Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Choose the fields worth filling for your products.
- Write descriptions and attributes that answer questions.
- Organise variants so each has its own stock.
Start from customer questions
The best catalog is built backwards from what customers ask. Collect a week of real questions, then check which field would answer each one.
What to fill
- A clear name and the price customers pay.
- A short description in your customers’ words, without internal codes.
- A category and a SKU for each product.
- Variants for sizes, colours or packs, each with its own stock.
- Attributes for facts people compare: dimensions, material, capacity, compatibility.
Common mistakes
- Several products in one row or one record.
- Prices left blank "to explain later".
- Discontinued products still active.
- Important facts buried in a long description instead of attributes.
Illustrative example · fictional data
A better record
A made-up product, before and after.
- Before: "Lamp 3 - see shop" with no price.
- After: "Walnut desk lamp", $48, description "Warm-white LED desk lamp with a walnut base", category Lighting, SKU LMP-003.
- Attributes added: height 42 cm, bulb included: yes.
- Result: "How tall is the walnut lamp?" can now be answered from the record.
Practical exercise · planning
Build a question-to-field table
- List ten real customer questions.
- Next to each, write the field that would answer it.
- Mark the ones with no field yet: those are the attributes or descriptions to add first.
Recap
- Work backwards from real customer questions.
- Name, price, description, category, SKU, variants and attributes each have a job.
- Keep one product per record and retire discontinued items.
Knowledge check
Three questions. Choose an answer, check it and read the explanation; you can try again as often as you like.
Your answers are not saved or sent anywhere.
Further reading
Finish this lesson
When you have read the lesson and tried the exercise and knowledge check, mark it complete. Progress is saved on this browser only.