Creating a Hierarchy Level

Levels provide a a useful way to categorize hierarchy nodes and determine the relationships between items. Each hierarchy level divides the merchandise into progressively smaller product classifications. You create levels that match the hierarchy of your enterprise, with complete control over the number of levels you create and how they are named. Note that level names must be unique and cannot be repeated in the same hierarchy.

Levels represent the higher level structure of your enterprise and should not vary much after they have been defined. However, nodes represent the more variable aspects of your enterprise such as product lines.

You should prefix level names with [MH] to indicate that this level is part of a merchandise hierarchy. This is useful when creating workbooks or custom reports and searches for use with Merchandise Hierarchy as it allows you to quickly identify the relevant internal internal custom fields. For more information, see the Using Merchandise Hierarchy to Analyze Sales and Item Performance and Creating Saved Searches Based on a Merchandise Hierarchy.

Merchandise hierarchy levels are ranked. The lowest ranked level (rank 1) represents the top level of your hierarchy and contains the root node of the hierarchy. In our example, the level named [MH] Company at the top of the hierarchy is rank 1 and contains the root node which is named NORSO.

Tip:

When creating levels, it is good practice to start with the level that will be ranked 1 — the level at the top of the hierarchy — and proceed creating levels sequentially. By doing so, the levels are automatically ranked sequentially as you create them and you can leave the Insert before field blank.

To create a hierarchy level:

Go to Setup > Merchandise Hierarchy > Hierarchy Manager (Administrator).
From the Version list select the hierarchy version you want to add the level to.
Click Create Level.
Enter a unique name and description for this hierarchy level. Note, you cannot enter a name that is already used in the same hierarchy version.

Tip:
You should prefix level names with [MH] to indicate that this level is part of a merchandise hierarchy. This makes it easy to identify custom merchandise hierarchy fields when creating workbooks or custom reports and searches.
To add the new level at the bottom of the hierarchy (highest rank) leave the Insert Before field blank. The rank is automatically assigned. Note, you cannot have more than one level assigned to the same rank.

To manually set the level rank, select an existing level in the hierarchy from the Insert Before list. This new level will be placed higher in the hierarchy than the level selected in the list, which means it will have a lower rank.
Click Save.

Note:

If you have multiple hierarchy versions in your system, you can assign a level to as many hierarchy versions as required. For more information, see Editing Hierarchy Versions.

Editing Hierarchy Levels

You can edit a hierarchy level to change its name in the merchandise hierarchy. You can also change a hierarchy level’s rank, but only if no nodes have been assigned to it.

To edit a hierarchy level:

Go to Setup > Merchandise Hierarchy > Hierarchy Levels (Administrator).
In the Merchandise Hierarchy Levels list click Edit for the hierarchy level you want to edit.
1. To edit the name, enter the new name in the Name field.
2. To change the rank, select a new level in the Insert Before list. The rank is automatically updated.
Click Save.

Deleting Hierarchy Levels

You cannot delete hierarchy levels that are assigned to a hierarchy version.

To delete a hierarchy level:

Go to Setup > Merchandise Hierarchy > Hierarchy Levels (Administrator).
In the Merchandise Hierarchy Levels list click Edit for the hierarchy level you want to delete.
From the Actions list select Delete.