Catalog fundamentals
This guide explains how CataZenta is meant to be set up and why concepts like product families, category trees, and channels exist. It is written for brand, merchandising, and operations teams — not as a technical schema reference.
If you are launching a new workspace, read this before you create products or connect Amazon and Shopify.
How the platform fits together
Think of CataZenta in four layers that build on each other:
| Area | What you configure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | Who can edit, which languages you sell in | Keeps teams and regions organized |
| Catalog model | Families, attributes, categories, channels | One governed source of truth for every SKU |
| Governance | Completeness rules, approval workflows | Stops incomplete listings from going live |
| Publishing | Connections, export profiles, scheduled jobs | Gets approved data to Shopify, Amazon, B2B, etc. |
| Intelligence | Zen AI, MCP agents | Enrichment and automation on your catalog structure |
Recommended setup order
Getting the sequence wrong creates rework — for example, publishing before a channel has languages enabled, or creating products before a family defines required fields.
- Invite your team and assign roles (merchandising, syndication, approvers).
- Enable locales — the languages and regions you sell in.
- Define attributes — title, description, weight, color, images, compliance flags, etc.
- Create product families — which attributes apply to each product type, what is required, and what can differ by channel.
- Set up variant structure — only if you sell products with multiple SKUs (e.g. size and color).
- Build category trees — how you (and marketplaces) classify products.
- Create channels — each sales destination gets a tree and a set of languages.
- Add products and SKUs — assign family, categories, and fill in content.
- Link media — heroes, alternates, and pack shots from DAM.
- Review completeness — fix gaps before export.
- Connect integrations — Amazon, Shopify, ERP feeds, and export profiles.
Product family — your catalog template
Why it matters
A product family is the template for a type of product you sell — footwear, supplements, consumer electronics, and so on. It answers:
- Which fields must every product in this group have?
- Which fields are optional or can be overridden per SKU?
- Which fields matter only on certain channels (e.g. Amazon-only attributes)?
Without families, every product behaves like a blank spreadsheet: no shared rules, no reliable completeness, and weak AI suggestions.
What you configure
- Family name and code — how your team recognizes the group.
- Attributes on the family — linked from your global attribute library.
- Required vs optional — what blocks publish when empty.
- Channel-specific requirements — same family, stricter rules on marketplaces.
- Display fields — which attribute drives the product name and main image in lists and Brand Hub.
Good practices
- Create one family per real product type, not one family for the entire catalog.
- Align mandatory fields with what your worst channel actually rejects.
- Set display attributes early so buyers and internal users see consistent cards.
Common mistakes
- A single “General” family for everything → completeness scores and AI stop being useful.
- Mandatory fields your ERP never sends → endless failed exports and manual cleanup.
→ Create a product · Core concepts
Products, variants, and SKUs
Simple vs multi-variant
| Type | Best for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | One sellable SKU per product | A unique accessory with no size/color matrix |
| Multi-variant | One product, many SKUs | A jacket in several colors and sizes |
For multi-variant products you define a variant structure (for example “Color + Size” or “Size only”). That structure tells CataZenta which attributes create SKUs versus which stay at product level (long description, brand story).
You can maintain more than one variant structure under the same family when different lines need different matrices.
Lifecycle
Products and SKUs move through statuses such as draft, in review, approved, and archived. Workflows can require approval before status changes — see Workflows.
Attributes — flexible product data
Why it matters
The same product often needs:
- A French title and an English title
- Short copy for Amazon and longer copy for your website
- A weight in kilograms and a GTIN that must be unique globally
CataZenta stores this as attributes with clear rules:
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Per locale | Different value per language/region (e.g. translated title) |
| Per channel | Different value per destination (e.g. marketplace bullets vs web) |
| Unique | One value across the whole catalog (e.g. GTIN) |
Descriptions, numbers, dropdowns, booleans, dates, and media all use the same model so you can add fields without custom development.
Why this helps your team and AI
- Merchandisers see one familiar form per family.
- Completeness knows exactly which fields are missing.
- Zen AI and MCP tools read structured data — not ad hoc spreadsheets.
Category trees
Why it matters
Categories organize how people find products and how channels understand what you sell. They are not just labels — they tie into navigation, reporting, and marketplace taxonomy (especially Amazon browse paths).
Multiple trees
Most brands use more than one tree:
| Tree | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Merchandising | How your team browses and reports internally |
| Marketplace | Amazon product type / browse classification |
| Regional | Optional split when assortments differ by market |
A product can sit in more than one category. Export rules can vary by category when a marketplace requires different fields per product type.
Channels and locales
Why it matters
A channel is where you publish — Shopify US, Amazon Germany, wholesale portal, owned D2C site, and so on. Each channel defines:
- Which category tree applies to products on that destination
- Which languages/regions (locales) are active
Completeness is calculated per channel and locale — not as one number for the whole catalog. A SKU can be ready for English on your web shop but still missing French marketplace copy.
Example
| SKU | Shopify (en_US) | Amazon (fr_FR) |
|---|---|---|
| Running shoe X | 95% complete | 40% complete |
Publish and automation should target the channel–language pair you care about, not a vague “overall” score.
Languages, regions, and units
Locales combine language and market (for example US English, France French). Enable them on channels before you translate content or run exports.
Units of measure (weight, length, volume) keep ERP and marketplace data consistent when attributes carry physical dimensions.
Catalog completeness
Completeness (this section) is a publish gate — % of required attributes filled per channel. Catalog Quality in the Agent Control Center measures agent insights and pending approvals — a different signal. Use both.
Why it matters
Marketplaces suppress or reject listings with missing titles, images, or mandatory attributes. Completeness shows how ready a product or SKU is for a specific channel and language before you publish.
Scores reflect:
- Required fields on the product family
- Extra requirements scoped to a channel
- Validation rules for the destination (e.g. Amazon category rules)
You see which attributes are still missing so teams fix data before export jobs fail.
→ Catalog completeness · Publish complete products
Connections, exports, and imports
The pieces
| Concept | In plain terms |
|---|---|
| Connector | A platform CataZenta supports (Shopify, Amazon, …) |
| Connection | Your account linked to that platform |
| Export profile | What to send, how often, and how fields map |
| Import profile | How supplier or ERP data enters the catalog |
| Export / import job | A run you can track SKU by SKU |
Mapping rules
When you syndicate, CataZenta maps your attributes to what each channel expects. Rules can apply:
- To the whole export — one template for all products
- By category — different fields when Amazon product type changes
- Per connection — overrides for a specific store or marketplace account
Use category-specific mappings when a marketplace requires different attributes per browse node or product type (common on Amazon).
Listing IDs are remembered so updates stay tied to the same live listing — you are not creating duplicates on every export.
→ Integrations hub · Amazon · Shopify
Workflows and approvals
Workflows define stages such as draft → brand review → legal → ready to publish. Tasks assign work to the right people.
Use them when premium, regulated, or marketplace-sensitive content must be reviewed before it syncs anywhere.
Digital assets (DAM)
Store approved images and files in DAM, link them to products, and reuse renditions suited to web and marketplaces. Category and product displays can pull from the same governed media.
→ Why DAM · Link assets to products
AI and automation
Zen AI works inside the PIM on your live catalog. MCP lets tools like Claude or Cursor call the same data with your permissions.
Both rely on the structure you define in families and attributes — that is why setup quality matters as much as AI features.
→ Zen AI · MCP overview
Who does what in the workspace
| Role | Usually owns |
|---|---|
| Catalog / merchandising | Families, attributes, products, categories, completeness |
| Syndication / marketplace | Channels, connections, export profiles, job monitoring |
| Brand / legal | Workflows, approvals, regulated claims |
| IT / integration | ERP import, API keys, service accounts |
Permissions keep each role in the right area of the platform.
→ Commerce ecosystem · For brands
Where to go next
| Goal | Documentation |
|---|---|
| Shared vocabulary | Core concepts |
| How objects relate | Data model |
| Day-to-day in the UI | UI overview |
| APIs and automation | API overview · Getting started |