E-commerce merchandising
E-commerce merchandising controls product selection and presentation in shop software. Filters, sorting and promotions need explicit precedence rules.
E-commerce merchandising shapes which products a shop shows and how it arranges and presents them. Shop software implements this through collections, filters and rankings, for example. Personalisation can be added. Implementation depends on product data and precedence rules for conflicting settings.
Promotion must not bypass mandatory filters
In this fictional example, search dock initially returns three candidates. The selected view requires connector=USB-C and inStock=true:
Product | Connector | Immediately available |
|---|---|---|
| USB-C | true |
| USB-C | false |
| USB-A | true |
Here, true means immediately available and false means not immediately available.
Although an editorial rule aims to promote P-72, only P-71 qualifies here. Promotion changes neither connector nor stock. If availability is copied from the ERP to the search index, its updates also need to be considered; ranking cannot make a stale copy accurate.
Algolia describes merchandising through rules for promoting, hiding and shaping search results. The interaction depends on the search implementation: Elasticsearch supports Pinned Query with relevance sorting; an explicit sort overrides that promotion. Filters and the final order therefore need to be checked together.
Sources
Related terms
- Product catalogueA product catalogue organises range information for search and selection. Catalogue entry, inventory availability and channel publication are separate data.
- Delivery capabilityDelivery capability describes whether a specific request can be fulfilled. A stock value alone does not fully answer questions of quantity, destination and time.
- Order historyOrder history shows previous orders within an agreed account scope. Old prices, current availability and current processing remain separate information.
- Dealer portalA dealer portal gives affiliated dealers digital access to agreed information and workflows. Its scope and company assignment need to be clear.
- Billing addressThe billing address is a separate address in an order or invoicing process. It must not be accidentally swapped with the delivery address.
- Shipping addressThe shipping address describes a transaction’s delivery destination. Shop and interface must distinguish it from billing details and the current address book.
Articles on this topic
E-Commerce with ASES
Online shops, marketplaces and B2B portals