Disabling or deleting categories

If you have a category that is no longer needed on your storefront, you can disable it or delete it.

Disabling a category

1. Navigate to Catalog > Categories.
2. Select the category you want to disable.

   Only categories/subcategories created in eCom (shown without a Lock icon) can be selected.

3. Under Availability, click Disable.

   

4. Click Save.

   

The category will no longer be visible to customers, but can be re-enabled at any time by clicking Enable in the Availability section.

Deleting a category

1. Navigate to Catalog > Categories.
2. Select the category you want to delete.

   Only categories/subcategories created in eCom (shown without a Lock icon) can be selected.

3. Click Delete Category.

   

4. Click Yes. The category and its subcategories will be deleted.

   

The category will no longer exist on your storefront. Any products previously in the category will still exist and will be moved to the Storefront category until they are recategorized.

Deleting a category cannot be undone. If you delete a category and wish to re-add it, you will need to recreate the category and re-add all relevant products.

What's next?