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What is Category Manager?

Category Manager is a feature that allows users to create and manage a database of groups of items to be used in promotions.

Updated over 2 months ago

Overview

Category Manager allows users to create and manage categories within the client portal. These categories can be used to define the eligibility of product-based rewards and product-based tracking wallets for specific online ordering and POS integrations.

Before You Start

Ensure you have the proper permissions to utilize Category Manager. If you need permission, contact your User Admin to get the proper permissions added to your account. Reach out to support if you have questions about whether your POS and/or online ordering integration is supported through Category Manager.

Where Can I Find Category Manager?

This tool lives within the Program Administration section of the PXS homepage under Program Administration>Category Manager.

Main Navigation Program Administration to Category Manager

How do I Create a New Category?

To create a new Category, SelectCreatein the upper right corner of your screen.

Create Button


Enter the Category Name that defines the types of items to be included and the Type of Category(Promotional, Minor, Major) by using the dropdown. Any of these options are valid.

Create Category screen with fields for Name and Category Type


The resulting Category Code is generated sequentially, it can be edited later if needed, but the generated value is usually sufficient.

How do I Populate a Category?

Find the category you're looking to modify and click on the eye icon to open the category.

Eye icon next to Caegory Name

Click the Add button to add a new Item.

Add button in Category Manager

Enter the individual Item information as seen below.

Item or Category entry window with fields for Type, ID/UPC and Name

Alternatively, you can add existing POS/Online Ordering based item categories.

Item or Category with fields for Type, Code and Name

The advantage of adding categories as configured at the POS is that you can add/remove items from that category at the POS level only without needing to update Category Manager. You can edit existing items/categories as needed by selecting the Pencil icon to the left of the Item ID/UPC or Category Code.

Edit Category screen with pencil icon selected

Alternatively, import a list of UPC’s via a .csv or .tsv. The template for this process differs from uploading a list of categories as we do not specify category name or type. We are importing these UPC’s directly into a specific category. We also have the option to overwrite the category with the new UPC’s we are adding if specified under ‘Advanced Options’. If this is not specified, new UPC’s will be appended.

UPC’s will only be added to the mapping group that is selected if adding individually. UPC’s can be added to multiple categories by including the UPC in each groups column on the import file.

How do I Edit a Category?

Names, Codes, and Types can be edited individually by selecting the Pencil Icon next to the appropriate category.

Pencil icon shown next to Category name

This will pop-up a new window to edit.

Category screen with fields for Name, Type and Code

A category can be copied if a new category with similar items is needed by clicking on the Copy Icon then double clicking the on the table row you wish to copy.

Copy icon next to Category


Categories can also be selected and deleted. Check the box to the left of a Category to select it and/or click on the Delete button in the upper right corner to delete.

Delete button highlighted in upper right corner of Category Manager screen

Key Considerations when Editing Categories

When you are Editing, Copying or Deleting any Category, it is important to confirm that the Items in POS Mapping Group field contains the correct mapping group. As you may have similar Categories across different POS systems, it is possible to accidentally alter a Category in the wrong POS Mapping Group.


To ensure you always have the right POS Mapping Group, please follow the steps below:

  1. Find the Category Name you wish to edit. Take note of the Code and the Number of Items.

  2. Use the dropdown in the upper left corner for the Items in POS Mapping Group to choose the POS Mapping Group you wish to view items for.

    In the example below, we are viewing $1 Off Chips/Code CAT12/Number of Items is 3. This is mapped in our Default POS Mapping Group.

    Category Manager showing Default POS Mapping Group
  3. If you wish to instead, view a different POS Mapping Group, such as Micros Locations, select that value from the POS Mapping Group dropdown, as seen below.

    POS Mapping Groups with Micros Locations selected

    Note that while the Category Name is the same, the Code and Number of Items has changed to reflect how this Category is mapped for Micros Locations.

    Category with ID and Number of Items updated for Micros
  4. Click the Eye icon to open this Category.

  5. Once you have opened the Category, check thePOS Mapping Groupsfield to confirm it is the correct group and that all items have the right Code. In the example below, you’ll see that the system defaulted back to the Default POS Mapping Group and is showing us the Codes and number of items for the Default Group, NOT the Micros Locations Group.

    POS Mapping group defaulted back to Default POS Mapping Group
  6. To reconcile this, select the appropriate POS Mapping Group from the dropdown. In the example below, we’ve chosen Micros Locations.

    POS Mapping Groups with Micros Locations selected


    Now we can see the correct Item ID/UPC or Category Codes and the correct number of items.

Corrected Category ID and Number of Items


How do I Search for a Category?

Categories can be searched by their name or code in the upper left search bar.

Category Manager search window

This search does not allow for search via individual UPC or item code. The number of categories that display on a page can be selected in the bottom left corner. Page navigation is available in the bottom right corner. For clients with multiple POS systems, POS Mapping Groups can be selected in the top right below the create button to view the number of items in each category for a particular POS.

Searching for Items by UPC or Item Name Clicking on the down arrow of the search will allow for search via items/UPCs or item name, the results will return the list of categories that have an items/UPCs or item name included.

Category Manager Search for Items with ID/UPC and Name fields

For additional assistance, please contact your solutions consultant or customer success manager, or email [email protected].

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