---
title: "Product Categories"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beelocity.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Product Categories

**Product categories** are a flexible classification system for organizing products. They work independently of [families](product-families.html) — while a family defines a product's _structure_ (its attributes), a category defines where it _belongs_ in your organizational taxonomy.

A product can belong to many categories simultaneously, making categories a powerful tool for cross-referencing and filtering your catalog from multiple angles.

## Categories vs. Families

These two concepts are easy to confuse, so here is a clear comparison:

|                        | Families                                         | Categories                                               |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Purpose**            | Define which attributes a product has            | Organize products for browsing, filtering, and reporting |
| **Membership**         | Every product belongs to exactly **one** family  | A product can belong to **many** categories              |
| **Effect on data**     | Determines the product's fields and structure    | No effect on data structure — purely organizational      |
| **Variant generation** | Family variant attributes drive variant creation | No effect on variants                                    |

Think of it this way: a family answers **"what kind of thing is this?"** (determines its data shape), while categories answer **"where does this belong in our catalog?"** (determines how it is organized and found).

### Example

A "Bluetooth Speaker" product might:

- Belong to the **Electronics** family (which gives it attributes like Battery Life, Connectivity, Wattage).
- Be categorized under **Audio Equipment**, **Portable Devices**, and **Gift Ideas** (three different ways to find it).

## How Categories Work

Categories are **hierarchical** — you can nest them into a tree of any depth. A product can be assigned to categories at any level, not just leaf nodes.

### Example Category Trees

**By department:**

```
Electronics
├── Computers
│   ├── Laptops
│   ├── Desktops
│   └── Accessories
├── Phones
└── Audio
```

**By season or occasion:**

```
Seasonal
├── Summer 2025
├── Winter 2025
├── Ramadan Specials
└── Back to School
```

**By audience:**

```
Target Audience
├── Professional
├── Consumer
├── Education
└── Government
```

A single product can appear in multiple trees — "Bluetooth Speaker" could be in "Electronics > Audio" and also in "Gift Ideas" and "Summer 2025".

## Managing Categories

1. Navigate to **Product Categories** from the Products section.
2. Create **top-level categories** for your broad classification dimensions.
3. Add **subcategories** under each parent for finer groupings.
4. Assign categories to products from the **Categories tab** on the product detail page — add a
   row, pick the category, and the assignment saves as you go. A product can be filed in as many
   categories as you need, and an optional **position** orders products inside a category for
   curated lists.

Filing products into categories pays off beyond the catalog: the
[Point of Sale terminal](../pos/terminal.html) shows a chip per category for filtering the shelf,
and the session [Z-report](../pos/sessions.html) breaks the day's sales down by category.

Category names must be **unique within the same parent**. You can have "Accessories" under "Electronics" and a separate "Accessories" under "Apparel" — they are distinct because they sit under different parents.

Categories can be **activated or deactivated**. Deactivating a category hides it from selection lists but does not remove it from products that already have it assigned.

On the **Product Categories** page, the filter button beside the search box narrows the list to
the children of one **Parent**, or to **Active** / inactive categories (see
[Working with lists](../getting-started/working-with-lists.html#narrowing-the-list)).

## Tips

- **Keep hierarchies to 2-3 levels** — deeper trees become hard to navigate. "Electronics > Audio > Speakers" is useful. "Products > Consumer > Home > Living Room > Entertainment > Audio > Portable > Speakers" is not.
- **Use multiple independent trees** — instead of one giant tree that tries to capture everything, create separate top-level categories for different classification dimensions (department, season, audience). This is more flexible and easier to maintain.
- **Products can belong to any level** — a product does not have to be assigned to the deepest leaf. If a product spans all of "Electronics > Audio", assign it to "Audio" directly rather than forcing it into a more specific subcategory.
- **Categories are great for access control** — product categories can be referenced in [row access rules](../access-control/row-access-rules.html). For example, you could restrict a product manager to only see products in the categories they are responsible for.

Source: https://docs.beelocity.com/en/products/product-categories/index.mdx