TABLE OF CONTENTS


What is the product catalogue?

Shiptheory's product catalogue stores information about all products which have ever passed through Shiptheory on your account. This stored information can then be used as is or updated to fill in missing information from your channels. It is then used to build dimension, weight and commodity information for booking shipments with carriers.


How do I get to the product catalogue?

To navigate to the Product Catalogue go to Products > View Products from the sidebar.


How are products created and updated?

A product in Shiptheory is uniquely defined by its SKU (Stock Keeping Unit). When a order or fulfilment comes into Shiptheory from a channel or the API, then Shiptheory will check to see if the product exists in the catalogue. One of two things can then happen:

  • If a product with a given SKU does not exist then Shiptheory creates it in the catalogue.
  • If a product with a given SKU does exist then by default Shiptheory will update the product stored in the catalogue if any information is different. This behaviour is explained here can be configured in the product catalogue settings.


How are products used in bookings with couriers?

When a shipment is created in Shiptheory products from the order or fulfilment are stored in the catalogue as described above. An association between the shipment and the product in the catalogue is created and the information stored in the catalogue is used in bookings. If you change a value in the catalogue then the value you change will apply to all shipments associated with the product. 


Some values are stored at a shipment line item level and can override the values in the product catalogue:

  • Price: The price of a given product can be different to the catalogue when discounts are applied to a line item. In circumstances such as this, Shiptheory will store a price at a line item level. This will override the catalogue price. The behaviour around this functionality is channel and carrier dependent. Check with support for the specific behaviours you will see for your channel and carrier combinations.
  • Weight:  The weight of a given product can be different to the catalogue if the product has a variable weight. In circumstances such as this, Shiptheory will store a weight at a line item level. This will override the catalogue price. The behaviour around this functionality is channel and carrier dependent. Check with support for the specific behaviours you will see for your channel and carrier combinations. 
  • Customisation: If a product has a certain customisation then it will be stored against the shipment. An example of this might be an item with a custom engraved message on it. This information is only shown on integrated label and picking list product tables. Customisations being downloaded are channel dependent. Check with support for the specific behaviours for your channel.
  • Batch Numbers:  If a product has a certain batch number then it will be stored against the shipment. This information is only shown on integrated label and picking list product tables. Customisations being downloaded are channel dependent. Check with support for the specific behaviours for your channel.


How does disabling updates effect my product information from the catalogue?

If you choose to disable product updates in the product catalogue settings then the only information that will ever change will be the shipment level information described above. Information will still be pulled from the catalogue to be used with bookings but downloading an order of fulfilment will not result in any changes.

If you encounter any issues, please feel free to contact our support team. You can call us on 0117 403 4313 (UK) / +1 (629) 666-6726 (US) or reach us online here.