Creating a globalized catalog

You can update a catalog to support displaying catalog entries, categories, and sales catalogs in multiple languages and prices in multiple currencies. By creating such a globalized catalog, you need to assign catalog entries to a category or manage language-insensitive properties only once to have the changes apply for all languages.

About this task

After you add support for multiple languages to a catalog, category, or catalog entry, shoppers that browse your store in a supported language view the descriptions that are defined for that language. HCL Commerce supports creating descriptive information for catalog objects in 13 languages by default.

Procedure

Add support for multiple languages and currencies to the store that owns the catalog that you want to make a globalized catalog. You must add support for a language or currency to the store before you can add the currency or language-specific descriptions to the catalog.

Note: If your site uses the extended site store model, you must add the support for a language or currency to the storefront asset store first. Then, you can add the language or currency support to each extended site store. When you use the Store Management tool to add support for a language to the asset store, that language is available for all extended site stores. Add support for a language to an extended site store only when all of the correct assets, such as properties files, are deployed to the store for that language.

If you need to price catalog entries differently within a store or between stores, such as within an extended sites store model, you can use price rules. For more information, see Price rules: An overview.

Open the Store Management tool.
In the explorer view filter, click Stores.
The Stores list view displays, containing a list of the stores that you are authorized to work with.
Right-click the store that you want to add support to and select Open to view the properties view for that store.
Click the Store Properties tab and expand the Store Profile section.
Optional: Add or remove languages or change the default language.
1. Above the Supported languages table, click to add a row to the table for another language.
2. From the list of available languages in this new row, click the language that you want to add to the store.
3. Click Save to save your changes.
  You can now update your master or sales catalog categories and catalog entries to include descriptions in the added languages.
Optional: Add or remove currencies or change the default currency.
1. Above the Supported currencies table, click to add a row to the table for another currency.
2. From the list of available currencies in this new row, click the currency that you want to add to the store.
3. Click Save to save your changes.
  You can now set list and offer prices in the added currency for catalog entries.
Update the properties for your catalog objects to include descriptions in the added languages.
1. Open the Catalogs tool.
2. From the explorer filter, select Master Catalog or Sales Catalog Categories.
3. Find the catalog object that you want to change.
4. Right-click the object and click Open. The properties view displays.
5. From the toolbar, click Select input language. The Select Input Language dialog displays.
  
  Note: If your store supports only one language, the Select input language icon is disabled.
6. Select the language that you want to use to input information for language-specific content (in addition to the default language) for the selected object.
  For example, to display both English (default) and French, select the French language.
7. Click OK.
  The properties view for the catalog object now displays all translatable fields for the selected input language and the default language for your store. Any field that is translatable displays the corresponding language within brackets next to the field label.
8. Add the language-specific descriptions for the catalog object and save your changes.
9. Repeat the process to display the translatable fields for any other language to add the descriptions for those languages.
Use the Catalogs tool to directly update the properties for your catalog entries to include prices for the added currencies.
You can also to use the Catalog Filter and Pricing tool or a loading utility to add price information for catalog entries for the added currencies.
1. In the Catalogs tool, find a catalog entry that you want to change.
2. Right-click the object and click Open. The properties view displays.
3. Expand the Pricing section. The List price and Offer price for the SKU displays and now includes the updated list of currencies for the store.
4. Enter the list price and offer price for the catalog entry for any new currency and save your changes.
5. Repeat the process to add the price information for any other catalog entry that needs to display prices in the added currencies.