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Product categorization

A product in the wrong category is a product nobody finds.

Cernel sorts every product into its category as it arrives, by the instructions you write for each one, so it gets the fields and filters shoppers use.

Trusted by e‑commerce teams at

Sound familiar?

If one of these sounds like your catalogue, this page is for you.

  • Wrong category

    Instead of

    Products land in the wrong category, like a children's rain jacket among the men's jackets

    • A thin supplier row
    • Sorting by hand

    With Cernel

    Each product lands in the most specific category that fits, read from its title, brand, description, data and images

    With too little to go on, it stays Uncategorized instead of being guessed.

  • Missing from filters

    Instead of

    Products in stock that no menu, category page or filter leads to

    • Fields added product by product
    • Category pages kept by hand

    With Cernel

    The category gives each product the fields it needs, and agents fill them

    A field set on a parent category reaches every subcategory below it.

  • A tree per channel

    Instead of

    A separate category tree for every channel, mapped and kept up by hand

    • Mapping spreadsheets
    • Copy and paste per channel

    With Cernel

    Your own taxonomies side by side, every category described in plain words

    Each product's Google product category follows its category on its own.

How it works

From a supplier row to the right shelf, in five steps.

What happens to every new product from the moment it arrives, without anyone sorting it by hand.

  1. It arrives

    A new product comes in, often with little more than a code, a short title and a few columns from the supplier.

  2. It is read

    Cernel reads its title, brand, description, product data and images, the way someone on your team would.

  3. It is sorted

    At each level of the tree it picks the subcategory that fits best, down to the most specific one, following the instructions written for each category.

  4. It gets its fields

    The category brings the fields that kind of product needs, and the agents that fill them.

  5. It goes back

    You choose what goes live automatically and what gets a review step. Filled values go back to your PIM or shop, or out as a file in your own columns.

Your own taxonomies

Every category follows its own instructions.

Describe each of your categories in plain words: what belongs in it and what does not. Try it on a few of your products, read why each one landed where it did, and only then sort the catalogue.

Your shop's categoriesLighting › Ceiling lamps

What belongs in Ceiling lamps

Lamps that hang from or are fixed to the ceiling: pendants, chandeliers and flush mounts. Lamps that stand on a table or the floor, and lamps fixed to a wall, go elsewhere.

CernelTested on 5 of your lamps3 in Ceiling lamps
ProductLands inWhy
Copper pendant lampCeiling lampsHangs from the ceiling on a cord.
Alabaster table lampTable lampsStands on a table, with a plug.
Rattan cylinder pendantCeiling lampsA pendant shade on a ceiling cord.
Brass wall lightWall lampsFixed to the wall, not the ceiling.
Grey dome pendantCeiling lampsA dome pendant for over a table.

Copper pendant lamp, in three category trees

Your shop
Lighting › Ceiling lamps › Pendants
Google product category
Lighting › Lighting Fixtures › Ceiling Light Fixtures
Marketplace
Home › Lamps › Pendant lights

Nothing guessed

3,000 new products, sorted as they arrive. None of them guessed.

When a product has too little to go on, it stays Uncategorized where your team can see it, instead of landing somewhere wrong where nobody looks for it.

0of 3,000 sorted into their category

  • Shoes0
  • Clothing0
  • Home0
  • Lighting0
  • Beauty0
  • Office0

Uncategorized 10 products, like SKU 88-1043

ITEM 88-1043 BLK

No description, brand or image to go on.

Add a short description or a photo, then classify it again.

Each product's Google product category follows its category, ready for your shopping feeds: Product feed management.

In and out

What goes in, what comes out, and what stays yours to decide.

Comes in from
Your PIM, your shop, your ERP or any other system through the API, a product feed, or supplier CSV files.
Taxonomies
A ready-made category tree, kept up by Cernel, on every product. Your own trees next to it, for your shop's menu, merchandising or a channel's required categories.
Every category
A description and extra instructions in plain words, its own fields, and the agents that fill them. Try the wording on a few of your products before you sort the catalogue.
You decide
You choose which values go live automatically and which get a review step; review steps check every value and only ask a person when something fails or needs a decision. Any product can be moved by hand, one at a time or in bulk.
Goes out to
Back to your PIM or shop, a file in your own columns, or a shopping feed file, with each product's Google product category set from its category.

What teams get back with Cernel

All customer stories

  • Tiffany Lighting Direct

    Tiffany Lighting Direct gets a new supplier range live in days, not months

    to get a new supplier range live
    Days
    products from 20+ brands
    13,000+
    extra hires needed
    0
    Read the story
    A stained-glass table lamp on a wooden table in a quiet cafe

  • Firtal Group

    Firtal Group added a thousand extra hands without adding headcount

    products enriched
    +25K
    organic traffic to product pages
    +20%
    faster time to market
    +80%
    Read the story
    In the warehouse at Firtal Group

  • Molly & My

    Molly & My builds every market on one foundation

    products enriched across 8 markets
    20,000
    faster time to market
    4x
    organic traffic to product pages
    +29.3%
    Read the story
    A stack of folded knitwear in low warm sunlight

FAQ

Questions about product categorization.

  • What is ecommerce product categorization?

    It is placing every product in the category where it belongs, in a tree that runs from broad to specific, so it gets the right fields, filters and channel categories. Cernel does it automatically: as products come in, each one is sorted into its category.

  • How does Cernel decide which category a product belongs in?

    It reads the product's title, brand, description, data and images, and works down the tree, choosing the subcategory that fits at each level until it reaches the most specific category. When a product has too little to go on, it is left Uncategorized instead of being guessed.

  • Can we use our own product categories?

    Yes. Bring your own category tree, describe each category in plain words and test it on a few of your products, with the reasoning for every choice, before you sort the catalogue. You can keep several trees side by side, and each product keeps its place in every one of them.

  • Can a product be in more than one category?

    Yes, in your own category trees: choose it when you set the tree up, and a product can sit in several categories at once, such as Ceiling lamps and New in.

  • What are category-level attributes?

    Fields you add to a category rather than to single products. A field set on a parent category applies to every subcategory beneath it, with its agent. A subcategory can add fields of its own, or use a different agent for a field set higher up.

  • Can we correct a category by hand?

    Yes. Change it on the product, while reviewing a proposed category, or for many products at once. A product's Google product category follows its category, also after you move it.

Where to next

Sorted is the start. Next, make it complete and get it found.

Send us your messiest product export.

See every product come back in the right category, with the fields that category needs and the agents to fill them.

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