How do I create a new Product?
There are 4 steps to complete to create a new product:-
- Product details - these are the basic product details, such as its name, pricing options and specifications;
- Product page - this is where you will add more product details, such as its category, full description, and customise page display options including publishing;
- Product images - this is where you will select the products main and additional images;
- Product relations - this is where you will link this product to others in your catalogue that are similar or where this product is an accessory, spare part, or consumable for another product you sell.
Step 1 - Product Details
Lets start by creating the basic product details, do the following:-
- First tap or click Ecommerce from the menu;
- Then tap or click the Products tab;
- Then tap or click Create a new product;
- Now complete the following fields:-
- Product name - Give your product a descriptive name, but do not include product numbers (i.e. MPN or SKU) or measurements. You should keep this less than 10 words long (between 30 to 60 characters is best).
- Google merchant product category - Select the product category that best describes your product from the drop down list.
- Pricing options:-
- Base price - Enter the net price for your product, which is the before any applicable taxes.
- Tax rate - If applicable, select the tax rate for your region.
- Call to order/ confirm price - When set to Yes the customer will not be able to checkout with this item and no price will be displayed (they will be directed to your contact form).
- Product specific details:-
- Product MPN - Enter the Manufacturer Part Number, if known. If you leave this field blank it will auto fill with the new products catalogue ID when you save.
- Brand name - Enter the brand name for the product (i.e. Panasonic). If you have used brands on other products you have created, they will be displayed below. Simply tap or click one of them to set it as the brand name for this product too. If you leave this field blank it will auto fill with your business name when you save.
- Product Condition - Select the condition of this product from the dropdown box.
- Product Pros & Cons:-
- Pros (separate each with a comma (,)) - Here you can type any Pros about your product (i.e. Handmade, 3 year warranty, etc.). Make sure you separate each one with a comma (,). These are optional, but including them can help highlight key product features for your customers.
- Cons (separate each with a comma (,)) - Here you can type any Cons about your product (i.e. No warranty, Has small scratch on screen, etc.). Make sure you separate each one with a comma (,). These are optional, but including them can help highlight key product downfalls or faults for your customers.
- Checkout settings:-
- Minimum order quantity - Set the minimum quantity of this product that the customer must checkout with (i.e. if set to 5 the customer must select 5 or more of this item to be able to add it to their basket). The lowest number you can enter here is 1.
- Maximum order quantity (0 for unlimited) - Set the maximum quantity of this product that that the customer can checkout with (i.e. if set to 10 the customer must not have more then 10 of this item in their basket to proceed). To allow an unlimited amount (stock dependent) enter 0.
- Mixed product options count towards quantity discount pricing quantities - If you will offer discounts for ordering multiples of this product, select if different product options count towards the discount quantity. For example, this product is available in red and green, and you will offer a discount when the customer checks out with 5 of this item, do they all have to be red or can 3 be red and 2 be green. Set No if they all have to have the same options, or Yes if mix options are OK.
- See, How do I offer Quantity Discount Pricing on a Product?) for more details.
- Always free shipping for this item - Set this to Yes if you do not want to charge any shipping fees on this item. If the customer check out with other products that have chargeable shipping, this item will be excluded from the calculations, so normal shipping rules will apply to the other products in their basket.
- Product availability:-
- Quantity available (stock level) - Enter the quantity you have in stock for this item, also known as quantity on hand.
- Available to purchase online - When set to No this item will be show as unavailable. This is generally used when an item is out of stock.
- Return Settings:-
- Return permitted - If you will allow returns on this item select Yes and then complete the next 3 fields, otherwise select No and skip to Product Attributes.
- How many days is a return allowed from purchase - Enter how many days this product is eligible for return. In the UK distance selling regulations apply, so unless this item was custom made for the customer you should offer returns within the first 14 days.
- Return method - Select how you will accept a return from the drop down list.
- Return fees - Select what fees are applicable on returns from the drop down list.
- Product attributes - Tap or click Select Attributes to include to show a list of default product attributes. Then tap or click all the attributes you wish to include for this product (i.e. External Height, External Width) and then update the Display name and Display value fields, that will appear further down. Using these will automatically create Schema Data, which will help search engines (like Google) better understand your product and will enhance your on page SEO. They are also required if you are displaying your products in the Google Merchant Center.
- Then tap or click Create;
- Now, staying on the Product Details tab, under Product Options you can Add a product option, if this is a customisable product, or if this is a downloadable product you can Add a product download file.
- If you want to offer a discounted price based on the quantity your customer orders, you can do this using the Create a new discount quantity under Quantity Discount Pricing;
- See How do I offer How do I offer Quantity Discount Pricing on a Product?
- If you want to change the products price during certain dates (i.e. Black Friday) you can Create a new special pricing period under Special Pricing Periods;
Step 2 - Product page
After creating the product details (in Step 1) a product Main Page will then be created, with a number of fields already completed based on information you have already provided. You'll need to check and update this information (and importantly publish the page), do the following:-
- First, staying on the Edit Product Details screen, tap or click the Main Page tab and then update the following fields as needed:-
- Page title - this will have automatically been set to the product name you entered earlier and will include the products MPN;
- Page short/ META description - this will have been automatically been set to include the products name and key details you entered earlier;
- Product category (separate each with a comma (,)) - We use tags to categorise your product, and group similar products together, these are then used as search options so that your customers can display products with the same tags. These are generally optional, but including them can help your customers find specific products. If you have used tags on other products you have created, they will be displayed below. Simply tap or click one of them to add them as a tag for this product too. Be sure to separate each tag with a comma. Tags are not to be confused with hashtags that are used on social platforms, or marketing campaign tags, like the ones in Google Tag Manager.
- Featured icon - some templates have the ability to display an icon in certain areas, this will have already defaulted to a 'cubes' icon;
- Page URLs:-
- Create a new URL (i.e. /parent/new-page-name) - if you want to change the automatically created URL for this products page you can do that here. Enter a new address without your domain name (i.e. /parent/new-page-name or /new-page-name not https://www.example.com/parent/new-page-name).
- Page Set-up:-
- Parent page - select if this product is the child of another page you have already created;
- Include this page in a footer section - select the footer section you want to include a link to this product page or leave set as No;
- Override the page name to the following in links - when this page is shown in other areas of the site (i.e. a footer block) you can change the displayed name to what you enter here;
- Read more button text - this the button displayed in the store and search areas of the site, this will have been automatically set to 'Explore X' (where X is the products MPN);
- Include the brand name in page titles - When set to Yes the Brand name will be automatically included at the beginning of the Product name when displaying it in key area of your website.
- Make this a featured page - featured pages are shown first on your home page in the Pages section (if you have this homepage section enabled. You can also set this section to only show featured pages);
- See What is a Featured Page? for more details.
- Publishing:-
- Allow this page to be indexed by search engines (such as Google) - if you want search engines to be able to index and server this page to users this should be set to Yes. Setting No here will prevent users finding this page in search engines.
- Published - when set to No this page will not be visible on your website and users will not be able to access even if they have the URL. Once you are happy with your page set up and content and you are ready for people to start seeing this you must set this to Yes;
- Published date - this is the date that will be shown to users and search engine as the date this page was first available. If you set this to a future date (and leave Published above as No) the system will automatically publish this page on the date set here.
- Page content - here is where you will enter a description about your product, that will be displayed in the description box on the products page. Avoid adding product numbers (i.e. MPN or SKU), measurements and other generic information here as this will already be displayed in other areas of the page.
- Now tap or click Save Changes.
Step 3 - Product images
After updating the products Main Page (in Step 2) you should now select your products main and additional images, do the following:-
- First, staying on the Edit Product Details screen, tap or click the Images tab;
- Then tap or click Set a featured image - you will be directed to the Media screen, where you can upload a new image or select an existing one. Once selected or uploaded this will automatically be set as your products main image. See, How do I use the Media screen? for more details
- Now, if you have additional images to include for this product tap or click Add an additional image - you will again be directed to the Media screen, where you can upload a new image or select an existing one. Once selected or uploaded this will automatically be set as one of your products additional images. Repeat this step until you have added all the additional images you want for this product. See, How do I use the Media screen? for more details
Step 4 - Product Relation
After adding the products Images (in Step 3) you should now select how this product relates to other in your catalogue, do the following:-
- First, staying on the Edit Product Details screen, tap or click the Relations tab;
- Now tap or click the switches next to the other products you have to relate them:-
- Similar to - this is to show that the current product is similar to another (i.e. if the current product is a Printer you would select other Printers in your catalogue that are similar to this one);
- Accessory/ spare part for - this is to show that the current product is an accessory for or is a spare part for another product (i.e. if the current product is a Printer Power Cable you would select the Printer that this can be used with);
- Consumable for - this is to show that the current product is a consumable for another product (i.e. if the current product is a Printer Ink Cartridge you would select the Printer that this can be used with).
- Once done tap or click Save Changes.
Note
Product relations help search engines better understand your products and how they relate to each other. They also help your website suggest products to your customers based on what they are looking for.