Working with Categories

Categories are how you organize your product universe. They create a taxonomy—a structured tree of product types—that makes your catalog navigable, searchable, and enrichable.

In Merchkit, categories live in the Catalog section of the sidebar. They do three things: organize your products, enable channel-specific attributes, and determine how your data flows to marketplaces like Wayfair and Walmart.

What Categories Do

A category is a label that groups products by type. Examples:

• Furniture: Sofas, Chairs, Tables, Rugs
• Lighting: Ceiling Lights, Table Lamps, Floor Lamps
• Decor: Wall Art, Mirrors, Throw Pillows

When you assign a product to a category, you're telling Merchkit what kind of product it is. This determines:

1. Which attributes apply — A sofa category might require depth, width, and height. A rug category might require pile material and backing type.
2. Channel requirements — Wayfair's "306 - Sofa" category expects 30+ attributes. Wayfair's "305 - Chair" category expects a different 30+. Assign the wrong category, and your enrichment won't match the channel's expectations.
3. Enrichment rules — Some attributes only make sense for certain product types. Seat height matters for chairs; thread count matters for linens.

[SCREENSHOT: Catalog sidebar showing Categories link]

Creating and Managing Categories

Navigate to Categories

1. In the left sidebar, click Catalog.
2. Click Categories.

[SCREENSHOT: Catalog section with Categories link highlighted]

You'll see a list of your existing categories (if any) or a prompt to create your first one.

Create a Category

1. Click + New Category or Create Category.
2. Enter a category name (e.g., "Sofas", "Office Chairs", "Area Rugs").
3. Optionally, set a parent category to create a hierarchy. E.g., "Sofas" is a child of "Furniture".

[SCREENSHOT: New Category dialog with name field and parent category dropdown]

4. Click Create.

Your category now exists. You can edit its name, parent, or add category-level attributes (see below).

Assign Products to a Category

Navigate to your products (usually in a data file or product list view) and assign each product to a category. This can be done:

• Manually in the product detail view (click the product, set its category field).
• In bulk via CSV import (include a category column).
• Programmatically via API (if you're syncing from an external system).

Once assigned, a product stays in its category until you move it. You can reassign anytime.

Category-Level Attributes

Categories can have their own category-level attributes. These are fields that only apply to products in a specific category.

Example: The "Sofas" category might have attributes like seating_capacity and arm_style that don't make sense for "Rugs" or "Lamps."

How to Add Category Attributes

1. Open a category (click its name in the Categories list).
2. Scroll to Category Attributes or Attributes for this Category.
3. Click + Add Attribute.
4. Choose or create an attribute (same as the main attribute creation flow).
5. Set it as required or optional for this category.
6. Save.

[SCREENSHOT: Category detail view with Category Attributes section and + Add Attribute button]

Now, when you enrich products in this category, these attributes will appear in your enrichment workflow and prompt for data.

Why Category Attributes Matter

Category attributes make your enrichment smarter and more efficient:

• No wasted fields — You don't create a "thread count" attribute that only applies to linens. Instead, you add it to the "Linens" category.
• Channel alignment — When syncing to Wayfair, you assign category-level attributes to match Wayfair's category requirements.
• Conditional enrichment — An AI prompt can reference category attributes, and the prompt only runs for products in that category.

Categories and Channels

This is critical: different channels require different category structures.

Wayfair, for example, enforces a specific category taxonomy with many categories. Each category has different required attributes:

• 306 - Sofa: Requires seating capacity, arm style, back style, fabric care, dimensions, weight limit.
• 305 - Chair: Requires seat type, back style, arm style, dimensions, weight limit (note: no seating capacity).
• 321 - Coffee Table: Requires table shape, material, dimensions, leg style.

If you assign a sofa to category "305 - Chair" in Wayfair, the enrichment workflow will expect the wrong attributes, and your data won't match the channel's requirements.

Category-Specific Views

When you open a channel view (e.g., "Wayfair Export" view), you'll see a category selector dropdown at the top. This dropdown shows only the categories relevant to that channel.

[SCREENSHOT: Channel view with category dropdown showing "306 - Sofa", "305 - Chair", "321 - Coffee Table", etc.]

Selecting a category filters the product list to show only products in that category for this channel. This lets you enrich each category separately, ensuring all attributes are filled before sync.

Best Practices

1. Match your primary channel's taxonomy first

If Wayfair is your biggest channel, start with Wayfair's category structure. This makes category management simpler and reduces reassignments.

2. Keep your hierarchy shallow

A deep tree (e.g., Home > Furniture > Living Room > Seating > Sofas > Sectionals) is hard to navigate. Instead, use 2–3 levels:

Furniture
├── Sofas
├── Chairs
└── Tables

Lighting
├── Ceiling Lights
├── Table Lamps
└── Floor Lamps

3. Be consistent with naming

Use singular or plural consistently. "Sofas" and "Chairs", not "Sofas" and "Chair". Use clear, searchable names: "Area Rugs" not "Rugs" (which could mean bath rugs, door rugs, etc.).

4. Audit category assignments regularly

Every few months, check that products are in the right category. A sofa assigned to "Chairs" will get the wrong enrichment. Use bulk export or API queries to spot misassignments.

5. Align category attributes with channel requirements

Before syncing to a new channel, review that channel's category attribute requirements. Add missing attributes to your categories so enrichment is complete.

Common Questions

Q: Can a product be in multiple categories? In most Merchkit setups, a product is in one primary category. Some channels allow secondary categories for broader discoverability, but primary category is what drives attribute expectations.

Q: What if I'm selling to multiple channels with different taxonomies? Create a unified internal taxonomy first. Then, in each channel's configuration, map your internal categories to the channel's categories. For example:

• Internal: "Sofas"
• Maps to Wayfair: "306 - Sofa"
• Maps to Walmart: "Living Room Sofas"

Q: Do I have to use categories? Categories are optional for internal enrichment, but mandatory for channels like Wayfair. If you're not syncing to a channel, you can skip categories and manage attributes globally. But it's still recommended for organization and scalability.

Q: Can I change a product's category? Yes, anytime. Click the product and change its category field. Note: If the new category has different required attributes, you may need to re-run enrichment to fill those fields.

Next Step

Your catalog is organized, and categories are set up. Now it's time to run enrichment.

Head to 4. Running Your First Enrichment to learn how to execute an enrichment job, monitor its progress, and review the enriched data before syncing to your channels.