How to manage relations and pros and cons
Product relations link a product to other products in your catalog: accessories, a more expensive alternative, a similar model. Pros and cons are the short bullet points that help a customer decide. Both are exported to your sales channels, and both can come from two places: your import source, or you.
Anything you configure yourself is owned by you and survives the next import. That is the whole point of this screen, and it works the same way for imported products and for products where StoreLinkr is the source.
Where to find them
Both are available on every product, no matter which source it came from.
- Imported products — go to Catalog > Products and open the product. The Relations and Pros and Cons blocks are on the product page.
- PIM products (source StoreLinkr) — open the product to enter the PIM editor. Pros and Cons is on the product page, Relations has its own tab.
Product relations
Click Add relation to open the form. Pick the type, search the product you want to link, select it from the results and save.
The search looks at name, EAN and SKU, and starts once you have typed at least four characters. You can only link products that are in your own catalog.
Relation types
| Type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Cross-sell | A product that goes well with this one |
| Up-sell | A better or more expensive alternative |
| Accessory | An add-on for this product |
| Similar to | A comparable model |
| Best alternative | The product to offer when this one is unavailable |
| Same size, lower performance | A cheaper option in the same size class |
Which types actually reach your webshop
Webshop platforms only know two kinds of related product, so StoreLinkr maps the six types onto those two. For WooCommerce and HikaShop:
| StoreLinkr type | Ends up as |
|---|---|
| Cross-sell | Cross-sells |
| Up-sell | Up-sells |
| Accessory | Up-sells |
| Similar to | Up-sells |
| Best alternative | Not exported |
| Same size, lower performance | Not exported |
The last two are there for your own use: filtering in the catalog, and feeds or a theme that reads the data itself. Marketplaces such as Bol and Kaufland do not use relations at all.
Pros and cons
Click Add pro or con, choose whether it is a pro or a con, type the text and save. A point is at most 500 characters.
On the product page in the PIM editor you can also edit an existing point with the pencil button. Pros and cons there are saved together with the product, so click Save Product when you are done.
In the exports the imported points come first, followed by the ones you added yourself. See Pros and Cons in WooCommerce for an example of how to show them on your website.
Where a line came from
Every relation and every pro or con shows its origin:
- Configured by you — you added it in StoreLinkr. An import never changes or removes it.
- Imported — it came from the import source and follows that source. If the source stops sending it, it disappears at the next import.
This column is the quick answer to "why did this come back?" or "why is this still here?". If a line says Imported, the source decides; if it says Configured by you, you decide.
What the next import does
| Configured by you | Imported | |
|---|---|---|
| Relations | Untouched | Replaced by whatever the source sends |
| Pros and cons | Kept, and placed after the imported ones | Replaced by whatever the source sends |
Removing entries works slightly differently per screen, because a PIM product has no source to fall back on:
- On an imported product, only the pros and cons you added yourself can be removed. Imported ones follow their source, so StoreLinkr refuses to delete them. Relations can always be removed, but an imported one comes back at the next import as long as the source keeps sending it.
- In the PIM editor, you can edit and remove every pro and con, including imported ones. A removal lasts until the source sends the point again. If you edit an imported point, it becomes a point of your own from that moment on, because the text no longer matches what the source delivered.
Want to get rid of an imported pro or con for good? Removing it only helps until the next import. Fix it at the source, or accept that it returns and let your own points do the work alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I link a product that is not in StoreLinkr? No. The search only returns products from your own catalog, because the export needs an identifier for the linked product on the target channel.
Do relations work between products from different sources? Yes. You can link a product imported from your supplier to a PIM product you created yourself.
I removed a pro and it came back. Why? It was an imported point, and the import source is still sending it. The origin column tells you which points are in that situation.
Do my relations survive when I re-import the whole catalog? Yes. Imports only touch relations marked Imported. Everything marked Configured by you stays as it is.