Faqs

Catalog

RenCommerce assists in improving product discoverability for retailers through several key strategies:

  • SEO Optimization: We implement SEO best practices to enhance the visibility of your products on search engines.
  • Data Standardization: By standardizing product data across catalogs, we ensure products are easily searchable and comparable by customers.
  • Customizable Product Filters: Our platform allows for the creation of customizable product filters, helping customers find products more efficiently.
  • Analytics and Insights: RenCommerce provides analytics tools to understand customer behavior and preferences, enabling you to tailor your offerings and improve discoverability.
  • Marketing Tools: We offer integration with various marketing tools to promote your products through email campaigns, social media, and other channels.

To request the activation of a new catalog on your RenCommerce website, please send an email to [email protected] with your request details.

Include your store name, the specific vendor catalog you wish to activate, and any relevant information about your store's needs.

Our team will guide you through the onboarding process for the new catalog, including any necessary steps or information required to complete the activation.

If you identify inaccuracies in a catalog's product information, report these issues directly to us at [email protected].

Please provide specific details about the inaccuracies, including the product SKU, the nature of the error (e.g., pricing, description, image), and any suggestions for correction.

Our team prioritizes accuracy and will work to resolve these issues promptly, typically prioritizing pricing errors for immediate correction.

Yes, retailers have the ability to update product information within a vendor's catalog on their site by creating what's known as a "modified master product." This process allows you to clone a vendor-managed product and then customize the product information, such as descriptions, pricing, and images, to better suit your store's branding and customer needs.

Adding new products to an existing catalog involves two approaches: If the new products are provided by a vendor, the updates will automatically be reflected in your catalog following the vendor's update cycle. For adding store-specific products, you can create "In Store Products," which allows you to add products that are exclusive to your store or not provided by the vendor. These products can be added through your RenCommerce dashboard, where you can input product details, images, and pricing to complement your existing catalog offerings.

Inventory updates for vendor catalogs are managed through live API connections that allow for real-time synchronization of inventory levels between the vendor's system and your RenCommerce website. This ensures that product availability on your site reflects the most current stock levels. For vendors providing updates less frequently via Excel/CSV files or FTP uploads, our system processes these updates according to the scheduled frequency, ensuring your inventory information remains accurate.

When a product is discontinued from a vendor's catalog, it will automatically be updated in your RenCommerce website to reflect this change, typically removing the product from visibility to prevent future sales. If you notice a discontinued product still listed or wish to manage the transition of discontinued products (e.g., by running clearance sales before removal), you can adjust the product's status manually through your dashboard or contact our support team for assistance.

RenCommerce enhances the SEO optimization of products on your site by standardizing product data to include detailed descriptions, accurate categorizations, and relevant keywords. Our platform also ensures that product pages are structured in a way that search engines can easily crawl and index, including optimized URLs, meta descriptions, and alt tags for images. Additionally, we offer guidance on best practices for product titles and descriptions to maximize search visibility. This comprehensive approach to SEO helps improve the discoverability of your products, driving more traffic to your site.

No, there are no inherent restrictions on the number of vendor catalogs you can activate on your RenCommerce website. We encourage retailers to diversify their product offerings by integrating catalogs that align with their store's niche and customer demand.

To deactivate a catalog from your RenCommerce website contact our support team at [email protected]. They will guide you through the process of deactivating a catalog from your website.

Training and support for managing catalogs on your site are readily available. We offer a range of resources, including online tutorials, detailed documentation, and direct support from our experienced team. To access these resources, visit the "Help" or "Support" section within your RenCommerce Dashboard.

For personalized training sessions or more in-depth support, you can also reach out to our team directly via email to [email protected].

  • In-Store Products are those that have been added by you locally to your website's Dashboard and are not managed by Renaissance

Adding In-Store product consists of 3 steps:

  • Creating the Brand
  • Creating the Component (Master Raw Item)
  • Adding Product
    • One by one
    • Via spreadsheet

Create the Brand
POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Brands > Add New

  • Fill in all required fields: Name, Description, Slug (will automatically generate), Brand logo, Update Product Icon/Buttons. Make sure the brand is enabled, this is right above the submit button at the bottom.

Create the Component
POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Components

  • Fill in required fields: Select brand, Enter raw item name (this can be used for multiple products under one brand), SKU, Price (this can stay at 0.00). Make sure the component is enabled, submit. 
  • Rather than creating a component for each in-store product, it's easier to create one component for one brand and assign that component to the products.

Adding an Individual Product
POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Products > Add New

  • Fill in required fields: Product type - Simple product, Name, Slug (will automatically generate), SKU, Base price, In-Store Stock (any number above 0), Brand, Category. Make sure the component is enabled, submit. 
  • Go back into the product you just created. New tabs will appear at the top. Select Raw Item > Select Master Raw Item, enabled, submit.

Add Products via Spreadsheet
POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Products 

  • Click the "Tools" >Download Product Sample File”. This file will give you an outline of the language to use. If you import this file and it doesn’t work, something might be 
  • These are the required fields to fill in listed below. It may be helpful to fill out the spreadsheet and look at the Add New Product screen as a guide
    • Language 
    • Language Code - Use one of the following formats:
      • en - English
      • ar - Arabic
      • de - German
      • es - Spanish
      • fr - French
      • ja - Japanese
      • nl - Dutch
      • ru - Russian
    • English Name - Product Name in English
    • Product name - Name
    • Full Description - Full Description (If no description, copy and paste product name here)
    • Product Type - Simple Product (Label it as "Simple Product" - just that)
    • sku - Product SKU
    • Brand Name - fill in the brand name and replace the spaces with a dash “-” for example: store-name-in-store-brand
    • Base Price - Base price (base price has to be greater than 0 in order to show)
    • Main image url - each image name has to have the following URL in front: /assets/uploads/images/folder_name/image-name.jpg
    • Instore stock (number has to be greater than 0 in order for the product to appear on front-end of the website)
    • Product Category - although not a required field, it will be easier to categorize now. Please make sure you’re including the main category and any sub-categories. For example, if you’re importing a chair, these are the categories you’ll need to assign it to: living-room,chairs
    • Place from - (repeat "InStore" for each product added)
    • Status - Enabled (repeat "Enabled" for each product added)
  • When you are done filling out the spreadsheet, save spreadsheet as 97-2004 Workbook xls file NOT xlsx
  • Back to Products > Tools > Import In-Store Products > Upload or drop file in
  • Process list shows the importing progress, this tab is on the left side menu towards the bottom. 

Add images via spreadsheet

  • Login to the Dashboard and navigate to CMS > Appearance > Pages
  • Click on the "Edit" icon for any active CMS page, click on "Add/Edit Content" within the main page settings and double-click on an image inside of the pop-up that appears.
  • A smaller pop-up window will appear, click on "Browse Server"
  • An additional pop-up will appear, create a new subfolder under "images"
    • Please note: You may not have any spaces in the folder or image name so please use a dash "-" or an underscore "_" in place of a space
  • Upload all images to this pop-up and add the image pathway to Column W in the Excel file you've created for your in-store products.
  • The pathway will follow this structure and you will replace "folder_name" and "image-name.jpeg" as it applies to the folder you created and the image you want to associate to a specific product.
    • /assets/uploads/images/folder_name/image-name.jpg
  • For additional images, follow the same procedure as above and add the pathway to Column X in the Excel file. For multiple images, please add a comma with no space between each additional pathway.
  • Once complete, save the Excel as a .xls file and import back into the Dashboard as done previously when the initial in-store product file was created

Add one-off images

  • Login to the Dashboard and navigate to POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Products
  • Under the "Action" column, click the "Edit" icon of the desired product
  • Under the "Product" tab navigate to the "Image" field and upload your image to the pop-up that appears
    • Please note: The same rules apply for spaces within folder and image names as noted in the steps to add images via spreadsheet
  • If you wish to add additional images, click on the "Media" tab and follow the same procedure as noted in the step above
  • When all required information is entered, click "Submit"
  • Repeat as needed to add more images to your in-store product(s)
Login to the Dashboard and navigate to POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Categories > Add New
  • Select Parent Category
    • Choose the appropriate parent category if you are creating a sub-category. For example, Sofas parent category is Living Room. If you are creating a new main category, do not select a parent category. 
  • Enter Category Name
  • The Meta Titles and Slug will automatically populate
  • Select a Category Image from your file management system
  • When complete, click "Submit"

Login to the Dashboard and navigate to POS > Catalog > Product Catalog > Products

  • Search for the product you’re looking for and click the "Edit" icon
  • Navigate to the "Assign Product to Category" field and begin typing in the name of the desired category and it will autopopulate
  • When complete, click "Submit"
Information on menu links can be found under the CMS Pages, Menus & Widgets FAQ “How do I add/remove a link in a Menu?