Due to the number of ChannelAdvisor clients selling a variety of products through the system, it is almost guaranteed that all of the fields needed to describe your items will not be included in the default fields on an inventory item record. In order for you to best describe your items, we have included the ability to create custom fields that can be used to describe your products. To add a new field, you can choose to have it appear on ALL inventory items in your account, or only those that are in specific groups of items, called Classifications.

After you have created custom attribute fields, they will appear on your "Edit" inventory page and can be used in your inventory upload file to configure product data.

Prerequisites 

You should be familiar with the following topics before continuing:

• Adding Inventory via the User Interface

Video

Video - Introduction to Attributes (YouTube)

How to Create Attributes Via the User Interface

Complete the following steps related to this task:

1. Select Inventory > Grouping > Attributes
2. Create a new Attribute using the "Add New" button
3. In the Attributes section, complete the following fields:
   1. Name: The name of the field as it will appear on the inventory record.
   2. Attribute Type: Choose between this attribute appearing on 'All' inventory items, or only appearing on items belonging to the selected Classification(s).
      1. Appears on All Items in Inventory: the field you create will appear on ALL items in your inventory, regardless of Classification.
      2. Only used on items in these Classifications: the field you create will only appear on inventory items that are assigned to the Classifications you select.
   3. Default Value: (Optional) Only include a value here if it will always be used in this field. This value will appear in this field for every new inventory item assigned to this Classification, but can be edited and changed at a later time by the user.
   4. List of Choices: (Optional) Provide a list of values separated by a double-pipe (||) to appear in this field. This list of values will appear in a dropdown box on the inventory item records and are the only options accepted for this field.
4. Click 'Save and Exit'
5. The attribute fields that have been added will appear on all item records or only on items that belong to the selected Classification(s), based on the selected Attribute Type.

Video - Creating Attributes (YouTube)

How to Create Attributes Via Spreadsheet

See Creating Attributes via Bulk Upload Spreadsheet

Converting an Attribute Type

If you have created a Classification "type" attribute, and determine at some point in time that the field should appear on ALL inventory items, you can change the type of the attribute and the field will become available on all inventory items in your account.

Conversely, if you have created a field that appears on all of your items in inventory, but would like to limit the items that it will appear on, you can change the attribute type from "all" to only appearing on a selected list of items belonging to specific classifications. To edit your attribute type:

1. Select Inventory > Grouping > Attributes
2. Edit an existing Attribute by clicking on the attribute name.
3. In the Attributes section, change the following field:
   1. Attribute Type: Choose between this attribute appearing on 'All' inventory items, or only appearing on items belonging to the selected Classification(s).
4. Click 'Save and Exit'
5. The attribute field will now appear on all item records or only on items that belong to the selected Classification(s), based on the selected Attribute Type.

Please Note: All attributes created in accounts prior to September 8, 2010 were created as Classification type attributes. You can convert these attributes so that they will appear on all items in your account by changing the "Attribute Type" to appear on "All Inventory Items" on the edit attribute page.