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Family Attribute Model

The Family Attribute Model defines how product data is structured inside SKULaunch. It determines which attributes apply to which products, how attributes are grouped, and how data is inherited across a taxonomy.

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Written by SKULaunch Support
Updated over 4 months ago

The Family Attribute Model defines how product data is structured inside SKULaunch. It determines which attributes apply to which products, how attributes are grouped, and how data is inherited across a taxonomy. This model is the foundation for enrichment, supplier onboarding and data quality scoring.

This article explains the core concepts behind the model.

Families

A family is a logical group of products that share the same attributes.
Examples:

  • Dog Food

  • Power Drills

  • Terminal Blocks

  • Timber

  • Safety Gloves

Families ensure every product within the group follows the same schema.
A family contains:

  • A set of assigned attributes

  • Attribute groups (Core Classification, Characteristics etc)

  • Attribute types (text, number, dimension, select etc)

  • LoVs where relevant

A product can belong to one family at a time, and inherits its allowed attributes from that family.

Taxonomy and hierarchy

Families live nested within a taxonomy, which describes your product structure.
A taxonomy can be:

  • One level deep (simple)

  • Multi-level with parent and child nodes

Example:

Pet Food    
• Dog Food    
• Cat Food    
• Bird Feed

Each node in the tree can act as a family, depending on whether attributes are assigned to it.

This structure allows you to align products logically and simplifies mapping to other systems such as PIMs, eCommerce or ETIM.

Attribute inheritance

Inheritance ensures attributes assigned at a higher level of the taxonomy flow down to all children below it.

Example:

Assign this at Pet Food:

  • Brand

  • Pack Quantity

  • Country of Origin

Then Dog Food, Cat Food and Bird Feed automatically inherit them.

If Dog Food adds extra attributes (for example Life Stage or Food Format), those belong only to that family.

Rules of inheritance

  • Attributes applied to a parent node appear in all child nodes

  • Child nodes may add additional attributes

  • Child nodes can remove inherited attributes

  • The final schema for any product is the sum of
    ​(inherited attributes + family-specific attributes)

This model reduces duplication and ensures consistency across related families.

Shared vs family-specific attributes

The Family Attribute Model supports two attribute types:

Shared attributes

Used across many families and typically inherited from higher taxonomy levels.

Examples:

  • Brand

  • Product Name

  • Country of Origin

  • Pack Quantity

Shared attributes give you cross-category standardisation and simplify enrichment.

Family-specific attributes

Relevant only to a single family or sub-family.

Examples:

  • Flavour (Cat Food)

  • Voltage (Power Tools)

  • Wood Species (Timber)

  • Terminal Size (Terminal Blocks)

These attributes remain local to their family and do not appear elsewhere in the taxonomy.

Attribute groups

Every family can organise its attributes into groups:

  • Core Classification

  • Product Characteristics

  • Technical Specifications

  • Ingredients / Nutrition

  • Packaging Details

Groups help users navigate complex schemas and improve supplier submission experiences.

Groups do not affect inheritance, but they determine how attributes are visually organised in the product editor.

How the model affects enrichment

The attribute model directly drives AI behaviour:

  • AI only extracts values for attributes that exist in the product’s family

  • Attribute types (text, simpleselect, number, dimension) control how values are interpreted

  • LoVs guide normalisation and reduce ambiguity

  • Inherited attributes are treated the same as family-specific ones during extraction

This ensures the enrichment process always fills the correct fields with the correct data types.

How the model affects supplier onboarding

For suppliers:

  • Only the attributes assigned to that family are shown

  • Inherited attributes appear automatically without extra configuration

  • Family-specific attributes help suppliers stay focused on the exact data they must provide

  • Mandatory fields inherited from parents remain mandatory at the child level

This creates a consistent and predictable submission flow.

How the model affects governance

The Family Attribute Model underpins data governance rules:

  • Completeness scoring is based on the family schema

  • Mandatory attributes must be filled for products in that family

  • Changes made at parent node level instantly affect all child families

  • Schema updates propagate without re-assigning attributes manually

This gives you control and consistency across large, complex catalogs.

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