Customizing product categories allows you to:
- Update category names
- Restructure categories
- Create new categories
- Merge categories into other categories
To view and manipulate categories, visit the Product Catalog view and click View Categories in the top right
This will show you a screen similar to below:
To create, update, or restructure, click Edit Categories. To merge categories, you simply click the purple merge icon to the left of the category you would like to merge.
Merging Categories
To merge categories, click on the icon to the right of one category you would like to merge when viewing the Category Manager. Then, click the icon of the category you would like to merge into.
This screen will then pop up, showing which two categories and their subcategories will be moved into the merged category result. Click Confirm to merge.
| Note |
You cannot merge categories while editing them. You must finish your edits and then perform the merges individually. |
Renaming Categories
To rename categories, you will first need to select the Edit Categories button at the top of your Category Manager.
Then, all you have to do is begin typing in a category name field to rename your category. Always be sure to click the Save Categories button to ensure your work won't be lost.
Adding New Categories
To add a new category, click Add Primary Category at the top of the Product Categories screen.
The new category will then be added to the top of the list, where you can name it. Be sure to click Save Categories after adding new categories.
Deleting Categories
To delete an existing category, you'll navigate to either your Product Catalog or Channel Listings > View Categories. If you're viewing from the Channel Listing view, you will need to select the correct channel that you would like to manage.
To delete a category, click on the red trash can icon to the far right of the category.
Deleting Multi-Level Categories
Deleting multi-level categories will delete tiers under them. For example, if you have:
Category 1 → Apparel
Category 2 → Women's Apparel
Category 3 → Tops
Category 3 → Bottoms
Deleting a Category 2 would also delete any sub-categories under it (category 3, 4, etc).
Additionally, as noted, once categories are deleted, you will need to **rebuild *the products or use a *bulk customization **to populate the categories if you do not want to do one by one.
Bulk Deleting Orphaned Categories
Available on Standard and Pro plans.
An orphaned category is one that is no longer linked to any product parents or listings. These accumulate over time as products are rebuilt, categories are reassigned, or listing channels are reconfigured. Rather than deleting them one at a time, you can now bulk-delete all orphaned categories in a single action.
How to bulk delete orphaned categories:
For product-level orphaned categories
- Navigate to Product Catalog → View Categories.
- In the Category Manager, look for the Delete Orphaned Categories action in the category toolbar.
- Flxpoint will identify all categories that are not assigned to any product parent across Category 1, 2, or 3.
- Confirm the deletion. Orphaned categories will be removed in batches.
For listing-level orphaned categories
- Navigate to Channel Listings → View Categories.
- Select the channel you want to clean up from the channel selector.
- In the Category Manager for that channel, use the Delete Orphaned Categories action.
- Flxpoint will identify all listing categories not assigned to any listing in that channel across Category 1, 2, or 3.
- Confirm the deletion. Orphaned categories will be removed in batches.
Note: This action only removes categories that have no product or listing associations. Categories assigned to at least one product or listing will not be affected. The deletion is permanent — if you need to recover a category, you will need to re-create it manually.
Tip: Run the bulk delete after rebuilding products or reassigning categories in bulk, when the volume of orphaned categories is highest. For listing-level cleanup, run it channel by channel.
Individually Assigning/Changing Categories
You have the ability to go into any product or listing parent and change the categories at the parent level.
Restructuring Categories
To restructure categories, you will find a drag and drop icon on the Product Categories screen which allows you to move the categories in whatever order you would like, including into subcategories and third-level categories.
Automatic Category Mapping
As product categories are built from the Product Builder, they are automatically mapped to the original source categories.
This means that instead of creating complex mapping solutions such as:
- Bachelorette & Party Supplies" → "Party Supplies"
You can simply rename this product category "Party Supplies."
Even though this category has been renamed, the next time you build or rebuild product parents related to this source category, it will not create a new category with the original name.
Instead, it will see that this category has been renamed and will keep your customized category name "Party Supplies" for any product parents found in "Bachelorette & Party Supplies."
This allows users to customize their content without the fear of this changing the next time they create or rebuild product parents.