Add Bazaarvoice hierarchical category export

By default, the Bazaarvoice export sends a flat category list, where each product points to a single category and nothing describes how those categories relate to each other. If your catalog has a category tree, you can map a set of additional attributes in Dataflow so that the export sends the full hierarchy to Bazaarvoice. This page covers only those additional attributes. For the rest of the setup, including the destination configuration, see Add Bazaarvoice export.

In a flat export, Bazaarvoice receives your categories as unrelated entries:

A hierarchical export adds a ParentExternalId element to each category, so that Bazaarvoice receives a tree:

A category tree lets Bazaarvoice show breadcrumbs on review pages, roll up reviews from a subcategory to its parent, and build category-level review pages and widgets.

The products themselves do not change. Each product still points to one category through the CategoryExternalId attribute.

Keep every attribute you already map, and add one group of attributes for each level of your category tree. Replace {N} with the level number, starting at 1 for the top level of the tree:

There is no CategoryLevel1ParentId attribute, because level 1 is the top of the tree.

The platform reads the levels in order, starting at level 1 and continuing for as long as it finds the next level, up to a maximum of 10 levels. A gap in the numbering stops the platform from reading the remaining levels.

The numbered attributes hold the ancestors of a category. The CategoryExternalId attribute holds the category that the product itself belongs to.

Read a category path as a breadcrumb trail. Everything before the last element of the path goes into the numbered attributes, and the last element stays in the CategoryExternalId attribute you already map:

The CategoryName, CategoryPageUrl, and CategoryImageUrl attributes continue to describe the category in CategoryExternalId.

The platform uses the CategoryParentExternalId attribute only on records that leave all numbered attributes empty. When a record fills the numbered attributes, the deepest level you populate becomes the parent of the category in CategoryExternalId.

The following examples abbreviate the attribute names to keep the tables readable. For example, L1Id stands for CategoryLevel1Id, and L2ParentId stands for CategoryLevel2ParentId. Use the full attribute names in Dataflow.

Both phone records repeat the same ancestry, which is expected. The platform still writes each category only once:

The platform groups the categories by level instead of following the order of your records, which is what keeps every parent ahead of its subcategories.

Products do not need to sit at the same depth in the tree. Populate only the levels that each record needs and leave the remaining levels empty:

This mapping places galaxy-s under samsung, xiaomi under phones, and cables directly under electronics.

A product can belong to a category in the middle of the tree. Map that category to CategoryExternalId and its ancestors to the numbered attributes:

The platform declares phones once, in its position under electronics, and both products resolve to it. Its name and URL come from the CategoryLevel2Name and CategoryLevel2Url attributes. For a category that is both a parent and a product's own category, populate the numbered attributes rather than only the CategoryName and CategoryPageUrl attributes.

You do not need to convert your whole feed at once. When a record leaves all numbered attributes empty, that record stays flat, and both shapes can appear in the same feed:

This mapping gives galaxy-s its tree, makes services a category without a parent, and places insurance under services through the CategoryParentExternalId attribute.

If your Dataflow already produces a flat category mapping such as the following:

Keep all of these attributes as they are and map the ancestors alongside them:

No existing attribute changes its meaning, and no product reference breaks.

After a site run, the run log names the category source and the number of categories the platform added:

If the log still reports flat (CategoryExternalId), the CategoryLevel1Id attribute does not reach the export. Check the attribute name and its mapping in Dataflow.

The platform can also report the following warnings. Neither warning stops the site run: