NotifyVisitors offers an essential functionality to generate personalized product recommendations by means of syncing custom catalogs so as to enable brands to dispatch relevant campaigns to their customers.

In other words, product catalogs synced within the software's database can be used to create 'Product Feed(s)' which in turn can be utilized to populate campaigns with specifically those products in which customers expressed purchase interest. 

Dispatching such bespoke campaigns, tailored specifically to showcase relevant products, significantly enhances both engagement as well as the conversion rate.

Procedure to sync a custom catalog

Follow the undermentioned step by step procedure to sync a custom product catalog:

1. Navigate to the Dashboard > Brand Assets > Catalogs.

2. Click on the button titled 'Create Custom Catalog'.
3. Upon doing so, a new frame (having the same title as the button you clicked on) will appear on-screen wherein you will have to specify certain details of your 'catalog's source' such as its name, URL, access credentials i.e., username and password, if required.

4. Click on the button titled 'Next', once you have entered the details.
5. Upon doing so, a module named 'Manage Field Mapping' will appear (as illustrated) wherein you will have to map the attributes (that hold information pertaining to the products present in the catalog) existing in the XML/JSON file with the ones recognized and/or not recognized by the software.

The 'Manage Field Mapping' module has four columns namely:

• Field: All the attributes present within the XML/JSON file will get listed in this column.
• Data Type: This particular column contains a drop-down for each attribute listed in the 'Field' column. Through these drop-downs you can select the correct 'data type' for the corresponding attribute.
• Attributes: This column too holds a drop-down for each attribute listed in the 'Field' column. The dropdowns within this column list all the attributes recognized by the software and also the ones not recognized by the software, but present in the XML/JSON file, so that you may accurately map the right attributes with the ones listed in the 'Field' column.
• Required: This column contains a toggle switch for each attribute listed in the 'Field' column.

Map the attributes listed in the 'Field' column with their respective equivalents available in the drop-down(s) present in the 'Attributes' column. Then, click on the button titled 'Save Mapping'.

6. Upon doing so, the new catalog will get created within the software and its syncing will commence.

That is to say, while syncing is underway, the catalog will get listed in the 'Catalogs' section of the software and it will display the catalog’s sync status as 'In Progress'.

In case the catalog gets synced successfully, then the software will automatically update its sync status from 'In Progress' to 'Completed'. If the catalog fails to sync, then the software will reflect the sync status as 'Error'.

7. Once you have addressed the reason for the error i.e., rectified the catalog's details and attribute mapping, simply click on the button titled 'Resync' so as to resync the catalog.

Upon clicking on the aforementioned button, the software will display a pop-up prompting you to confirm your decision. Click on the button titled 'Confirm'.

Options available for a product catalog

Once you have created a catalog within the software, you will be provided with certain options or functionalities to view its contents, edit or reconfigure it, delete it etc. In this specific section we will delineate various options available to access and manipulate the added catalogs.

Once added, a catalog gets listed in the 'Catalogs' section of the software, as depicted in the screenshot provided below and all the information pertaining to it gets partitioned under four columns namely, 'Catalog ID', 'Catalog Status', 'Recommendation Status', 'Created At' and 'Options'.

It is in the last column titled 'Options' that for each catalog, there exists a button through which certain additional functionalities to manipulate the catalog can be accessed. Once you click on that three-dotted button, a drop-down listing the undermentioned 'four' options will appear on screen.

1. View Items: Via this particular option you can view the products contained within the synced catalog.

Once you click on this option, a product page will appear on screen listing all the items present within the catalog which in turn can be filtered based on certain categories such as new arrivals, in vogue etc. and based on their current status i.e., 'Active' or 'Inactive'.

You can even click on individual items to gain access to much more granular information pertaining to them. As illustrated, click on the 'back button' to return back to the catalog page.

2. Map Event: This crucial option enables you to manually map three 'system events', recognized by the software, namely 'Product View', 'Add to Cart' and 'Order Place', having 'Product ID' as their system attribute, with the three corresponding 'custom events' along with the equivalent product ID attribute, recognized by the source (i.e., online store, website, API etc.) from where the catalog is being synced.

It is imperative to map the three 'system events' with the appropriate 'custom events' right after creating a new custom catalog in order to enable the software to properly sync it and thereby successfully generate product recommendations.

Once you click on the 'Map Event' option, a pop-up will appear on screen via which you can, by means of a few dropdowns (check the illustration provided below), map the three 'system events' with the corresponding 'custom events' along with the analogous product ID/item ID attribute. Once you have mapped the events simply click on the 'Save' button present within the same pop-up.

In case you map the same 'custom event' against any two or all the three 'system events' and click on the 'Save' button, then the software will display an error message titled 'Duplicate event name selected'.

Meaning, since any two or all the three 'custom events' can not be identical, the software will display the aforementioned error message and you will have to map the correct 'custom event' for each 'system event'.

3. Edit: This specific option enables you to modify the details as well as the attribute mapping of a previously saved catalog. You may intend to edit the catalog for various reasons such as syncing additional product related information, rectifying the cause of errors if the catalog fails to sync, updating catalog's details such as its name, its source URL etc.

Once you click on this option, a new frame titled 'Edit Custom Catalog' i.e, the renamed version of the 'Create Custom Catalog' frame will appear on-screen. Once you have rectified and/or updated the catalog's details and its attribute mapping, simply click on the button titled 'Resync' so as to resync the catalog.

Upon clicking on the aforementioned button, the software will display a pop-up prompting you to confirm your decision. Click on the button titled 'Confirm'.

4. Delete: This option enables you to delete a saved catalog.

Once you click on this option, a pop-up will appear prompting you to confirm your decision. If you click on the 'Confirm' button present within the pop-up then the catalog will get permanently deleted from your NotifyVisitors account’s database.

This is how you can synchronize a custom catalog in NotifyVisitors and thereby generate personalized product recommendations i.e., populate campaigns with relevant products via Product Feed(s), to better engage both current and potential customers and as a result substantially enhance the conversion rate.