Product types in Lightspeed eCom (E-Series) are groups of products that share the same attributes, and attributes are various product characteristics common for the items in your catalog (like dimensions, colors, brand, or materials). 

You can use attributes to highlight essential information for customers on product details pages in your online catalog, to keep service information about products in your eCom admin panel, and more. If your storefront is multilingual, you can add translations of attributes in multiple languages.

This article is about product attributes used in eCom that include SKU codes and Brand values synced from Retail POS (X-Series) and online-specific custom values you can add manually. These are not to be confused with attributes and attribute values you use to create product variants in Retail POS.

Introducing eCom's product types and attributes

Each product type in your online catalog can have its own set of attributes, including the custom ones you create yourself. For example, type Books with the following attributes: ISBN, publisher, language, age limit, and cover; or type Clothing with the gender, age group, color, and size attributes.

While product types are invisible on the online storefront, attributes and their values can be displayed on the product pages and make it easier for customers to choose and compare products.

Attributes are also helpful if you want to enhance the search in your online catalog using product filters or if you want to use such sales and promotion channels as Facebook or Google Shopping. In case you want to store some important information in the eCom admin panel, you can create hidden attributes that won’t be visible to customers.

When you make a product available in eCom, it’s automatically assigned to the General product type. By default, General is the only type that exists in your online catalog.

If all your products share the same attributes or you have a small catalog, you can simply continue using the General type. However, if you have a large catalog with all sorts of products, you can add new product types, each with its own set of attributes, and assign them to chosen products.

By default, every product type in your online catalog has two types of global attributes that are synced from product details in Retail POS:

• UPC, EAN, ISBN, ITF, JAN, and Custom SKU codes
• Brand

In addition to them, you can add any custom eCom-only attributes you need. They will not be synced back to Retail POS.

Product types of the Apparel&Accessories group have three additional default online-specific taxonomy attributes: Gender, Age group, and Color.

You can adjust attributes for any product type (including the default General type): edit their display name and visibility on the storefront, as well as add new custom attributes. This way, you can create a unique set of attributes for a particular product type based on your needs.

Adding product attributes in eCom

You can add new online-specific attributes or adjust existing ones to create a unique set of product characteristics for a particular product type. For example, if you sell jewelry, you can add Collection and Material attributes to help customers access the key product information right away.

To add attributes for a product type:

1. Navigate to your eCom Admin Panel.
2. From the side menu, click Settings > Product Types.
3. On the left, select your product type (by default, it’s General).
4. Edit the displayed name of the existing attributes if you want. For example, rename Brand to Publisher.

5. In the empty fields, enter the names for your custom eCom-only attributes (if you need them). For example, Cover type and Language for books:

   

6. To add more custom eCom-only attribute fields, click + Add New.
7. To hide some of the attributes from customers in your online storefront, select Do not show in the Show dropdown. Hidden attributes will be displayed in your eCom admin panel only and will remain invisible on the product details page in your online catalog.
8. To change the order in which the attributes are displayed on the product details page, drag and drop the fields.
9. Click Save.

That’s it! You’ve adjusted the attributes for your product type in eCom. All the products that belong to this type will now have them.

Now you can add attribute values for individual products that belong to this type.

Learn how you can use the additional Price per unit attribute in your online store →

Adding attribute values to a product in eCom

After you adjust attributes for a particular product type, you can specify attribute values for products that belong to this type. For example, for your Material attribute, you can enter “Silver”. Attribute values are added to each product independently.

Adding attribute values is optional. If you choose not to specify attribute values for some of the products, the attributes will not be displayed on their product pages.

Attribute values for Brand and UPC, EAN, ISBN, ITF, JAN, and Custom SKU codes are managed in Retail POS.

To add attribute values to a product:

1. Navigate to your eCom Admin Panel.
2. From the side menu, click Catalog > Products.
3. Open the product for editing and go to the Attributes tab.

4. Enter attribute values into the fields:

   

   You can always click Manage Attributes to edit the attributes for this product type.

5. Click Save.

That’s it! The product now has the attribute values you’ve added. Public attributes will be listed on the product page in your online storefront, while hidden attributes will appear in your eCom admin panel only.

To make sure that attribute values are displayed on product pages in your online catalog, go the Online tab > Website > Edit Site in Retail POS. In the Page dropdown at the top, select Product > Product Details > Product details and switch the Product attributes toggle. Don’t forget to publish the changes. 

If you're not using the Lightspeed eCom sitebuilder (Instant Site), go to the Online tab > Webstore > Design > Sidebar and see if Attributes are checked.

You can add values for eCom-only custom attributes of the General type for several products in bulk with the help of Bulk Product Editor.

Adding new product types in eCom

If you want to section your catalog (for example, you have a wide variety of items with different characteristics), you can add new product types to it. You can create as many product types as you need, and every type can have its own set of attributes.

To create a new product type:

1. Navigate to your eCom Admin Panel.
2. From the side menu, click Settings > Product Types.
3. Click + Add New Product Type.

4. Browse the list or use the search bar to select the most accurate result from the list:

   

5. Click Add.
6. (optional) Click Change, then Apply to change the name of the product type (for example, into the one that suits your products better).

That’s it! The product type is created in your online catalog. Now you can add a unique set of attributes for it and assign this type to specific products.

Unlike attributes, product types will not be visible on the product pages in your online storefront.

Assigning product types to products in eCom

After you create a new product type, you can assign it to any product in your online catalog. All the products that belong to this particular type will have the same set of attributes.

To assign a product type to a product:

1. Navigate to your eCom Admin Panel.
2. From the side menu, click Catalog > Products.
3. Open the product for editing and go to the Attributes tab.

4. Click Change type:

   

5. From the dropdown, select the required product type.
6. Click Save.

That’s it! You’ve assigned a type to a product in eCom.

You can edit attributes for your product types as you like to provide essential details about the products in your online catalog.

Other ways to use product types and attributes in eCom

Besides displaying the additional information about products in your online storefront, product types and attributes can be helpful in keeping some service information about products in your eCom admin panel, enhancing the search in your online catalog with product filters, and more.

Keeping private information about products

With the help of hidden product attributes, you can keep product specifications that you use for internal purposes in your eCom admin panel without publishing them online. For example, you can use them as a place for manufacturer’s codes, your internal notes, etc.

To mark an attribute as hidden:

1. From your eCom admin panel, go to Settings > Product Types.
2. On the left, select the type your attribute belongs to.

3. In the dropdown, choose Do not show for this attribute:

   

4. Click Save.

Now, any value that you add to this attribute for a product will be visible only in the eCom admin panel, on the Attributes tab of the product page in Catalog > Products:

Public attributes with empty values are not displayed in the online storefront either.

Searching products by attributes

Providing customers with an easy way to navigate your inventory is important, especially in those stores that accommodate large multi-brand catalogs. With the help of attributes, you can offer product filtering that allows shoppers to refine searches by attribute values (for example, brand, material, etc.).

If you want to list multiple values per one attribute (for example, values "2021", "2022", and "2023" for your "Year" attribute) and use them as filters, contact support.