Product Hierarchy

TPM includes these default product levels from highest to lowest.

1. Category
2. Subcategory
3. Brand
4. Flavor
5. Package
6. Product

You can include intermediate levels such as sub-category, if necessary. However, keep these constraints in mind:

• A hierarchy can have up to 10 levels.
• You can add product hierarchy levels above Category, but they won't be used in Trade Promotion Management (TPM). TPM’s workflows and processes ignore those higher levels.
• If you rename a level, don’t change the level’s API name because the system uses the API level name for various functions.
• A product hierarchy must have at least two levels.
• All branches of the hierarchy must have an equal number of levels. If a category has two sub-categories and one of the sub-categories has a brand, define a brand for the other sub-category. For example, if sub-category 1 (Soft Drinks) has a brand level defined (Empower Cola), then sub-category 2 (Juices) must also have a brand level defined (Mango Splash). This ensures that both sub-categories are consistent in their hierarchical structure.

Example This example shows a product hierarchy for the Snacks category, and focuses on Trail Mix products under the Happy Trails brand. The Happy Trails brand, further focuses on the Fruit & Nut variety. The package level details the packaging options available for the sub-brand, including different sizes, such as 8 ounces and 16 ounces.

• Category: Snacks
  • Sub-Category: Trail Mix
    • Brand: Happy Trails
      • Sub-Brand: Happy Trails Fruit & Nut
        • Package: 8 ounces
          • Product: Happy Trails F&N (8 ounces)
        • Package: 16 ounces
          • Product: Happy Trails F&N (16 ounces)

• Considerations for Product Hierarchy
  Before you make changes to the product hierarchy, consider the associated business processes for each hierarchy level.
• Create a Product Hierarchy
  Create a hierarchy to organize your product offerings.