Introduction

How to Set Up Product Categories, Groups and Subgroups in Merchanter

How to Edit Product Categories, Groups or Subgroups in Merchanter

Product categorisation in Merchanter refers to the process of organising and classifying your products based on shared characteristics, such as type, material, use, or any other relevant attribute. This structured approach forms the backbone of how product information is managed, accessed, and reported throughout the system.

A clear category structure helps ensure your product catalogue remains organised and consistent. It makes searching and filtering much faster, improves visibility across departments, and supports accurate reporting. Whether you're dealing with hundreds or thousands of items, categorisation gives you the tools to manage them in a more efficient and scalable way.

In Merchanter, product categories are more than just labels — they’re deeply integrated into core functionality. One important benefit is the ability to control and apply pricing rules based on categories and groups. This means you can manage margins, set customer-specific pricing structures, and run price checks with greater speed and accuracy, all using the category structure as a foundation. This approach reduces manual input, helps maintain pricing consistency, and supports better commercial control across the business.

In this training session, we’ll walk through how to create and manage product categories within Merchanter. You’ll learn how to build categories, create groups and subgroups, and assign products to them — all while laying the groundwork for better pricing, clearer reporting, and smoother daily operations.

Getting Started with Product Categorisation

Begin by opening the main menu and heading into the Products section. From there, select the option for Product Categorisation. Once this screen loads, click into the Hierarchy tab. This view shows your existing categories, groups, and subgroups, along with how they’re structured and related.

Creating a New Category

To create a new category, look to the right-hand side of the screen and click the New Category button. For this example, we’ll create a category called Bricks.

Adding Groups Under Your Category

With the Bricks category created, select it from the list. A new window will appear on the right. In this panel, you’ll find the option to add a new child group. Use this to create two product groups — one for Air Bricks and another for Clay Bricks. Simply click the same button again to add additional groups as needed.

Creating Subgroups for Colour Options

Now we’ll add some colour variations beneath each group. Start by selecting the Air Bricks group, then click the New Child Subgroup option. Let’s create one for Red bricks and another for Black. The process is the same for Clay Bricks — select the group, click to add a new child subgroup, and add colour options such as Blue and Grey. This structure allows you to clearly define products not just by type, but also by variation.

Assigning Products to Categories

Once your structure is in place, you can start assigning products to the appropriate categories.

If you want to work through uncategorised products, there’s a dedicated tab for that. This screen lists all products that don’t currently belong to a category. From here, you can select each product, choose the relevant category, group, and subgroup, and then click the refresh button to apply the change.

You can also categorise products one at a time. To do this, open the Products screen, edit the relevant product, scroll down to the categorisation section, and select the correct structure before saving your changes.

For those managing larger product lists, there’s also a bulk categorisation screen available back under Product Categorisation. This tool allows you to search and filter your product list, select multiple items at once, and apply categories in bulk, saving a lot of time when dealing with large catalogues.

How to Edit Product Categories, Groups or Subgroups in Merchanter

If you need to make changes to an existing category, group, or subgroup, you can do this easily from within the Product Categorisation area.

To begin, open the Product Categorisation menu. Once you're on the categorisation screen, you’ll see a search bar at the top. You can use this to search by the name of the category, group or subgroup you want to update. There's also a type filter, which allows you to limit your search to just categories, just groups, or just subgroups — helpful if you're looking for something specific.

For example, if you filter by Group and search for “brick”, you may see several matching groups appear. When you’ve found the one you want to change, simply double-click on it to open the edit screen.

From here, you can update various details such as the name, the tag colour, the type of tag, or even move it to a different parent category if needed. You can also amend the description, short description, and segment code. If any products have already been tagged with this category or group, they’ll be shown too, so you’re aware of what’s already in use.

Another way to make changes is by using the Hierarchy tab. This view shows your category structure visually. You can find the category, group or subgroup in the tree, click on it, and then view its full details on the right-hand side.

From there, you can make similar changes, including renaming it, updating the short name, and editing its group. If the category is no longer required, you also have the option to archive it. Additionally, you can set margin percentages against a category if you need margin rules applied during order processing.

Once your changes are complete, don’t forget to save them. These edits will apply wherever the category or group is used in the system.

If you’re unsure about making changes or moving a group to a different parent, check with your system administrator first to avoid breaking any existing product structures.

Summary

That’s everything you need to know about setting up product categories in Merchanter. Whether you’re organising bricks, fixings, timber, or any other range, a clear category structure will help your team navigate the system more easily and improve reporting and filtering throughout.

If you need any additional help, speak to your system administrator or the Merchanter support team. 

There is a more in-depth guide available here:-  How to set up Product Analysis Categorisation