What’s New In Comestri?

February 2021

Learn about the latest features, functions and developments from Comestri that will help your business thrive in 2021.

Kogan Marketplace is Coming

It’s time to share some exciting news! At Comestri, we’re been developing a new Channel – the Comestri Kogan Marketplace Channel – which will allow our customers to sell on the Kogan Marketplace.

Kogan.com – incorporating Kogan Retail and Kogan Marketplace – is one of Australia’s most successful newcomers to e-commerce retailing, offering products from well-known brands across a large range of categories including consumer electronics, appliances, homewares, hardware, toys and more.

Since launching in March 2019, the Kogan Marketplace has grown listings to more than 500,000 products from over 1,000 brands and distributors, and generated sales of over 5 million products in the first 12 months alone.

As a seller on the Kogan Marketplace you gain exposure to millions of potential customers who can help supercharge your business. Your products are also eligible for the many benefits that accrue to Kogan.com’s loyalty customers – benefits that include Interest Free Finance Options and Qantas Frequent Flyer points. What’s more, Kogan Marketplace customers can use their existing Qantas Points, Kogan Credit Card Points or Citi Reward Points to purchase your products.

Stay tuned for a launch date announcement!

Manage Products – New Options in Product Filters and Bulk Edits

In the Comestri Product Manager (PIM), we’ve recently introduced new options for our Product Filter and Bulk Edit functions that will help save you time and effort.

Take a look at the walk-through examples below to learn more.

Product Filter – Filter by Inventory Source

In the Product Filter on the Manage Products page, you can now use the Search Term “Inventory Source” when filtering Products for searches and Bulk Edits.

Inventory Source allows you to check for Products that have inventory in one or more Inventory Sources. You can check using the following additional operators:

  • Exists – Checks that the selected Inventory Source(s) have any quantity for your Products
  • Qty and Available Qty – Both operators allow you to do comparisons between the Inventory Source value for Products and a given value, e.g. is the Inventory Source Qty value less than 10?

An example of when you might use the “Inventory Source” Search Term in Product Filters is where you need to identify Products with excess stock so that you can put them on sale.

To identify the excess stock, the below example filters for Products with the “Melbourne AU” Inventory Source, where the Qty in the Inventory Source is greater than or equal to 450.

Comestri's PIM showing advanced search by inventory source

Product Filter – Filter by Variation Parent

The search term “Variation Parent” is another new addition to the Comestri PIM Product Filter. You can use this to filter for Products with or without a Parent Product.

A Parent Product is a Product that has Products that sit beneath it in the Comestri Product Class Structure. For example, if you have a Style > Colourway > SKU Product Class Structure, the Style Product Class is a parent to the Colourway Product Class, and the Colourway Product Class is a parent to the SKU Product Class.

Using the “Variation Parent” Search Term, if your Product Class Structure has been defined with multiple Product Class Levels, like the Style > Colourway > SKU example above, you can filter for Products for which a Parent Product “exists” or “doesn’t exist”.

You should note that, if a Product Class does not have a Parent Product Class in the Product Class Structure, then Products of that Product Class will not appear in search results for both the “exists” and ”doesn’t exist” Operators. For instance, in the above example, the Style Product Class has no Parent Product Class, so will not appear in the search results where the Search Term “Variation Parent” is used.

An example of when you might use the “Variation Parent” Search Term in Product Filters is where Products have been created manually in the Comestri PIM and you suspect that some may not have had a Parent Product linked to them.

To identify Products without a Parent Product, the below example filters for Products where a “Variation Parent” Product “doesn’t exist”.

Comestri's PIM showing advanced search functionality

Product Filter – Filter by Variation Children

As a complement to the “Variation Parent” Search Term, the “Variation Children” Search Term has also been introduced to the Comestri PIM Product Filter.

A Child Product is a Product that sits beneath a Parent Product in the Comestri Product Class Structure. For example, if you have a Style > Colourway > SKU Product Class Structure, the Colourway Product Class is a child to the Style Product Class, and the SKU Product Class is a child to the Colourway Product Class.

Using the “Variation Children” Search Term, if your Product Class Structure has been defined with multiple Product Class Levels, like the Style > Colourway > SKU example above, you can filter for Products for which a Child Product “exists” or “doesn’t exist”.

You should note that, if a Product Class does not have a Child Product Class in the Product Class Structure, then Products of that Product Class will not appear in search results for both the “exists” and ”doesn’t exist” Operators. For instance, in the above example, the SKU Product Class has no Child Product Class, so will not appear in the search results where the Search Term “Variation Children” is used.

An example of when you might use the “Variation Children” Search Term in Product Filters is where Products have been created manually in the Comestri PIM and you suspect that some may not have had any Child Products linked to them. The screenshot below shows how to use the “Variation Children” Search Term to find these Products.

Comestri's PIM showing advanced search functionality

Bulk Edits – Bulk Assign Category

Under Bulk Edits on the Manage Products page, the Bulk Assign Category option lets you assign one or more Categories to a selection of Products in the Comestri PIM. This is useful as it allows you to assign Categories to multiple Products at the same time, which is faster than manually assigning the Categories to each Product separately.

A common use for Bulk Assign Category is when your Products have been created in the Comestri PIM without Categories. In this case, you could assign the Categories based on the values of Attributes on your Products. You could also choose to have the Bulk Assign Category run so that Categories are automatically assigned to the Products when they are created in the PIM.

Below, you’ll step through an example that shows how to use Bulk Assign Category to assign Categories to Products that have been filtered for specific Attribute values.

You’ll be using the Attributes “Department” and “Gender” with the values “Shoes” and “Female” respectively. The filtered Products will be assigned to the Category “Womens > Shoes”.

This Bulk Assign Category will be set as Automatic, which means it will run when a Product that matches the Bulk Edit’s Filter conditions is created or updated in the Comestri PIM.

1. In the Comestri PIM, under “Manage Products”, first you need to define and apply a Filter that generates the limited set of Products that meet your required conditions. In this example, the Filter generates a list of Products that have the Attributes Department and Gender with the values “Shoes” and “Female” respectively.

Comestri's PIM showing advanced product and search functionality - refining

2. Click the Bulk Edits button that has appeared and select the Bulk Assign Category option from the drop-down menu list.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk edit - bulk assign categories

3. You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page. Here you’ll move through 3 steps to assign a Category to your selected Products.

In the first step, “Operation details”, you’ll make the following selections for the fields displayed:

    • Effect – Select “Add category” (Note: You can also select “Remove Category” to remove a Category from Products).
    • Rule type – Select “Static”.
    • Category set name – Select the Category Set for the Category that Products will be assigned to.
    • Category paths – Enter the Category path for the Category to assign Products to. (Note: You can enter multiple Category paths by separating them using a pipe ‘|’.)

4. Then click Next to move to step 2, “When to execute?”.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk edits functionality

5. In step 2, “When to execute?”, you must select from the following 3 Execution options:

    • Run Once – Choose this option if you only want to trigger the Bulk Edit manually. (Note: You can trigger the Bulk Edit manually multiple times.)
    • Automatic – Choose this option if you want the Bulk Edit to run automatically when a Product is created or updated in the Comestri PIM.
    • Recurring – Choose this option if you want the Bulk Edit to run according to a set schedule. If selected, further options for scheduling the Bulk Edit will be displayed.

(Note: Automatic and Recurring Bulk Edits can also be triggered manually so that they run immediately.)

6. In this example, you’ll select “Automatic”, then click Next to move to “Review and Confirm”.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk publish to channel - when to execute

7. In step 3, “Review and Confirm”, you’ll review your details and enter names for your Bulk Edit and Filter.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk editing capabilities

Note that you must change the “Bulk Edit Status” to active; otherwise, you won’t be able to run your Bulk Edit later.

Comestri's PIM - save bulk edit function

8. Click the Confirm button to create your Bulk Edit.

Buttons - previous and confirm

9. You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page where you will see your new Bulk Edit listed.

10. To check that your Bulk Edit works correctly, run the new Bulk Edit now by clicking the ellipsis (…) next to the Bulk Edit and selecting Execute Bulk Edit.

Alternatively, you could run the Bulk Edit now by updating an existing Product, so it meets the Bulk Edit’s filter criteria.

Comestri's PIM showing how to execute bulk publishing

11. Next, to check that your Products have been assigned to the Category by the Bulk Edit, click Products > Manage Products on the Comestri main menu, and open a Product that you expected the Bulk Edit to update.

12. Click on the Categories tab, and check that the Product has the new Category assigned.

Comestri PIM screen - 100% complete sports shoes
Comestri's PIM sample apparel category tree

Bulk Edits – Bulk Publish to Channel

Bulk Publish to Channel is another Bulk Edit option that lets you send a selection of Products from the Comestri PIM to one or more specified Comestri Channels. This is useful as it allows you to send a limited set of Products to a Channel, which is faster than using ‘Stage All’ to send all Products from the Comestri PIM to the Channel.

A common use for Bulk Publish to Channel is when you need to make changes to a mapping in the Channel (e.g. an update to the Product Description). Bulk Publish to Channel allows you to quickly test the mapping changes for a limited set of Products before you update all Products in the Channel.

Below, you’ll step through an example that shows how to use Bulk Publish to Channel to test changes to Field Mapping in a Channel.

You’ll be filtering for Products that have the Catalog “Test Products” assigned to them. The filtered Products will be sent to the Comestri Channel called “Sample Apparel – Google”, which has had a Field Mapping change.

1. In the Comestri PIM, under “Manage Products”, first you need to define and apply a Filter that generates the limited set of Products for testing. In this example, the Filter generates a list of Products that have the Catalog “Test Products” assigned to them.

Comestri's PIM showing advanced product and search functionality - search by catalog

2. Click the Bulk Edits button that has appeared and select the Bulk Publish to Channel option from the drop-down menu list.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk publishing to channel

3. You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page. Here you’ll move through 3 steps to publish your selected Products to a specified Channel.

In the first step, “Operation details”, you’ll specify one or more channels to publish your Products to. Then click Next to move to step 2, “When to execute?”.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk edit - select channels

4. In step 2, “When to execute?”, click Next to accept the default execution of “Run once” and move to “Review and Confirm”.

Comestri's PIM showing bulk publish to channel

5. In step 3, “Review and Confirm”, you’ll review your details and enter names for your Bulk Edit and Filter.

Comestri's PIM bulk edit - review and confirm screen

Note that you must change the “Bulk Edit Status” to active; otherwise, you won’t be able to run your Bulk Edit later.

Comestri's PIM - save bulk edit for Google Shopping channel

6. Click the Confirm button to create your Bulk Edit.

Buttons - previous and confirm

7. You’ll then be taken to the “Bulk Edits” page where you will see your new Bulk Edit listed.

8. To run your new Bulk Edit, click the ellipsis (…) next to the Bulk Edit and select Execute Bulk Edit.

Comestri's PIM showing how to execute bulk publishing capabilities

9. Next, to check that your Products have been published to the Channel, click Channels > Manage Channels on the Comestri main menu, and select the Channel you are publishing to.

10. Click on the Export Items tab, and check that the Products you have published to the Channel appear in the list and have an Export Status of Export Ready.

Comestri's PIM showing Google Shopping bulk publishing capabilities

More Bulk Edits to Help You Work Better

Just a reminder that Comestri provides you with even more Bulk Edit options.

On the Comestri Manage Products page, once you have applied a filter to your products you can then select from the following additional Bulk Edits: “Bulk Set Attribute”, “Bulk Generate Price” and “Bulk Assign Catalog”.