Item categories have 3 major functions:
Searchable and filtered products in your inventory for quick search.
Populating data for your "Sales by Category Report."
Creating primary and secondary navigation categories for the web store.
You can be as broad or specific with these as you’d like and create as many categories as you see fit. Keep in mind that it is best to user broader categories than specific ones.
For example, a furniture store would be better organized by room than by individual furniture type. Organizing by "Dining, Living, Bedroom, Office, Patio" is better than "End tables, coffee tables, office desks, large beds, small beds, etc."
In this case, the individual furniture types should become sub categories if you want a more granular experience.
The primary reason for this is to keep your store organized and to help users navigate your website. Within the Ricochet Web Store, your categories and sub-categories create the primary navigation as seen below.
To Create or Manage Categories:
Click Preferences > Product from the main navigation menu.
Click the first tab titled "Categories."
You'll see a 3-column layout. They are organized by Category, Sub Category, and Child Category. The categories flow from left to right. So a sub category goes inside a parent category and a child category goes inside a sub category. Imagine them as folders, similar to how you would organize files on your computer.
Create a new Category by clicking the yellow "New Category" button.
Enter in the category name, description and photo if desired.
Click "Save."
Repeat these steps to create as many categories as you need.
To Create Sub Categories:
Click the Category that this Sub Category will belong to. The category selected will turn blue and the yellow button in the corner will change to "New Sub Category."
Enter in the sub category name, description and photo if desired.
Click "Save."
Repeat these steps to create as many categories as you need.
To Create Child Categories:
Click the Sub Category that this Child Category will belong to. The sub category selected will turn blue and the yellow button in the corner will change to "New Child Category."
Enter in the child category name, description and photo if desired.
Click "Save."
To Organize and Manage Your Categories:
Think of categories like folders. They all nest within each other and have products within them too. The layout is designed visually to allow you to easily drag and drop categories and there products where you see fit.