Product Categories / Categorization Rules

In brief: Categorization rules define how products are assigned within a category tree: whether only to the lowest-level categories (leaves) or also to parent nodes, and whether a product can belong to one or multiple categories.

Key rules

• Leaves only or nodes too: Many companies only allow products at the lowest level. This makes every assignment unambiguous, and parent categories automatically display all products beneath them. If products are also assigned to parent nodes, the tree can quickly become difficult to navigate.
• Single or multiple assignments: In the internal master category tree, each product should have exactly one place. In shop or catalog trees, however, it can appear more than once, for example under both “Garden furniture” and “Special offers”.
• No overlap: Categories at the same level must not overlap in scope, otherwise the same products end up in different places.
• Depth and breadth: Three to five levels are usually enough. Trees that are too deep are harder to maintain, while those that are too shallow make navigation difficult.

Why rules matter

The category tree often determines attributes and mandatory fields. Inconsistent assignments can leave products with missing or incorrect attributes. Clear rules are therefore part of data modeling and should be established before data is imported.

Example

A bed retailer creates the tree “Beds > Bed frames > Children’s beds”. A child’s bed is assigned only to “Children’s beds”, but automatically also appears under “Bed frames” and “Beds”. In the shop, it can additionally appear in the promotional category “Children’s rooms” without changing the master tree.

See also

• Product Categories / Product Categories
• Classifications
• Catalogs
• Data Modeling
• Inheritance