You can set up Merchandise Attributes to store extra information about Merchandise on your Spektrix system.
In this article, we’ll provide some example use cases and cover how to create a Merchandise Attribute.
Before getting started with Merchandise Attributes, take a look at:
Why use Merchandise Attributes?
You can use Merchandise Attributes to group your Merchandise items.
Merchandise Attributes will display as additional fields to be completed when creating new Merchandise items. If needed, you can make the Attribute required to ensure this information is always completed.
You can apply Merchandise Attributes retrospectively by editing a Merchandise item.
Example use cases
You can use Merchandise Attributes to group your Merchandise items for Reporting purposes. You can also use them in API Website Integrations to create filtered pages.
For example, you might want to group all of your Merchandise items into groups related to your Events. To do this, you could apply a Merchandise Attribute Value to all of the Merchandise items you want to group together.
For example, ADHD The Musical T-shirt, ADHD The Musical Programme, ADHD The Musical Lanyard could all be grouped with the Merchandise Attribute Value ‘ADHD The Musical.’
This will mean you can then group any Merchandise items with the ‘ADHD The Musical’ Merchandise Attribute in Reports.
Another example of how you could use Merchandise Attributes is to group Merchandise items based on the type of Merchandise. For example, Book, CD, Playtext, T-shirt, etc.
How to create a Merchandise Attribute
To create a new Merchandise Attribute, navigate to the Settings Interface > Attributes > Merchandise.
TIP: You'll need the Settings Administrator user role to create and edit Attributes. If you don’t have this permission, ask the administrator in your organisation.
Click the New Attribute Definition button:
Attribute Definition
Next, you’ll be asked to input information to define the parameters of your Attribute.
WARNING: You cannot change the name of an Attribute once you have created it.
Complete the following information.
- Name: give the Attribute a clear and descriptive name. Attribute names cannot include special characters (, . - & ! / etc.). Your Attribute name cannot be longer than 50 characters.
TIP: Consider if your Attribute will be visible to customers on your website when choosing the name of your Attribute.
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Type: choose the Attribute Type.
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Description: use this field to make it clear to other members of your team what the purpose of this Attribute is. This description will only be visible in the Admin Interface.
- This Attribute is visible in your API integrations: check this box to make this Attribute available to the API.
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This Attribute is always required: check this box to make it so that this Attribute cannot be skipped or left empty.
Required Attributes will appear with a red line. You’ll need to enter information in order to proceed:
REMINDER: Check box Attributes can never be set to required, as they work on a Yes/No response. This means that leaving the box unchecked is a valid response.
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This Attribute is protected: this option is greyed out as you cannot protect Merchandise Attributes.
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Length: choose the maximum number of characters that can be entered, or set the exact number of characters which have to be entered to proceed. A text field can contain a maximum of 255 characters.
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Allow users to enter free text for this Attribute: this option is only available for Dropdown List Attributes.
- Unique Value: check this box if you require a unique Value to be entered every time.
Once you are happy with the information you have entered, click Create Attribute Definition.
Attribute Values
If you choose a Dropdown List, you will then need to add the Values.
Type each of your Values for this Attribute on a separate line. Each line appears as a value in this Attribute’s Dropdown List.
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- Select the Attribute you want to edit.
- Go to Attribute Values.
- To add a new Attribute Value click New Attribute Value.
- You can rearrange the Values by clicking and dragging them from the grey dots on the left:
- Clicking the grey trash can icon will delete the Attribute value.
- Click on the name of the Attribute value to edit.
WARNING: Editing the name of an Attribute Value will replace all existing Values with the new value. If your website integration uses this Attribute then this may prevent your website integration from working correctly.
- Click Update Attribute Value if you are happy to proceed.
Merchandise Attributes in the Admin Interface
Once created, your new Merchandise Attribute will appear in the Admin Interface > Other > Merchandise.
In this example, you can see the Dropdown List Merchandise Attribute when creating a New Stock Item.
If you want to add an Attribute Value to a Merchandise item you have already created, you can edit the item and apply the Attribute Value by clicking the edit button:
Merchandise Attributes online
Merchandise Attributes are not visible to Customers. However, they can be used as part of your API website integration. For example, you may wish to display Merchandise grouped by a Merchandise Attribute such as Event or Type.
Confirmation Text and Account Codes
You can apply a Confirmation Text Attribute to Merchandise to display extra information in your plain text Confirmation Emails that are generated when someone makes a purchase. If you're using Classic Checkout, Confirmation Text will also display to customers on the Order Summary page.
Account Code Attributes can also be added to Merchandise for use in Reporting.
Further Reading
To continue learning about Merchandise, take a look at the following articles:
You can find more articles in the Set Up Events, Offers, Subscriptions and Merchandise section of the Support Centre.