The Parent-Child relationship is an aspect of the hierarchical Class structure in Comestri.
In the PIM, each Child Class has one Parent Class, and each Parent Class has one Child Class. However, a Parent can also be a Child of another Parent Class. For example, often a “SKU” Class will be a Child of a “Colourway” (Parent) Class. In turn, the “Colourway” (Parent) Class could be the Child of a “Style” (Parent) Class.
In a Channel, a Child Class can reference the Attributes and information of its Parent Class using contextual mapping. A Child can reference the values of its Parent using the “Ancestor” context marker.
The Parent-Child relationship is an aspect of the hierarchical Class structure in Comestri.
In the PIM, a Parent Class can only have one Child Class. A Parent can also be a Child of another Parent Class. For example, often a “Colourway” Class will be the Parent of a “SKU” (Child) Class. In turn, the “Colourway” (Parent) Class could be the Child of a “Style” (Parent) Class.
In a Channel, a Parent Class can reference the Attributes and information of its Children. A Parent can reference the values of its Children using the “Descendant” context marker.
One of the four Comestri Class types. A Product Kit Class defines a Class that allows you to create products that contain a number of SKUs that are sold as one product.
Stock Keeping Unit. A SKU is a representation of an actual physical product and often has a barcode. It is used for the lowest level of the Comestri Class structure and contains inventory.
Comestri supports the management of standalone products and products with variations.
Standalone products are those that have no further options for customers to select from. Examples of this kind of product could include a shoehorn, a bowtie or cufflinks.
Products with variations are products that are alike in some ways, but also have differences. For example, a ladies’ shirt of one style could come in different colours and sizes. In Comestri, a product can be divided into a number of Class levels that represent the variations in the product. For example, the ladies’ shirt could be divided into three Class levels: “Style”, “Colourway” and “SKU” (the SKU Class includes the various product sizes).
The Comestri PIM stores and recognises each Class level of a product as a separate product. These variant products are then linked together in the PIM in a Class hierarchy that utilises Parent-Child relationships. These relationships can be viewed under the Associated Products tab for each product in the PIM.
One of the four Comestri Class types. A Grouped Class defines a Class that allows you to create grouped products.
One of the four Comestri Class types. A SKU Class defines a product at the lowest level of a multi-Class structure and represents a sellable unit. SKU Classes are also used for standalone products.
Inventory is assigned to a product at this Class level.
A Variation Class is one of the four Product Class types in Comestri. (The others are SKU Class, Grouped Class and Product Kit Class.) Variation Class is a Class with Children that have variations. However, this type of Class can also be a Child of another Variation Class.
There are four different Class Types in Comestri:
- SKU – The lowest Class level, which has no further product variations, and holds inventory. Also commonly holds the “Size” Attribute for three-level Class structures
- Variation – A Class with Children that have variations. The Children can be SKU or other Variation Classes
- Grouped – A Class that allows you to create grouped products
- Product Kit – A collection of SKUs that are purchased as if they were a single product
This is the collection of Class levels used to classify products. Each PIM can have one or more Class Structures to suit the types of products sold. “Style”, “Colourway” and “SKU” comprise a commonly used three-level Class Structure. Two-level or single-level Class Structures are also frequently used.
Custom Attributes are Attributes that you can create as needed to suit the products that you sell. Some examples of Custom Attributes are: “Colourway”, “Size” and “Material”.
Product Kits are a collection of SKUs that are purchased as if they were a single Product, e.g. a Car Maintenance Pack, or a Welcome the New Baby Gift Set.
Features of Product Kits:
- A Product Kit is a new standalone product with its own name, description, images, etc.
- You can set the quantity of each SKU required to supply the Product Kit
- On marketplace platforms, a Product Kit looks like a single product and Comestri handles the decrementing of products that comprise the Product Kit. The inventory for a Product Kit is automatically calculated based on the available inventory for each product
To the marketplace platform, a Product Kit looks like a single product and Comestri handles the decrementing of inventory for the products that comprise the Product Kit.
A Grouped Product is a collection of individual products that is presented online as a bundle to promote sales. Each product in the group can be purchased individually or as part of the Grouped Product set.
Grouped Products can be used to:
- Upsell and cross-sell products
Use Grouped Products to boost sales through upselling and cross-selling of related products, e.g. as in “Shop the Look”, “Outfits”, and “Fashion Edits” selections.
- Encourage buying in bulk
Grouped Products allow you to highlight to customers that buying a larger quantity of goods can be a better value proposition.
In Comestri, Alias Products enable you to retail the same product in different ways by allowing you to list the same product under a different Name, Code and Description.
An Alias product is a version of a SKU (known as the Master product) that shares stock with its Master but has a different name and Code and may also have a different description or other Attribute values. Alias products allow retailers to sell the same product under multiple listings online, e.g. retailers can list generic car brake pads under various car makes and models to take advantage of online searches for branded parts.
Alias Products all share the same inventory with their base product. For example, you could use Comestri’s Alias Products capability to list the same unisex flip flops footwear product as “Women’s Aloha Flip Flops” and “Men’s Beachcomber Flip Flops” on different online marketplaces. You could also use Alias Products to boost your A/B testing strategy.
In Comestri, Image Attributes enable you to associate Attribute values with Images, while Image Tags are free-form tags that can be entered against an Image.
Image Attributes can be used to:
- Attach rich descriptive data to Images
Add data like Angle, View, Cropping, and Width to Images and create a powerful descriptive profile for each Image that can be utilised by online platforms, as well as third-party merchandising services, to optimise the online customer buying experience.
Image Tags can be used to:
- Filter Images to Channels
Use Image Tags to determine whether an Image can be sent to a Channel that has particular Image requirements. For example, a marketplace might only accept Images of a particular size with white backgrounds. Another platform might require that Image swatches are accompanied by hexadecimal colour codes. In these cases, you could set up channel filters to accept only images with Image Tags that satisfy these conditions.
- Sort Images for online display
Image Tags can be used to determine the display order of Images on product pages to help lift customer engagement.
- Create rich SEO data
Use Image Tags to add keywords and other meta data to Images to help improve SEO ranking and searchability on product webpages.
Comestri allows you to assign Images, Videos and Files as Media Items to your products. For example, you can:
- Easily upload Images/Videos/Files using Comestri’s UI. The Media Items are then stored in a secure and dedicated Amazon S3 bucket
- Assign Media items as URL references, which means updates to your source Images will be reflected both in Comestri and your managed channels
- Add tags and Attributes to your Media Items
- Alter the order of Media Items by managing the sort order
Comestri features a special entity known as a Shared Reference, which can be created, enriched and associated with many products so that information can be more efficiently shared among them. Attributes, Media, Categories and Prices can all be assigned to Shared References.
For example, a single Shared Reference called “Ingredient” could hold values for “Skin Concerns”, “Benefits”, “Active Ingredient Description”, “Fragrance” and “Image”. All products then associated with a particular “Ingredient” would be able to reference the same values held by the “Ingredient”, e.g. its “Benefits” and “Skin Concerns”.
Additional examples of Shared References could be Fabric, Colour, Artwork, Brand and Fashion Model, as follows:
- A Shared Reference for a Fabric Composition might contain Care Instructions, Country of Origin and Material
- A Shared Reference for a Fashion Colour could include the Colour Family, Hex Code and a Swatch Image
- A Shared Reference for a handmade Artwork might consist of an Image of the artwork as well as an Image of the Artist
- A Shared Reference for a Brand could comprise Logo, Founder, Description and History
- A Shared Reference for a Fashion Model might include Name, Head Shot, Height, Waist, Bust, and Hip
Shared References can be used to:
- Simplify Attribute management
Use Shared References to associate Attribute data with many different products and manage changes more efficiently. If an Attribute within a Shared Reference needs updating, you only need to update it once for the change to be reflected across all associated products.
A Product Family provides you with an easy way to associate Attribute Groups with a wide variety of products that share the same Class Structure.
For instance, Shirts, Trousers and Dresses could all share a Three-Level Style > Colourway > SKU Class structure, but have vastly different Attributes. For example, relevant Attributes for Shirts could be Cuff Type, Sleeve Length and Collar Type, while appropriate Attributes for Dresses could be Neck, Occasion and Body Shape.
Attributes act as containers for data that describes your product. Comestri provides a range of pre-defined system Attributes, but also lets you freely define an unlimited number of custom Attributes.
Attributes can be used to:
- Add rich dimensionality to products
Use Custom Attributes for product enrichment to improve SEO, increase customer engagement and lift conversions.
- Differentiate your product offering
Create Custom Attributes that are specific to your industry, brand or product range to ensure they resonate with your target markets and drive online awareness of your products.
You can assign a data type to Attributes to support any kind of product data – String, Text, HTML, Integer, Single Select, Multi Select, List, Boolean, and Date. You can then assign validation rules based on your data type.
Attribute Groups let you logically group related Attributes together. So, instead of separately assigning Attributes to a product, you can assign multiple Attributes using a single Attribute Group. For example, individual attributes like Meta Information, Title, Keywords and Description could be grouped under an SEO Attribute Group.
You can re-use Attribute Groups for similar products, and also create Attribute Groups that are unique to particular types of products.
Attribute Groups can be used to:
- Streamline product enrichment
Assign many Attributes to similar products faster and more efficiently using Attribute Groups.
- Reduce data handling errors
Use Attribute Groups to help ensure uniform, error-free assignment of Attributes across a large product range.
Product Classes allow you to store pieces of product information at different levels, so that the overall Class Structure reflects variations in your product hierarchy. Common product variations include colour and size. Product Classes can be used to:
- Manage large brand or product portfolios
A Product Class can be a SKU, Variation, Product Kit or Group. This allows for unlimited flexibility in the creation of multilevel variant and group product structures, e.g. Style > Colourway > SKU, Master Product > Child Product.
- Cater for all types of products
You can set up Classes to support marketing and product management for any industry sector e.g. Fashion and Apparel; Shoes; Beverages; Jewellery; Automotive Spare Parts; Beauty, Skincare and Cosmetics; Health Supplements; FMCG; Pet Products; Baby Products, Homewares; and Experience Packages.