CONNECTED BUSINESS OPERATIONS
A product catalog with one clear commercial identity
Organise product names, descriptions and categories separately from the variants customers can actually select.
One product identity, several sellable choices
Describe the product once and distinguish its commercial variants.
Equipment for a practical session
A clear responsibility in your daily work
A product often appears in a sales conversation, a quotation and a public page. If every team writes a separate description, customers receive different explanations. Tsumira keeps the descriptive product record together and distinguishes it from the price and quantity rules of each sellable variant.
Describe the product before its price
Record the product name and description, assign its category and prepare the public-facing explanation. Japanese content and optional English content belong to the product identity. Decide what the customer needs to understand before adding a list of sizes or prices. A clear description also makes an internal catalog selection less ambiguous. Keep the product's descriptive identity separate from its sellable variants. The product record holds the category, names, descriptions and public presentation; variants carry SKU, whole-JPY price, tax class, unit and quantity rules. This distinction helps colleagues understand which part of an offer they are changing.
- Maintain one descriptive record for the product.
Keep variant choices explicit
A product can have distinct sellable variants rather than one loosely interpreted price. Check that the correct variant is active and carries the intended SKU, unit, tax class and quantity limits. Descriptive edits and changes to commercial conditions deserve different review because colleagues may already be discussing an existing offer. Draft, review and published states govern the catalog's public content. A website integration uses the module's public projection rather than exposing the complete internal record. Preview the actual public result and check the relevant language before making a commercial announcement or directing customers to a page.
- Review product identity and variant conditions separately.
From the product to the actual selection
The descriptive record supplies context; select a variant separately.
Practical materials for the session
Check the actual destination
An internal catalog record and a published page serve different readers. Review the relevant publication state and preview the customer-facing explanation. If a connected quotation selects catalog information, verify that the selected variant and amount match the commercial agreement; never assume an old document changes when a catalog entry is edited. Catalog information can supply enabled connected modules, including quotation selection. That connection does not by itself establish a checkout, warehouse or shipping workflow. Agree who owns price changes and variant availability, then test a representative selection wherever the catalog is used.
- Test the catalog where colleagues and customers use it.
A concrete workflow
Prepare the context
Create a descriptive product record with a category and the language your customers need. Assign an owner for later changes.
Review the decision
Add a representative sellable variant, then review its unit, whole-JPY amount and availability before colleagues use it.
Check the result
Inspect the enabled quotation selection and any published presentation using the same example, checking the visible wording rather than only the editor.
An illustrative working example
Illustrative working example
A workshop sells a standard training kit and two refill sizes. The kit description explains its purpose, while each refill has its own variant conditions. Sales reviews the appropriate selection for a quotation; the website editor separately checks the published explanation. This is a working example, not a claim about a customer.
Questions about this topic
Is a product the same as a variant?
No. The product describes the offering; variants carry the sellable conditions, including SKU, amount and quantity rules.
Can we maintain English descriptions?
The schema supports optional English alongside Japanese content. Review the actual language coverage before publishing.
Does the catalog provide online checkout?
Catalog and public projections do not establish checkout, payment collection or shipping. Assess those workflows separately.
Will a catalog edit rewrite issued quotations?
Do not assume this. Inspect the document snapshot and use the appropriate reviewed revision process for an existing commercial document.
Explore connections around this workflow.
Ideas for intended connections. Check the actual availability, permissions and supported data for each app before using a scenario.
WooCommerce
Workflow concept: Review which descriptive product fields belong to the authoritative catalog.
Google Drive
Workflow concept: Review the preparation step before using an external source: Create a descriptive product record with a category and the language your customers need. Assign an owner for later changes.
Slack
Workflow concept: Check the actual destination before sharing this result: Add a representative sellable variant, then review its unit, whole-JPY amount and availability before colleagues use it.