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Merchandise Items: Create, Edit, and Find

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A merchandise item is one thing your association sells in a store, such as a shirt, book, or mug. Use this article to add an item to your catalog, update its everyday details, and find, copy, or delete existing items. For stock-tracking settings, see Inventory Tracking Settings for Merchandise. For categories and shared version or personalization questions, see Merchandise Categories and Shared Options.

Where to Find It ​

Go to Orders & Inventory › Merchandise. The page opens to Merchandise Overview, with a search form on the left and a Recently Viewed Merchandise panel on the right.

Find an Item ​

  1. Go to Orders & Inventory › Merchandise.
  2. Enter any search criteria you need: Name:, Price:, Member Price:, Category:, Weight:, Track Inventory?:, Publish to Portal?:, Shippable?:, Has Image?:, Active?:, or ID:.
  3. Press Search.
  4. In the results, click the item's name to open its record page, or click its thumbnail to open the full-size image.

Tip

Leave every criterion blank and press Search to list every item in your catalog. You can also use the Recently Viewed Merchandise panel on the right to reopen items you viewed recently.

If you're new to an account, or you have not opened the item recently, Recently Viewed Merchandise can be empty. Search for the item first, such as before opening its financial configuration, instead of relying on that panel.

Create an Item ​

  1. Go to Orders & Inventory › Merchandise.
  2. Press Create Merchandise.
  3. Choose a Business Unit: and enter a Name:. Rhythm suggests the ID: from the name, and you can change it while the item is new.
  4. If needed, place the item in one or more categories under Categories:.
  5. Add a main image under Product Image, then add up to ten additional images if you need them.
  6. Write a Product Description.
  7. Enter the item's Price and, if members should pay a different amount, Member Price.
  8. Set the Storefront Options you need. See the table below.
  9. Turn on inventory tracking if you want Rhythm to count stock for this item. See Inventory Tracking Settings for Merchandise.
  10. If the item comes in versions or offers personalization choices, use the Variant Options and Modifier Options cards to add or choose shared options.
  11. Set Shipping and Restocking Fees as needed.
  12. Fill in any custom fields your account has defined for merchandise.
  13. Press Save Changes.

Result

You land on the new item's record page. From there, you can copy, edit, preview, or delete the item, and you can change its financial configuration if you have permission.

You can save an item with a Price of 0, such as while you are still setting it up, and return later to update the price before it is offered for another purchase.

If your product includes a downloadable file for buyers, add or replace it from the item's record page. Open the item, edit it, and update the file in its settings.

Everyday Fields ​

Field Effect 
Name: The name staff see, and the name buyers see when the item is published. Required. 
ID: The item's permanent identifier, prefixed with its business unit's code. You cannot change it after saving. 
Categories: Places the item in one or more merchandise categories so the store can organize it. 
Main and additional images The main image appears in search results and in the store. You can add up to ten additional images after a main image exists. 
Description Appears on the item's product page. 
Price / Member Price The item's price, and an optional lower price for members. 

Storefront Options ​

Setting Effect 
Product Sort Order: A number the store uses when it sorts by sort order. 
Date Added: If you leave this blank, Rhythm uses today's date. This affects "newest items" sorting. 
New Until: Shows a "new" tag on the item until this date. 
Available Online From: / Available Online Until: Sets the dates when buyers can purchase the item online. Rhythm does not check that the "until" date comes after the "from" date. 
This product should be visible and available in the portal Ticked by default on a new item. This controls whether the store shows it. 
This is a featured product and should be highlighted in the store When ticked, reveals the Featured From: and Featured Until: dates. 

Tip

An item created through an import can appear in the portal Store while This product should be visible and available in the portal is unchecked. If you see that mismatch, open the item, make any small edit, and save it again. Re-saving lines the portal display back up with the setting.

Shipping and Restocking Fees ​

Turn Shipping on to charge shipping for the item, and enter its Weight: for shipping calculations. A new item is shippable by default. Turn on Restocking Fees to charge a fee when the item is returned. Enter the fee once in your business unit's base currency and once for each other currency you sell in.

Warning

A query-based bulk change to the Shippable field can report success without actually updating the item. If you use a bulk change to turn shipping on or off for several items at once, open a few of the affected items afterward and confirm the Shipping setting changed before you rely on the result.

Copying an Item ​

Open the item you want to copy and choose Clone this Merchandise from its options menu, or start from Create Merchandise with a cloneFrom link if you have one. The copy keeps everything from the source item except its identifier and stock records. A copy of a stocked item starts with no stock of its own, and you choose a new identifier before saving.

Previewing an Item ​

From an item's record page, open Merchandise Options and choose Preview this Merchandise to see the item as a buyer would on your Portal's product page. The preview:

  • shows the item exactly as its public page would, including an unpublished item or one outside its selling dates. The store's own list still hides that item, but a direct preview or link does not;
  • refuses to open for an inactive item;
  • does not save anything, and its add-to-cart button only closes the dialog.

Tip

The store's own styling affects how the preview looks, and a note at the top of the preview says so.

Rhythm does not offer a button that generates or copies an item's direct storefront link. To share a link straight to one item's public page, build it yourself by appending ?productId= and the item's product code to the store's URL.

Warning

If a product image displays for signed-in members but not for anonymous storefront visitors, remove the image, save the item, add the image back, and save again. This has been observed to restore the image for anonymous visitors. Re-uploading an affected image has also been reported to restore it as a temporary fix when a merchandise image goes missing in the portal more generally.

Warning

Uploading a product image has been observed to fail, showing an error and no save, when the image's filename contains periods. If a save with an image fails this way, remove the periods from the filename and upload it again.

Deactivating or Deleting an Item ​

Set Status: on the item's edit form to Inactive to remove it from the store and block its public page while keeping its record, sales history, and stock intact.

To remove an item permanently, open its record page and choose Delete Merchandise. This requires the commerce:user:merchandise:delete permission for the item. Without that permission, the button is disabled with an explanation. Deletion is permanent and also deletes the item's stock records. This is the one way around the stock-tracking lock described in Inventory Tracking Settings for Merchandise. Rhythm does not check whether the item has sales or orders against it, and order lines that already reference a deleted item keep its identifier.

Custom Fields ​

If your account has defined custom fields for merchandise, they appear near the bottom of the item form. Your account's page layout for merchandise controls how they are arranged. See Custom Fields for how custom fields work generally.

Merchandise custom fields are internal metadata. They help your staff identify and query items, and they appear on the item's record page and create-or-edit form, but buyers never see or answer them. Merchandise checkout does not use a configurable order form the way some other purchase types do, so custom fields you set up on an item are not presented to buyers during an online purchase.

Financial Configuration ​

An item's business unit, prices, and financial setup appear in shared panels that every Rhythm product type uses. Financial setup includes general ledger accounts, tax class, revenue recognition, and similar settings. After you save the item, open its record page, choose Merchandise Options, then Modify Financial Configuration, and save your changes there if you have the Collect financial-configuration permission.

There is no bulk table or import path for merchandise financial configuration in the Console. You change it one item at a time from each item's own record page.

Permissions ​

You need access to Orders & Inventory to reach merchandise search and to create or edit an item. Deleting an item specifically requires commerce:user:merchandise:delete for that item. Changing financial configuration requires a separate Collect permission.

Validation and Errors ​

What you see Why What to do 
The save is refused for a missing name or identifier Name: or ID: is empty Fill in both 
If tracking inventory by SKU, at least one SKU must be provided. You turned on SKU tracking without adding any variant Add a variant option and at least one variant, or track by product instead 
Cannot change inventory status once inventories exist You tried to switch tracking off on an item that already has stock recorded Keep tracking on; see Inventory Tracking Settings for Merchandise 
Duplicate SKUs detected; unable to save merchandise Two variants share the same SKU, ignoring letter case Change one of the SKUs 
Delete Merchandise is disabled You lack commerce:user:merchandise:delete for this item Ask an administrator for the permission 
A merchandise mass update file is rejected naming body, product_specific_email, or subject Merchandise mass update does not support bulk changes to those fields Update each of those fields on the item's own record page instead 
Unable to save Merchandise with an image attached The uploaded image's filename may contain periods Remove the periods from the filename and upload it again 
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