Managing Buyer Categories in OneCart

Buyer Categories are an internal classification system that helps you organize your inventory by product type, department, or any grouping that makes sense for your business. Unlike Brands (which identify who makes a product), Buyer Categories help you group products by what they are.

What Are Buyer Categories Used For?

Buyer Categories are useful for:

• Inventory Organization: Group products by department (Electronics, Clothing, Home & Living)
• Reporting: Filter sales reports and analytics by category
• Bulk Operations: Process orders or update inventory by category
• Business Insights: Understand which product categories perform best

Accessing the Buyer Categories Page

To view and manage your buyer categories:

1. From the sidebar, navigate to View Items > View Buyer Categories
2. You’ll see a list of all buyer categories in your account

Adding a New Buyer Category

Method 1: Manual Creation

1. Navigate to the Buyer Categories page
2. Click the Add New Buyer Category button
3. Enter the Category Name (e.g., “Electronics”, “Clothing”, “Food & Beverages”)
4. Click Save

Method 2: Via Bulk Upload

You can automatically create buyer categories when uploading inventory via the Bulk Upload feature. Simply include a “Buyer Category” column in your spreadsheet, and OneCart will:

• Match existing categories (case-insensitive)
• Automatically create new categories if they don’t exist
• Assign the category to each SKU

See Bulk Upload Excel to Create or Edit Inventory for more details.

Assigning Buyer Categories to SKUs

Via Single SKU Edit:

1. Go to View Items > View/Edit Single SKUs
2. Click on the SKU you want to edit
3. Find the Buyer Category dropdown field
4. Select the appropriate category
5. Save your changes

Via Bulk Upload:

Include a “Buyer Category” column in your bulk upload spreadsheet. Map it to the “Buyer Category” field during the upload process.

Editing or Deleting a Buyer Category

To Edit a Buyer Category:

1. Navigate to the Buyer Categories page
2. Click the Edit button next to the category you want to modify
3. Update the category name
4. Click Save

To Delete a Buyer Category:

1. Click the Delete button next to the category you wish to remove
2. Confirm the deletion when prompted

Note: Deleting a buyer category will remove the category association from all SKUs that were assigned to it. The SKUs themselves will not be deleted.

Best Practices

• Use Clear Names: Choose descriptive category names that your team will easily understand
• Be Consistent: Establish naming conventions (e.g., always use “Electronics” not sometimes “Electronic” or “Electrical”)
• Don’t Over-Categorize: Start with broad categories and only add specific sub-categories if needed
• Review Regularly: Periodically review your categories to merge duplicates or remove unused ones

Buyer Categories vs Brands

Both can be assigned to the same SKU for comprehensive organization.

Related Articles

• Managing Your Brand List in OneCart
• Bulk Upload Excel to Create or Edit Inventory
• What is the Item Master?