Use the Bazaarvoice Portal to view and manage your Bazaarvoice product catalog. Tasks you can perform include:

  • Importing multiple products using an Excel spreadsheet.
  • Viewing product catalog data to ensure it is correct and complete.
  • Fixing catalog data errors that originate in your feed or from Dynamic Catalog Collection (DCC).
  • Adding missing product data such as UPCs or EANs to facilitate Bazaarvoice syndication.
  • Adding and editing products, product families, brands, and categories.
  • Setting a product’s catalog status to active or inactive.
  • Viewing the source of each catalog attribute value.

Read the following sections to learn how to manage and optimize your product catalog through Portal:

Tip: In this and other knowledge base topics, look for Role Labels to see which roles can perform certain tasks.

Required solutions and roles

You must have:

One of these solutions: And one of these roles:
  • Ratings & Reviews
  • Sampling
  • Product Catalog Administrator
  • Account Administrator
  • Product Catalog Viewer
Note: Learn more about how solutions and roles are assigned in the Bazaarvoice Portal.

Capabilities

The following table lists tasks you can perform and the roles needed for each.

Task Product Catalog Administrator
Account Administrator		 Product Catalog Viewer
Import multiple products ✓
View catalog data sources ✓ ✓
View products ✓ ✓
View product details ✓ ✓
Edit products ✓
Add products ✓
View brands ✓ ✓
View brand details ✓ ✓
Edit brands ✓
Add brands ✓
View categories ✓ ✓
View category details ✓ ✓
Edit categories ✓
Add categories ✓

Get started

To view and manage your product catalog:

  1. Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal .

    If you cannot sign in, contact Bazaarvoice Client Care for assistance. Learn more about Portal permissions and user accounts.

  2. Select the menu  hamburger menu  located in the upper-left corner, and then select Product Catalog.

    The Products list appears.

Understand data source priority

Understanding how Bazaarvoice handles catalog data from different sources is important. To see the source of each data value in your catalog, enable the View data sources option. Each catalog attribute will have one of the following labels:

Source label Description
Portal The value came from a change made in Portal. It is taking priority over a value from another source.
Portal The value came from a change made in Portal.
Feed The value came from a product feed imported using SFTP.
DCC The value came from Dynamic Catalog Collection.

Catalog data coming from Portal, feeds, and DCC is merged into your catalog. All updates to catalog attribute values using Portal take priority over values coming from feeds and DCC. A common question is whether values from feeds or DCC will overwrite changes previously made through Portal. If a value coming from a feed or DCC conflicts with a value entered through Portal for the same attribute, the value entered through Portal takes priority.

Arrays such as UPCs and EANs are an exception to this rule. For example, if a product has a UPC entered through Portal, and DCC provides a different UPC for that product, your catalog will contain both UPCs for that product.

If you use Portal to delete a value, the system flags this catalog attribute so that a value from a feed or DCC update will not replace the empty attribute value.

Watch the following video for a detailed discussion about catalog data source priority.

Import products using an Excel spreadsheet

Product Catalog Administrator

You can import product information for multiple products using a single Excel spreadsheet. Use the spreadsheet to import data for new products as well as append missing data to existing products.

Note: The import file must be a valid Excel file and be no larger than 5MBs. Import products doesn’t support the older .xls file format.

To import products

  1. From the Portal menu , select Product Catalog. The Products list appears.
  2. Select Import products. The Select and verify modal appears.
    Note: If you're importing products for the first time, we recommend that you download and examine the sample Excel spreadsheet (sample.xlsx) to understand the format requirements.
  3. Drag and drop your Excel spreadsheet onto the Select and verify modal. Alternatively, browse to the required Excel spreadsheet.
    Note: The file can only be imported to the catalog once verified. Verification can take up to five minutes.
  4. The File summary displays an analysis of your uploaded file.
    Note: You can still import your Excel spreadsheet with errors and warnings.
    • Select Download log of all errors and warnings if you want to correct your Excel spreadsheet before importing.
    • The following Import options may appear when verifying fields with multiple values, like Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs). You can either:
      • Add new values to the existing multiple values (default setting)
        or
      • Replace existing values

  5. Select Import and finish.

    Tip: If you’re having issues importing your file, refer to the section on troubleshooting.
Note: Importing data using the Product Catalog application will always take precedence and override data updates coming from your feed or from Dynamic Catalog Collection (DCC). Learn more about data source priority.

Verification

Verification takes place at two levels:

  • File-level analysis—focuses on the overall file validity. Verification ensures that the file conforms to a specific format and contaiins specific mandatory information. Warning: Verification failure at file level means you can’t import your file. Learn how to troubleshoot a failed import.

  • Row-level analysis—focuses on row-by-row validity. Verification failure at row level means you won’t be able to import a specific product row (the invalid row may not contain information in the correct format).

    Note: However, you can still continue with a partial import of the file which includes valid product rows only.
Tip: You can also correct your Excel spreadsheet before importing. Download the errors and warnings log, and update your file accordingly.

Troubleshooting

File-level analysis Error message Recommendation
Invalid file Local validation failed. Ensure the import file is a valid Excel spreadsheet.
File too large Selected file is over 5MB. Separate into smaller Excel spreadsheets and upload them one at a time.
Empty file File does not contain any rows. Open the file and add product information using separate rows for each product.
Unrecognized column header Column header is not valid. Ensure that column header is using the correct format. The data in the invalid column won’t be imported.
Invalid product ID File does not contain an External ID or a Product ID. The file must contain a valid Product ID column. Open the file and make sure there is a Product ID column.
Note: Product ID does not have to be the first column.
Invalid category ID File does not contain a Category ID. If the file contains category information, it must also contain a corresponding Category ID column. Open the file and make sure there is a Category ID column.
Invalid brand ID File does not contain a Brand ID. If the file contains brand information, it must also contain a corresponding Brand ID column. Open the file and make sure there is a Brand ID column.
File contains more than one Excel worksheet No error message appears. If the Excel spreadsheet contains more than one worksheet, only data from the first worksheet is imported.

Spreadsheet format

Each column in the import file contains information that can be added to your product catalog. Each row in your spreadsheet represents one of your products.

The following table provides important format information for your Excel spreadsheet:

Column name Description Required
ProductID Unique product ID that can contain only alphanumeric characters, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). The ID is not case sensitive.

Type: string

 Yes
ProductName Name of the product, which is visible to end users.

Type: string

 Strongly recommend
ProductPageURL Unique, uncorrupted URL for a product page. Do not include extraneous query string parameters that you might use for tracking and partnership codes. If the URL contains a reserved (special) character, you must URL-encode the character. For example, use &amp for an ampersand, use %20 for a space, or use %5B and %5D for square brackets ([ ]).

Type: URL

 Strongly recommend
ProductImageURL Unique URL for the product image.

Type: URL

 Strongly recommend
ProductDescription Description of the product. We recommend that product descriptions be at least three sentences or 300 characters long.

Type: string

 Yes
Brand The name of the brand to which the product belongs.

Type: string

 Strongly recommend
Brand ID Brand ID for the product.

Type: string

 Yes. Required if Brand is included as a heading.
Category The product's category name. Each product needs to belong to a category or sub-category.

Type: string

 Strongly recommend
CategoryID Category ID for the product.

Type: string

 Yes. Required if Category is included as a heading.
Inactive Marks the product inactive if a yes or true value is specified in this column.

Type: boolean

 No
ModelNumber Unique referencing code that businesses use to identify a part that a particular industry uses. Each model number can contain letters, numerals, and other characters.

Type: array

 No. However, if included, one for each product.
ManufacturerPartNumber Manufacturer-specific part number (MPN). Part numbers can contain alphanumeric and special characters.

Type: array

 Strongly recommend
EAN European Article Numbers (EAN), which is used worldwide for marking retail goods. An EAN must be a string of eight or 13 numerals. No letters or other characters are allowed. Remove spaces and hyphens for syndication.

Type: array

 Strongly recommend
UPC Universal Product Code (UPC) is used for standard retail packaging in the United States. A UPC can contain numerals only, with no letters or other characters. Remove spaces and hyphens for syndication.

Type: array

 Strongly recommend
ProductFamily The product family name to which the product belongs. We recommend you exclude special characters from product family names.

Type: string

 No
ProductFamily-Expand The product bundle name to enable a product to display all content about family components on the product bundle's page.

Type: string

 No

Work with products

The Products list provides at-a-glance information about products in your catalog, including:

  • Total number of products in the catalog
  • Product name
  • Product ID
  • Product status
  • Assigned brand
  • Product category

The default view shows all products. Set the Product status filter to view only active or inactive products.

If your company has more than one Bazaarvoice instance, use the instance selector located near the upper-right corner of the page to move between them. Type the name or scroll through the list to select the instance you want. The Products list refreshes to display products associated with your selected instance.

View product details

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator Product Catalog Viewer

Select a product in the list to view product details. Displayed product information includes:

  • Product ID, name, and description
  • Product page and product image URLs
  • Product identifiers, including UPC, EAN, ISBN, model number, and manufacturer part number
  • Product catalog status (active or inactive)
  • Assigned brand
  • Product family
  • Product category
  • Custom attributes

Add products

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator

To add a product to your product catalog, select Add product on the Products list page. The Add product page appears.

Enter a value for Product ID. The product ID must be unique within your selected instance, and can include only alphanumeric characters, hyphens (-) and underscores (_).

Note: The product ID is a unique identifying code for a product. After you have created and saved a product, you cannot change this code.

Continue to add and select information to define the product. For instructions and more information, refer to the Edit products topic section.

Edit products

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator

To edit a product, select it from the list. Edit product information in one or more page sections:

Details

The Details area shows the product ID, assigned brand, and product category. It also indicates the product’s catalog status (active or inactive).

Assign a product to a brand

Although not required, Bazaarvoice recommends you specify a brand for each product in your catalog. This enables you to get the most benefit from reporting and content syndication across the Bazaarvoice Network.

To assign a product to a brand in your product catalog, select a brand from the list of active brands. You can search the list by brand name.

If your catalog does not include any brands, then the list of brands does not appear. Go to the Brands tab and select Add brand to add a brand to your product catalog.

Assign a product to a category

To assign a product to a category in your product catalog, select a category from the list of categories. You can search the list by category name.

If your catalog does not contain any categories, then Bazaarvoice will assign the product to the default BV_MISCELLANEOUS category. Alternatively, go to the Categories tab and select Add category to add a category to your product catalog.

Change catalog status

To change the current status of a product in your catalog, select Active or Inactive.

For more information about how Bazaarvoice manages active and inactive products in your catalog, read Control the active set of products.

Localization

The Localization area shows product attribute information. The information for each product attribute can differ for each locale.

Note: Find detailed descriptions of each product attribute in this topic.

The following attribute conditions apply:

  • Product name—Required for the Default locale only. The product name cannot contain HTML characters, and should be unique within the selected instance.
  • Product description—Cannot contain HTML characters.
  • Product page URL—Must be a valid URL. The URL cannot contain HTML characters.
  • Image—Must be a valid URL. The URL cannot contain HTML characters.

Edit and add locales

To edit product information for another defined locale, select the locale name located just above the edit area. The selected locale is underlined.

To add product information for a locale not yet set, select the locale from the Add locale list of options.

To delete a selected locale, select Remove locale.

Watch this video to learn how to add and remove a non-default locale.

Identification

The Identification area shows product identifiers for the product.

Note: For detailed information about each product identifier, refer to the table in DCC data attributes.

Edit or add valid identifiers. Values for UPC and EAN are required for syndicated content.

Product family

Product families let you share consumer-generated content (CGC) among multiple, related products. By grouping products into families, you can display CGC written about one family member on the product display pages of all family members.

See Share reviews using product families for more information about product families.

To add a product to a product family:

  1. Select Add family.
  2. Enter the family name, which is the unique ID for the family. All products in a family must share the same family name value.
  3. If all content should be shared with this product from other products in the same family, select Expand.
Note: Product families can be defined by product feeds or the Workbench Family Management Tool. Families created by product feeds show a Type value of Feed. If created by the Workbench tool or Product Catalog in Portal, families will show a Type value of WB/Portal.

For more information, read Share reviews using product families.

To delete an existing product family, click X in the row.

Custom attributes

Use custom attributes to define custom product catalog data attributes. You can use these attributes to customize reports and dashboards.

For more information, read Filter catalog data based on custom product attributes.

To add a custom attribute to a product:

  1. Select Add attribute.

  2. Enter values for the following fields:

    • Attribute ID—Must be unique for the product within the selected instance. The value is limited to 32 characters and cannot be any of the following values:

      • BV_FE_FAMILY
      • BV_FE_EXPAND
      • BV_WB_FAMILY
      • BV_WB_EXPAND

    • Value—Limited to 65535 bytes. This value is required.

To delete an existing custom attribute, select X in the row.

Select Save to save changes to the product and return to the products list.

Work with brands

Associating products with specific brands enables you to get the most from reporting and content syndication across the Bazaarvoice Network.

Select the Brands tab to see brands in your catalog.

View brand details

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator Product Catalog Viewer

To view brand details, select a brand from the brands list.

Add brands

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator

To add a brand to your product catalog, select Add brand on the Brands list page. The Add brand page appears.

Enter values to define the brand:

  • Brand name—Enter a unique name of no more than 255 characters. The name is required and cannot contain HTML characters.
  • Brand ID—Use the auto-generated ID, or de-select this option to enter your own unique value.
Note: After you have created and saved a brand, you cannot change its ID.
  • Catalog status—Select Active or Inactive to set the status of the brand in your catalog.

Select Save to create the brand.

Edit brands

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator

To edit a brand, select it from the brands list.

Localization

The Localization area shows the brand name for the Default locale. Edit this value as needed.

Edit and add locales

Brand names can be different for each locale. To edit the name for another defined locale, select the locale name located just above the edit area. The selected locale is underlined.

To set a brand name for an undefined locale, select the locale from the Add locale list of options.

Details

The Brand ID is a unique identifier associated with a brand. After you have added a brand, you cannot change this ID.

Change catalog status

To change the current status of a brand in your catalog, select Active or Inactive.

Select Save to save changes to the brand and return to the brands list.

Work with categories

Grouping your products into appropriate product categories helps with reporting and gives your customers a way to browse for other similar products they want to review.

You can associate each product with a single parent product category entity in your product catalog.

View categories

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator Product Catalog Viewer

To view categories in your product catalog, select the Categories tab.

Add categories

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator

To add a category to your product catalog, select Add category on the Categories list page. The Add category page appears.

Enter values to define the category:

  • Name—Enter a unique name of no more than 255 characters. The name is required and cannot contain HTML characters.

  • Category ID—Use the auto-generated ID, or de-select this option to enter your own unique value. After you have created and saved a category, you cannot change its associated ID. The ID:

    • Must be unique within the selected instance
    • Is limited to 255 characters
    • Cannot contain HTML characters
    • Cannot contain / (slash)
  • Catalog status—Select Active or Inactive to set the status of the category in your catalog.

Select Save to create the category.

Edit categories

Product Catalog Administrator Account Administrator

To edit a product category, select it from the categories list.

Localization

The Localization area shows the category name for the Default locale. Edit this value as needed.

Note: You cannot edit the name for the default BV_MISCELLANEOUS category.

Edit and add locales

Category details can be different for each locale. To edit category details for another defined locale, select the locale name located just above the edit area. The selected locale is underlined.

To set details for an undefined locale, select the locale from the Add locale list of options.

Details

The category ID is a unique identifier associated with a category. After you have added a category, you cannot change this ID.

Edit the parent category

To select a different parent category in the category hierarchy, select it from the Parent Category list of options.

Change catalog status

To change the current status of a category in your catalog, select Active or Inactive.

Select Save to save changes to the category and return to the categories list.