Category-based browsing using WebSphere Commerce Search
WebSphere Commerce Search can be used to enhance the storefront by using Category-based browsing flows that customers can use to browse products.
The following methods can be used in the storefront to encourage category-based browsing:
Product sequencing within a sales category
The Category Manager or Product Manager can determine the best way to display, price, and sell products in the online store, including assigning or changing product sequences within categories. Customers can browse sales categories and see products based on the order you choose, based on the display sequence of the category. To sequence products within a sales category, see Sequencing categories.
Deep search sequencing
- When the search result is returned with a duplicate product across multiple categories, only the product from the category with the first display sequence is returned.
- Changes to category sequences require a full re-indexing of the category index and catalog entry index.
- Only positive sequence numbers are supported by default.
To enable deep search sequencing, see Sorting products using deep search sequencing.
Sequencing and unpublishing categories and products
You can work with sequencing and unpublishing in WebSphere Commerce Search to ensure that categories and products are displayed or hidden to best suit your catalog data and business needs.
Shallow category unpublishing
Shallow category unpublishing is enabled by default in WebSphere Commerce. It allows business users to hide selected sales categories in the storefront so that shoppers cannot browse to them. However, products from an unpublished category are still searchable from the storefront and can be accessed from the search results.
- Unpublished categories are language-specific. That is, unpublished categories are not displayed in the storefront category list in only the specific language.
- Published subcategories in an unpublished parent category can still be reached by using their SEO URL.
- Unpublished categories are not displayed in the category facet.
- If duplicate category names are displayed in the category facet and cause the full navigation path to be displayed, the published subcategory is still displayed if any of the parent categories are unpublished.
- Categories that do not contain translated text fall back to the site's default language.
You can disable the category language fallback. Set the DisplayEntryWithNoName and DisplayGroupWithNoName flags to false in the Search EAR's component configuration file (wc-component.xml). Then, fully rebuild the search index. For more information, see Search properties in the component configuration file (wc-component.xml) (Search EAR).
- Unpublishing a category results in all linked references to the category to be unpublished.
Deep category unpublishing
Business users can quickly hide categories, subcategories and the products within them using the Catalogs tool. For example, if the category contains out-of-season merchandise. The deep category unpublishing feature allows WebSphere Commerce Search to not index or display products that are hidden from shoppers.
After enabling deep category unpublish, business users use the Catalogs tool and clear the Display to customer check box for all categories and products that they want to hide. For more information, see Hiding categories.
- Unpublished categories are not language-specific. That is, unpublished categories are not displayed in the storefront category list in all languages.
- Changing the category published flag requires a full reindexing of the catalog entry index.
- Published subcategories in an unpublished parent category can still be reached by using their SEO URL.
- Unpublished categories and all their subcategories are not displayed in the category facet.
- Catalog entries are unpublished for all languages when marked as unpublished in any supported language.
- Published and unpublished catalog entries are all indexed and filtered at run time.
You can enable WebSphere Commerce Search to index only published catalog entries so that unpublished products are not automatically suggested in the search field. Set the IndexPublishedOnly and EnableDeepCategoryUnpublish flags to true in the WC EAR's component configuration file (wc-component.xml). For more information, see Search properties in the component configuration file (wc-component.xml) (WebSphere Commerce EAR).
You can enable only products from published categories to be displayed in search results. Set the DisplayPublishedOnly flag to true in the Search EAR's component configuration file (wc-component.xml).
- Categories that do not contain translated text fall back to the site's default language.
You can disable the category language fallback. Set the DisplayEntryWithNoName and DisplayGroupWithNoName flags to false in the Search EAR's component configuration file (wc-component.xml). Then, fully rebuild the search index.