ChannelEngine: categorization

About this article

This article describes the categorization step on a channel on ChannelEngine.

Table of contents

Introduction

Category-to-category mapping 

• Manually match categories
• Apply an advanced rule on a category
• Map automatically
• Copy mappings from another channel

Rules

• Manage advanced rules
• Drag and drop rules

Product-to-category mapping

• Modify a category on a product
• AI recommendations
• Import categorization from a file

Uncategorized products

File export

Categories and product types

Video

FAQs

Introduction

Categorization is the process of translating your own product categories to the specific categories of the marketplace. Sometimes your own categories can be matched one-to-one with the marketplace's categories, but other times, the granularity of your product structure and that of the marketplace do not match. E.g.: your categories are too specific, not specific enough, written in a different language, etc.

ChannelEngine offers a structured workflow to match your products to the marketplace's categories - leveraging AI recommendations and automation - in the Categorization step of a given channel.

• Manually match your categories to the marketplace categories.
• Automatically categorize your products using ChannelEngine.
• Automatically categorize your products using AI. For more information, see AI category mapping.
• Copy matched categories between channels. For more information, see Copy categorization between channels.

Category-to-category mapping

Use the Category to category tab to map the categories that you originally assigned to your products with the categories that the marketplace expects.

To start categorizing your products, go to the Categorization, Category to category on a given channel:

1. On the left, you see your own categories (My categories). On each of your categories, you see a blue number label indicating how many products have this same category. 
2. On the right, you inspect and map to the marketplace's category tree (Marketplace categories). In the empty fields, start typing text to auto-find a given channel category. Or use Browse to scan the channel's category tree, and manually select a matching category.
3. Hover on a line item to set up rules to selectively map My categories to Marketplace categories. For details on adding advanced rules for category mapping, check out the Apply an advanced rule on a category section below.
4. The goal is to match your own categories to the categories of the marketplace.

Manually match categories

To manually match My categories to Marketplace categories, start typing a keyword related to your own category in the empty field. A dropdown menu appears with marketplace categories that contain that keyword. 

• Click Browse at the bottom of the screen to access the full category tree of the channel. Note that most marketplaces have a long list of categories, so the search field comes in handy.
• To filter out categories that have already been matched or are currently empty, click the Filters button and toggle the related option.
• To copy a category path of a marketplaced category, click the Copy button next to it.

Apply an advanced rule on a category

If one of your own categories is not specific enough for the marketplace, you need to refine it. To refine one of your categories, create a rule. Rules allow you to create subdivisions of categories, e.g.: transform 'bags' into 'shoulder bags' and 'backpacks.'

To create a rule to refine one of your categories:

1. Hover the mouse cursor over your category until the Add rule button appears. 
2. An advanced rules template appears with your category auto-filled as the starting point.
3. Alternatively, create a series of general rules to refine any of your categories with the Add rule button near the search bar at the top of the tab. 
4. (optional) Refine your category by adding 'And' statements based on different product attributes.
5. In Use, select a marketplace category.
6. Click Save. 
7. Your rule gets saved to the Rules tab, and the given products are mapped to the used marketplace category. 
8. To verify that your advanced rule is applied, check the Product to category tab and search for a product within the mapped category.

Automatically match categories

You can let ChannelEngine find matching marketplace categories based on your categories. At the bottom of the Category to category tab, click Map automatically. ChannelEngine provides suggestions; check if the correct category has been mapped. Map automatically only works for categories in English or in Dutch.

Copy mappings from another channel (select channels)

On select channels, you can copy matched categorizations from one channel to another, e.g.: other sales channels of the same marketplace, avoiding the need to repeat the categorization step on the new channel. 

1. Go to the Categorization step of a channel.
2. At the bottom of the Category to category tab, click Copy mappings from another channel.
3. Select the channel from which you want to copy the categorization, then click Copy mappings, Yes.

ChannelEngine copies categories from the source to the destination channel based on their names. If no match is found, AI is used to find the most relevant category match. 

Rules

In the Rules tab, view your list of advanced rules for category-to-category mapping or manage more advanced rules.

Manage advanced rules

In the Rules tab, you have more freedom to create rules. If you have created multiple categorization rules, you can search through them using the search bar. Furthermore, the rules template is not pre-filled. Define a categorization rule based on any product attribute. 

E.g.: if the product Name contains 'dress,' then the product is categorized under 'gowns.' 

Drag and drop rules

Drag and drop your rules in the order of their priority if you created multiple rules that apply to the same category. Click Save.

Product-to-category mapping

Use the Product to category tab to map individual products to the marketplace's category via a CSV file, individually modify products' mapped categories, or use AI to recommend categories for each product.

In the Product to category tab, you see an overview of how many of your products are mapped and unmapped, grouped by your original categories. 

Modify a category on a product

If you have existing category-to-category mapping or set up advanced rules for categorization, you may find that your products are already mapped. Use product-to-category mapping to assign categories to specific products, overriding other category mappings and advanced rules.

To modify category mappings per product:

1. Click on one of your product category groups.
2. Each product is listed as a line item, and the mapped marketplace category is indicated in New category.
3. Locate the product whose marketplace category you want to modify.
4. Click Browse at the end of its line.
5. Select a new marketplace category.

AI recommendations

You can use AI to automatically categorize your products on the channel. To enable AI recommendations for category mapping, contact your customer success manager or ChannelEngine’s Support team. To learn more about how to configure and use AI category mapping, check out the ChannelEngine: AI category mapping article.

Import categorization from a file

Upload a CSV file that lists your products according to the marketplace's categories. Easily download the CSV template directly from the web interface. 

To find the CSV template and import your category matching file:

1. Go to the Categorization step of a channel.
2. Open the Product to category tab.
3. Click Import.
   
4. In the window that opens, click Download to get a CSV template.
5. The CSV template contains two headers:
   • Merchant product number - the unique identifier for the product on ChannelEngine, formatted as an alphanumeric value. E.g.: Nitro-smartphone-256-GB.
   • Channel category name - the category path on the marketplace. You can enter the full path or just the final category. E.g.: 'Home Electronics > Cell phones & accessories > Cell phones' or simply 'Cell phones'. If the category does not exactly match any marketplace category, ChannelEngine uses AI to find the best match.

6. Fill out the CSV template with your data. You can edit the CSV file directly using a code editor (e.g.: Visual Studio Code) or spreadsheet tools (e.g.: Excel or Google Sheets). If you use a spreadsheet tool, import the CSV file into it, enter your data, then save it as a CSV file again, using a semicolon ( ; ) as the delimiter. Below is an example of a CSV file containing one record.

   "MerchantProductNo";"ChannelCategoryName"
   "98767";"Home Electronics > Cell Phones & Accessories > Cell Phones"

7. To upload your CSV file back to ChannelEngine, click Upload. The import starts automatically and takes some time to complete.
8. Once the import completes, you can review the created category mappings.

Uncategorized products

View the list of products that are not yet matched to a marketplace category in Categorization,  Uncategorized products.

To list your products on the marketplace, each product must be matched to a marketplace category. 

File export 

You have two export options:

• An export of the marketplace's complete list of categories.
• A snapshot of your actual categorized and uncategorized products.  

ChannelEngine sends these exports to you via email.

Export the marketplace's categories

To view the marketplace's complete list of categories:

1. Click Browse anywhere in the Category to category tab.
2. Click Export categories.  
3. Select your file type (CSV or CSV for Excel). 
4. Click Download. 
5. ChannelEngine sends the file with the current category mappings to your login email address. 
6. To download the file, click Download link in the email. 

Export your category mapping

To export your currently mapped categories:

1. Go to Categorization step.
2. Click the blue Export categorization button. 
3. A dialog box appears. Click Yes. 
4. ChannelEngine sends a CSV file with the current category mappings to your login email address. 
5. To download the CSV file, click Download link in the email. 

The file contains for each product:

• The product name
• The merchant product number
• The marketplace's category that you selected for the product

Categories and product types

On select marketplaces, such as Amazon and bol, the first level of categorization is based on the product type, and not on the detailed subcategory that you see on the marketplace itself. 

First, in Categorization, you match your own category with the relevant product type. Then, either the recommended browse node or the type of product becomes available as a mappable attribute in Mappings, Content mappings.

E.g.: in Categorization, you first match your 'shoulder bag' category with the generic 'bags' on the marketplace. Then, in Mappings, you match the shoulder bag with a more specific product type/browse node – such as 'shoulder bag' or 'backpack'.

Video: how to categorize your products

FAQs

If I use a spreadsheet application, e.g.: Excel, to create my CSV file, how do I enforce a semicolon as the delimiter?
Your CSV file should still be uploaded as a .csv file, but the contents should follow the downloaded template format — semicolon-separated, with the quoted column headers/values intact. Avoid relying on Excel’s default CSV export, since Excel can change delimiters depending on regional settings. Opening the file in a plain text editor is the safest way to verify whether it uses a semicolon ( ; ) or a comma ( , ). 

If you use Excel to create your CSV file: