Once you’ve set up a product page in your store navigation, the next step is to control which products are displayed on that page. Simply creating a page is not enough—the products shown there depend entirely on how they are organized in your catalog.
Categories determine what appears where on your storefront, making them an essential part of product and navigation management. In Commerce Cloud, categories determine which products are displayed on specific store pages.
For example:
- If you create a navigation page linked to a category called Furniture Accessories
- Every product assigned to the Furniture Accessories category will automatically appear on that page
- Any new product added to the same category will also appear there without further setup
This makes categories the backbone of how products are organized and displayed on your storefront.
Where Categories Are Managed
Categories are assigned at the product level and can be managed in two ways:
- Individually, from a single product’s detail page
- In bulk, using filters and bulk actions
You’ll find category and collection settings inside the Organise section of a product.
Assigning a Category to a Single Product
Use this method when working with individual products:
- Go to Products
- Click on the product you want to update
- Scroll to the Organise section on the right
- Locate Categories
Note: Categories assigned from the product detail screen apply only to Manual Collections. Products included in Automated Collections are managed by collection rules and cannot be manually assigned from this screen.
- Add or update the category name
- Click Save
Once saved, the product will immediately appear on any storefront page linked to that category.
Assigning Categories to Multiple Products (Bulk Update)
When working with a large catalog (hundreds or thousands of products), bulk updates are the fastest approach.
Step 1: Filter the Products
- Go to Products
- Click Add Filter
- Select +New, to create a new filter
- Choose a filter type such as:
- Product status
- Product collection
- Product type
- Brand
- Sales channel
- Price range
- Click Apply the filter to narrow down the products you want to update
Step 2: Select Products
- Use the checkbox next to product names to select individual items
- Or select all visible products at once
Step 3: Use Bulk Actions
- Click Choose an action
- Select:
- Edit Category (to update categories)
- or Edit Collection (to update collections)
- Choose the category you want to assign (for example, Furniture Protection)
- Click Save
- All selected products will now be assigned to the chosen category.
Categories vs Collections – Important Clarification
How Collections Use Categories to Display Products
Collections can be set up to automatically include products based on category rules. When editing a collection, you can define conditions such as:
- Category is equal to Furniture Protection
With this rule in place, any product assigned to the Furniture Protection category is automatically added to the collection. There’s no need to manually select products—updates happen automatically as products are added or re-categorized.
This ensures that the products shown on a collection page always stay in sync with how your products are categorized in the system.Practical takeaway:
Organizing Products Before Importing New Items
If you’re uploading new products (via CSV or bulk import):
- Ensure the Category / Collection name matches exactly with existing categories
- When the import completes, products will automatically:
- Sync to the correct category
- Appear on the corresponding storefront page
This prevents manual reassignment after upload and keeps your catalog organized from day one.