Channel Attribute Templates

When you connect a channel, Merchkit automatically loads a template of attributes that channel requires, along with default AI prompts designed to fill them intelligently.

What Are Attribute Templates?

An attribute template is a pre-configured set of fields that a marketplace requires. When Merchkit loads a channel, it:

1. Fetches the marketplace's attribute specification
2. Creates a grid view with all required and recommended attributes
3. Pre-loads default AI prompts for each attribute that can be intelligently generated

You don't start from scratch—everything is pre-configured to get you moving fast.

Example: Wayfair Attribute Template

Wayfair is a furniture and home goods marketplace with extensive requirements. When you connect Wayfair to Merchkit:

Out of the box, you get:

• Pre-loaded attributes organized by category

• Default prompts for common attributes like:

  • Carton Width 1 — "Extract the width of the product's carton from the product description and specifications, in inches"
  • Carton Height 1 — "Extract the height of the product's carton from the product description and specifications, in inches"
  • Assembly Required — "Determine if this product requires assembly. Answer yes or no."
  • Care Instructions — "Extract care and maintenance instructions from the product description"
  • Material Composition — "List all materials this product is made from, with percentages if available"

• Category-specific views — Different furniture categories (sofas, chairs, tables) show only the attributes relevant to that category

[SCREENSHOT: Wayfair channel grid showing Carton Width, Carton Height, Care Instructions, and Material Composition attributes]

How Default Prompts Work

Each pre-loaded attribute has a default AI prompt that tells Merchkit how to generate that attribute from your product data.

The prompt extracts from:

• Your product title
• Product description
• Product specifications
• Product images
• Other enriched data in your Products view

Example prompt for Carton Width:

"Extract the width of the product's carton from the product description and specifications, in inches. If not explicitly stated, calculate or estimate based on the product dimensions. Return only the number with 'inches' as the unit."

When you generate this attribute for a product, Merchkit:

1. Reads the prompt
2. Analyzes your product's description and specs
3. Extracts or calculates the carton width
4. Fills the attribute automatically

What You Can Customize

Merchkit's templates come fully functional but completely flexible. You can customize:

1. The AI Prompt Itself

Rewrite the prompt to emphasize different aspects or override the default logic.

Default prompt: "Extract the width of the product's carton from the product description"

Your custom prompt: "For this sofa, estimate the carton width as 120% of the sofa width rounded to the nearest 6 inches"

This is useful when:

• The marketplace has unique requirements for your category
• You want to standardize how attributes are calculated
• The default prompt doesn't match your data structure

2. Which Attributes to Generate

When you generate channel content, you choose:

• Generate Empty Attributes Only — Fill only blank fields
• Generate All Attributes — Regenerate everything, overwriting existing values

If you've manually edited an attribute and like it, you can skip it in future generations.

3. Per-Channel Variations

The same product can have different attributes across channels. For example:

Amazon channel: Your sofa's bullet points might emphasize style and comfort Wayfair channel: Your sofa's material composition might emphasize durability and care

Each channel keeps its own attribute values separate.

Template Attributes vs. Your Products View

Don't confuse channel templates with your main product data:

Your product description lives in Products view. The channel template uses that description to extract or generate marketplace-specific attributes.

Common Attribute Types Across Channels

While each channel is different, many share common attribute types:

Text Attributes

• Title, Description, Brand, Color, Material

Category/Selection Attributes

• Product Category, Type, Assembly Required (yes/no)

Numeric Attributes

• Price, Weight, Dimensions, Stock Count

Rich Content Attributes

• Bullet Points, Images, Enhanced Descriptions, A+ Content

Technical Attributes

• Barcodes, SKU, Warranty, Certifications

Each channel defines what format these should be in and what the marketplace expects.

When to Use Defaults vs. Customize

Use the default prompt when:

• Your product data is well-structured
• The marketplace's requirements match your data
• You want to get to market quickly

Customize the prompt when:

• Your products have unique data structures
• You want to emphasize specific attributes
• The marketplace has specific requirements your products need to meet

Next Steps

Ready to modify prompts? Head to Customizing Channel Attribute Prompts to learn exactly how to edit and override defaults.

Or, jump straight to Generating Channel Content to start filling your channel attributes.