In the Comestri Product Manager (PIM), we’ve recently introduced new options for our Product Filter and Bulk Edit functions that will help save you time and effort.
Take a look at the walk-through examples below to learn more.
Product Filter – Filter by Inventory Source
In the Product Filter on the Manage Products page, you can now use the Search Term “Inventory Source” when filtering Products for searches and Bulk Edits.
Inventory Source allows you to check for Products that have inventory in one or more Inventory Sources. You can check using the following additional operators:
- Exists – Checks that the selected Inventory Source(s) have any quantity for your Products
- Qty and Available Qty – Both operators allow you to do comparisons between the Inventory Source value for Products and a given value, e.g. is the Inventory Source Qty value less than 10?
An example of when you might use the “Inventory Source” Search Term in Product Filters is where you need to identify Products with excess stock so that you can put them on sale.
So, to identify excess stock, the below example filters for Products with the “Melbourne AU” Inventory Source, where the Qty in the Inventory Source is greater than or equal to 450.
Product Filter – Filter by Variation Parent
The search term “Variation Parent” is another new addition to the Comestri PIM Product Filter. You can use this to filter for Products with or without a Parent Product.
A Parent Product is a Product that has Products that sit beneath it in the Comestri Product Class Structure. For example, if you have a Style > Colourway > SKU Product Class Structure, the Style Product Class is a parent to the Colourway Product Class, and the Colourway Product Class is a parent to the SKU Product Class.
Using the “Variation Parent” Search Term, if your Product Class Structure has been defined with multiple Product Class Levels, like the Style > Colourway > SKU example above, you can filter for Products for which a Parent Product “exists” or “doesn’t exist”.
You should note that, if a Product Class does not have a Parent Product Class in the Product Class Structure, then Products of that Product Class will not appear in search results for both the “exists” and ”doesn’t exist” Operators. For instance, in the above example, the Style Product Class has no Parent Product Class, so will not appear in the search results where the Search Term “Variation Parent” is used.
An example of when you might use the “Variation Parent” Search Term in Product Filters is where Products have been created manually in the Comestri PIM and you suspect that some may not have had a Parent Product linked to them.
So, to identify Products without a Parent Product, the below example filters for Products where a “Variation Parent” Product “doesn’t exist”.
Product Filter – Filter by Variation Children
As a complement to the “Variation Parent” Search Term, the “Variation Children” Search Term has also been introduced to the Comestri PIM Product Filter.
A Child Product is a Product that sits beneath a Parent Product in the Comestri Product Class Structure. For example, if you have a Style > Colourway > SKU Product Class Structure, the Colourway Product Class is a child to the Style Product Class, and the SKU Product Class is a child to the Colourway Product Class.
Using the “Variation Children” Search Term, if your Product Class Structure has been defined with multiple Product Class Levels, like the Style > Colourway > SKU example above, you can filter for Products for which a Child Product “exists” or “doesn’t exist”.
You should note that, if a Product Class does not have a Child Product Class in the Product Class Structure, then Products of that Product Class will not appear in search results for both the “exists” and ”doesn’t exist” Operators. For instance, in the above example, the SKU Product Class has no Child Product Class, so will not appear in the search results where the Search Term “Variation Children” is used.
An example of when you might use the “Variation Children” Search Term in Product Filters is where Products have been created manually in the Comestri PIM and you suspect that some may not have had any Child Products linked to them. The screenshot below shows how to use the “Variation Children” Search Term to find these Products.
Bulk Edits – Bulk Assign Category
Under Bulk Edits on the Manage Products page, the Bulk Assign Category option lets you assign one or more Categories to a selection of Products in the Comestri PIM. This is useful as it allows you to assign Categories to multiple Products at the same time, which is faster than manually assigning the Categories to each Product separately.
A common use for Bulk Assign Category is when your Products have been created in the Comestri PIM without Categories. In this case, you could assign the Categories based on the values of Attributes on your Products. You could also choose to have the Bulk Assign Category run so that Categories are automatically assigned to the Products when they are created in the PIM.
Below, you’ll step through an example that shows how to use Bulk Assign Category to assign Categories to Products that have been filtered for specific Attribute values.
You’ll be using the Attributes “Department” and “Gender” with the values “Shoes” and “Female” respectively. The filtered Products will be assigned to the Category “Womens > Shoes”.
This Bulk Assign Category will be set as Automatic, which means it will run when a Product that matches the Bulk Edit’s Filter conditions is created or updated in the Comestri PIM.
- In the Comestri PIM, under “Manage Products”, first you need to define and apply a Filter that generates the limited set of Products that meet your required conditions. In this example, the Filter generates a list of Products that have the Attributes Department and Gender with the values “Shoes” and “Female” respectively.
- Click the Bulk Edits button that has appeared and select the Bulk Assign Category option from the drop-down menu list.
- You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page. Here you’ll move through 3 steps to assign a Category to your selected Products.In the first step, “Operation details”, you’ll make the following selections for the fields displayed:
- Effect – Select “Add category” (Note: You can also select “Remove Category” to remove a Category from Products).
- Rule type – Select “Static”.
- Category set name – Select the Category Set for the Category that Products will be assigned to.
- Category paths – Enter the Category path for the Category to assign Products to. (Note: You can enter multiple Category paths by separating them using a pipe ‘|’.)
- Then click Next to move to step 2, “When to execute?”.
- In step 2, “When to execute?”, you must select from the following 3 Execution options:
- Run Once – Choose this option if you only want to trigger the Bulk Edit manually. (Note: You can trigger the Bulk Edit manually multiple times.)
- Automatic – Choose this option if you want the Bulk Edit to run automatically when a Product is created or updated in the Comestri PIM.
- Recurring – Choose this option if you want the Bulk Edit to run according to a set schedule. If selected, further options for scheduling the Bulk Edit will be displayed.
(Note: Automatic and Recurring Bulk Edits can also be triggered manually so that they run immediately.)
- In this example, you’ll select “Automatic”, then click Next to move to “Review and Confirm”.
- In step 3, “Review and Confirm”, you’ll review your details and enter names for your Bulk Edit and Filter.
Note that you must change the “Bulk Edit Status” to active; otherwise, you won’t be able to run your Bulk Edit later.
- Click the Confirm button to create your Bulk Edit.
- You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page where you will see your new Bulk Edit listed.
- To check that your Bulk Edit works correctly, run the new Bulk Edit now by clicking the ellipsis (…) next to the Bulk Edit and selecting Execute Bulk Edit.Alternatively, you could run the Bulk Edit now by updating an existing Product, so it meets the Bulk Edit’s filter criteria.
- Next, to check that your Products have been assigned to the Category by the Bulk Edit, click Products > Manage Products on the Comestri main menu, and open a Product that you expected the Bulk Edit to update.
- Click on the Categories tab, and check that the Product has the new Category assigned.
Bulk Edits – Bulk Publish to Channel
Bulk Publish to Channel is another Bulk Edit option that lets you send a selection of Products from the Comestri PIM to one or more specified Comestri Channels. This is useful as it allows you to send a limited set of Products to a Channel, which is faster than using ‘Stage All’ to send all Products from the Comestri PIM to the Channel.
A common use for Bulk Publish to Channel is when you need to make changes to a mapping in the Channel (e.g. an update to the Product Description). Bulk Publish to Channel allows you to quickly test the mapping changes for a limited set of Products before you update all Products in the Channel.
Below, you’ll step through an example that shows how to use Bulk Publish to Channel to test changes to Field Mapping in a Channel.
You’ll be filtering for Products that have the Catalog “Test Products” assigned to them. The filtered Products will be sent to the Comestri Channel called “Sample Apparel – Google”, which has had a Field Mapping change.
- In the Comestri PIM, under “Manage Products”, first you need to define and apply a Filter that generates the limited set of Products for testing. In this example, the Filter generates a list of Products that have the Catalog “Test Products” assigned to them.
- Click the Bulk Edits button that has appeared and select the Bulk Publish to Channel option from the drop-down menu list.
- You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page. Here you’ll move through 3 steps to publish your selected Products to a specified Channel.In the first step, “Operation details”, you’ll specify one or more channels to publish your Products to. Then click Next to move to step 2, “When to execute?”.
- In step 2, “When to execute?”, click Next to accept the default execution of “Run once” and move to “Review and Confirm”.
- In step 3, “Review and Confirm”, you’ll review your details and enter names for your Bulk Edit and Filter.
Note that you must change the “Bulk Edit Status” to active; otherwise, you won’t be able to run your Bulk Edit later.
- Click the Confirm button to create your Bulk Edit.
- You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page where you will see your new Bulk Edit listed.
- To run your new Bulk Edit, click the ellipsis (…) next to the Bulk Edit and select Execute Bulk Edit.
- Next, to check that your Products have been published to the Channel, click Channels > Manage Channels on the Comestri main menu, and select the Channel you are publishing to.
- Click on the Export Items tab, and check that the Products you have published to the Channel appear in the list and have an Export Status of Export Ready.
More Bulk Edits to Help You Work Better
Just a reminder that Comestri provides you with even more Bulk Edit options.
On the Comestri Manage Products page, once you have applied a filter to your products you can then select from the following additional Bulk Edits: “Bulk Set Attribute”, “Bulk Generate Price” and “Bulk Assign Catalog”.