Enabling product grouping

Enable product grouping so that you can increase the relevancy of products and search results in the storefront.

Before you begin

To generate search results and achieve visual relevancy, the product's relevant attributes (such as color) must be indexed by setting them as searchable and facetable in the Management Center.

About this task

For convenience, the following tasks are organized according to the scenarios described in Product grouping. Your requirements may not match these specific scenarios, hence you may apply the configuration that suits your own needs.

Perform this task...	To do this....
Enable product grouping for keyword searches.	Generate search results for SKUs in the storefront.
Enable product grouping for storefront navigation.	Show products with their underlying SKUs when a shopper browses the storefront.
Enable ItemBean search for managing facets under Management Center.	Redefine the search profile responsible for returning the facets in the Management Center to return facets based on SKUs, instead of the default products.
Enable ItemBean search for creating rule-based Sales Category under Management Center.	Redefine the search profile responsible for returning the products in the Management Center to return products based on SKUs, instead of the default products. Add the following profile into the wc-search.xml search configuration file of the WC EAR:
Enable product grouping for category facets.	Shows product grouping in category facets.
Disable the index-time roll up of attribute values to the product bean.	Prevent attribute values from rolling up from any SKU to their parent's products.
Enable indexed price ranges for product in category pages.	Show the price values for products with different SKUs in category pages. The price range is based on the product's underlying SKUs minimum and maximum offer prices.
Enable visually relevant products in the storefront.	Provide visual relevancy in keyword searches.
Promote representative SKUs in search results using search rules and merchandising attributes.	Enable business users to promote a particular SKU when multiple SKUs exist. For example, if the SKU is on sale or overstocked.
Promote representative SKUs in store pages using merchandising attributes.	Enable business users to promote certain product-specific SKUs in store pages.

Procedure

Scenario 1 settings

The following settings are useful for expanding the search scope to include products and their underlying SKUs, and aggregate the results to return only the parent products.

Enable product grouping for keyword searches.
Redefine the IBM_findProductsBySearchTerm search profile in the wc-search.xml file of the Search EAR:
```
<_config:profile name="IBM_findProductsBySearchTerm" indexName="CatalogEntry">
    <_config:query> 
        <_config:param name="searchType" value="10"/>    
        <_config:param name="relevancyType" value="2"/>     
    </_config:query> 
</_config:profile>
```
Where:
- A searchType value of 10 increases the search scope to include items.
- A relevancyType value can alternatively be set in the wc-component.xml file.
Enable product grouping for storefront navigation.
Redefine the IBM_findProductsByCategory navigation profile in the wc-search.xml file of the Search EAR:
```
<_config:profile name="IBM_findProductsByCategory" indexName="CatalogEntry">
    <_config:query> 
        <_config:param name="searchType" value="10"/>    
        <_config:param name="relevancyType" value="2"/>     
    </_config:query> 
</_config:profile>
```
Where:
- A searchType value of 10 increases the search scope to include items.
- A relevancyType value can alternatively be set in the wc-component.xml file.
Enable product grouping for category facets.
Redefine the IBM_ComposeFacetListByCategoryId profile, which is used to populate the category facets, in the wc-search.xml file of the Search EAR:
```
<_config:profile name="IBM_ComposeFacetListByCategoryId" indexName="CatalogEntry">
    <_config:query> 
        <_config:param name="searchType" value="10"/>    
        <_config:param name="relevancyType" value="2"/>     
    </_config:query> 
</_config:profile>
```
Where:
- A searchType value of 10 increases the search scope to include items.
- A relevancyType value can alternatively be set in the wc-component.xml file.
Enable ItemBean search for managing facets under Management Center.
Redefine the search profile responsible for returning the facets in the Management Center to return facets based on SKUs, instead of the default products. Add the following profile into the wc-search.xml search configuration file of the WC EAR:
```
<_config:profile indexName="CatalogEntry" name="IBM_findFacetsByCategory">
      <_config:query>
         <_config:param name="searchType" value="12"/>
      </_config:query>
</_config:profile>
```

Enable ItemBean search for creating rule-based Sales Category under Management Center.

Redefine the search profile responsible for returning the products in the Management Center to return products based on SKUs, instead of the default products. Add the following profile into the wc-search.xml search configuration file of the WC EAR:

<_config:profile indexName="CatalogEntry" name="IBM_dynamicCatalogEntryRecommendation">
	<_config:query>
		<_config:param name="searchType" value="10"/>
	</_config:query>
	<_config:group>
		<_config:param name="group.limit" value="1"/>     	  
		<_config:field name="grouping_parentCatentry_id"/>          	
	</_config:group>
	<_config:result>
	<!-- Ensure group.limit is set to 1 when enabling this result filter.  -->
	<_config:filter classname="com.ibm.commerce.catalog.facade.server.services.search.metadata.SearchCatalogEntryViewProductsResultFilter"/>
	</_config:result>
</_config:profile>

<_config:profile indexName="CatalogEntry" name="IBM_salesCatalogDynamicCatalogEntryRecommendation">
	<_config:query>
		<_config:param name="searchType" value="10"/>
	</_config:query>
	<_config:group>
		<_config:param name="group.limit" value="1"/>     	  
		<_config:field name="grouping_parentCatentry_id"/>          	
	</_config:group>
	<_config:result>
	<!-- Ensure group.limit is set to 1 when enabling this result filter.  -->
	<_config:filter classname="com.ibm.commerce.catalog.facade.server.services.search.metadata.SearchCatalogEntryViewProductsResultFilter"/>
	</_config:result>
</_config:profile>

Scenario 2 settings

Disable the index-time roll up of attribute values to the product bean.
1. Update the wc-dataimport-preprocess-attribute.xml file:
  - WC_installdir/instances/instance_name/search/pre-processConfig/MC_masterCatalogId/databaseType/wc-dataimport-preprocess-attribute.xml
  - WCDE_installdir/search/pre-processConfig/MC_masterCatalogId/databaseType/wc-dataimport-preprocess-attribute.xml
2. Locate the following snippet:
```
<_config:data-processing-config>
```
  Where the snippet creates the TI_CATENTREL_0 temporary table.
3. Comment out the <_config:query sql> snippet. For example:
```
<_config:query sql="select rtrim(cast(a.catentry_id_parent as char(23))) ||'_'|| rtrim(cast(a.catentry_id_child as char(23))) 
combinekey, a.catentry_id_parent catentry_id_parent, a.catentry_id_child catentry_id_child from catentrel a, ti_catentry_0 b, 
catentry c WHERE a.catentry_id_parent=b.catentry_id and c.catentry_id=a.catentry_id_child and c.MARKFORDELETE=0 and 
a.catreltype_id not in ('DK_PDK','PDK_COMPONENT')"/>
```
4. Uncomment the following configuration:
```
<_config:query sql="SELECT 1 CATENTRY_ID, '' catentry_id_parent FROM CATENTRY WHERE 1=-1"/>
```
5. Save your changes and close the file.
6. Preprocess and build the search index.
Note:
Instead of defining the new query manually,
1. When running the di-preprocess utility, set the optional -grouping parameter to true. This action will execute an alternative query for grouping that disables the rolling-up of defining attributes. It enables the rolling-down of descriptive attributes from the product bean to the item bean. For more information about preprocessing, see Preprocessing the WebSphere Commerce Search index data.
2. Set the IndexResultGrouping property in the WebSphere Commerce wc-component.xml file. For more information refer to Search properties in the component configuration file (wc-component.xml) (WebSphere Commerce EAR).

Scenario 3 settings

Enable indexed price ranges for product in category pages.

Update the PriceDisplay_Data.jspf file in the common directory of your store:
- WC_eardir/Stores.war/widgetdir/Common
- WCDE_installdir\workspace\Stores\WebContent\widgetdir\Common\PriceDisplay

Locate the following snippet:


<c:if test="${!empty minimumPrice}">
      <c:set var="minimumPrice" value="${minimumPrice.value}"/>
</c:if>	    
<c:if test="${!empty maximumPrice}">
      <c:set var="maximumPrice" value="${maximumPrice.value}"/>
</c:if>

Replace it with the following snippet:


<c:set var="minimumPrice" value="${catalogEntryDetails.groupingProperties.groupMinPriceValue}" />
<c:set var="maximumPrice" value="${catalogEntryDetails.groupingProperties.groupMaxPriceValue}" />

Save your changes and close the file.

Scenario 4 settings

Enable visually relevant products in the storefront.
1. Update the wc-search.xml file on the Search EAR and work with the following values:
  
  overrideFieldName
  
  A comma-separated list of Solr field names. When specified, some properties of the most relevant item in the group override the returned productBean properties. For example, thumbnail or name. The default value is thumbnail.
  
  showGroupPriceRange
  
  When set to true, the returned productBean price displays a price range based on the underlying SKUs that generated the search hits. The default value is false.
  
  QueryMissingGroupOwner
  
  Fetches missing group owners from the index. It is run in a batch for all groups for the current page size. The default value is true.
  
  For more information, see Changing properties in the WebSphere Commerce Search configuration file (wc-search.xml) (Search EAR).
For example, searching the storefront for red dress returns products that contain SKUs with the color red. The red SKU's thumbnail is displayed in the search results, instead of the product's default thumbnail:

In addition, selecting a different color facet such as pink displays the pink SKU's thumbnail in the search results:

Scenario 5 settings

Promote representative SKUs in search results using search rules and merchandising attributes.
1. Create an attribute dictionary attribute of type text, with one predefined value. Select use in merchandising and save it.
2. Assign the attribute to a particular SKU as a descriptive attribute. Select the value, and save the SKU.
3. Create a search rule to promote products that match the merchandising attribute value. Save and activate the search rule.
4. Start store preview and wait until indexing is complete.
5. Use a search term that generates search results on all the related SKUs that are updated.
6. For example, you can assign a descriptive attribute to the AuroraWMDRS-009 SKU, which contains a blue thumbnail by default. When the search rule is activated, the AuroraWMDRS-1 product bean displays the promoted blue thumbnail, instead of its default red thumbnail.
7. Search for Hermitage Fit and Flare Dress in the storefront to see the following results:
The search results page promotes the Hermitage Fit and Flare Dress with its promoted blue thumbnail.

Scenario 6 settings

Promote representative SKUs in store pages using merchandising attributes.

Update the wc-search.xml file on the Search EAR to include the merchandising attribute field name in the heroproduct and result configurations:


<_config:profile name="IBM_findProductsByCategory" indexName="CatalogEntry">
      <_config:query> 
            <_config:param name="searchType" value="10"/>
            <_config:param name="relevancyType" value="3"/> 
      </_config:query> 
    
      <_config:group>        
            <_config:param name="group.limit" value="100"/>         
      </_config:group>
        
      <_config:heroproduct>        
            <_config:param name="showGroupPriceRange" value="true"/>
            <_config:field name="ads_f11001" value="Blue"/> 
      </_config:heroproduct> 
        
      <_config:result inherits="true">
            <_config:field name="ads_f11001"/>
      </_config:result> 
</_config:profile>

For more information, see Changing properties in the WebSphere Commerce Search configuration file (wc-search.xml) (Search EAR).

Go to the Apparel > Women > Dresses page in the storefront to see the following results:

The category page promotes the Hermitage Fit and Flare Dress with its promoted blue thumbnail.

WebSphere Commerce Version 8.0.3.0 or later

Note: When product grouping is enabled:

If you unpublish a product (make it invisible to the customer), you must unpublish all its child SKUs. Otherwise, the product will still show in the storefront.