Categories

This product catalog/feed type is deprecated. Unless you are a Monetate client still using the legacy product specification, refer to the current product catalog specification.

The product catalog consists of named categories, each containing a list of product IDs, that are used for targeting in experiences. Categories can be generated automatically via a product feed or created manually as custom categories.

You can make a custom category without a product feed by inputting the product IDs for a category manually.

Custom categories are useful for grouping multiple product IDs that you may use in experience WHO targets, such as the Product in cart Behavior target option, or in WHAT action conditions. Rather than adding 500 product IDs individually, you can create a custom category that you can reuse in multiple experiences.

Any product IDs that you use in a custom category must match the ones that are collected in the addProducts, addProductDetails, addCartRows, and addPurchaseRows methods to provide any functionality when you use them in targets and action conditions.

Categories Page

To navigate to the Categories page, first click COMPONENTS in the top navigation bar, and then select Product Catalog (Old Spec).

Callout of the 'Product Catalog (Old Spec)' option in the COMPONENTS menu in the top navigation bar

Click Categories.

Callout of the Categories link on the Product Catalog page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification

At the top of the Categories page, you can input one or more categories to download a list of all the product IDs in them. There's also an option to download a list of all categories. Each list downloads as a CSV file. Below these options appear the Generated Categories list and the Custom Categories list.

The Categories page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification

The CSV file generated when you click DOWNLOAD PIDS contains the category ID (CID), product ID (PID), name, and description for each product in each category you input for the request.

The CSV file generated when you click DOWNLOAD A LIST OF ALL CATEGORY NAMES (GENERATED AND CUSTOM) includes the CID and source—product feed or user—for each category listed.

Generated Categories

The Generated Categories list contains the categories included in your product feed. It's automatically generated when the feed is processed and is derived from the category_name and category_id fields in the product feed file.

Click the name of a category to launch a modal that allows you to view the products listed in it.

You cannot save any changes you make to the category name or to the list of products in the modal that appears when you click the name of a Generated Category.

The modal for viewing the name and products within a category in the Generated Categories list on the Categories page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification

Right below the "Generated Categories" heading appears the date, time, and time zone of when the product feed was last processed. Below that information appears the current total of categories generated from the feed.

Custom Categories

The Custom Categories list contains those categories that you've created in Monetate.

Click the name of a category to launch a modal that allows you to edit the category name as well as add or remove products from the category.

The modal for editing the name and products within a category in the Custom Categories list on the Categories page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification

Click SAVE to retain the changes.

Creating a Custom Category

You can make a custom category by inputting the product IDs for a category manually. The product IDs you include in a custom category must match the product IDs passed from the Monetate API calls in your implementation of Monetate. There is no limit to the number of product IDs that you can add to a custom category.

Follow these steps to create a custom category.

  1. Click CREATE A NEW CUSTOM CATEGORY.

    Callout of the CREATE A NEW CUSTOM CATEGORY button on the Categories page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification

  2. In the NEW CUSTOM CATEGORY modal, type a name for the category, and then input the product IDs for the category, one per line.

    The NEW CUSTOM CATEGORY modal on the Categories page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification

  3. Click CREATE.

    Callout of the CREATE button in the NEW CUSTOM CATEGORY modal on the Categories page for Monetate's legacy product feed specification