Product Groups and Sub Groups are organizational tools that help you categorize and analyze your inventory's performance. Think of them as a two-level classification system that allows you to group related products together for better reporting and analysis.
Product Groups (Parent Groups) are the main categories for your products. Examples include Furniture, Electronics, or Clothing.
Product Sub-Groups are more specific categories within a parent group. For instance, under a Furniture product group, you might have sub-groups like Bedroom, Dining Room, Home Office, Living Room, and Outdoor.
This hierarchical structure enables you to report on product performance at both broad and detailed levels, giving you valuable insights into which product categories drive your business success.
Key points to note
Before setting up your product groups, it's important to understand these essential rules:
Parent Group names must be unique.
Sub-group names must be unique within each parent group, but can be reused across different parent groups.
You cannot convert existing Product Groups into Sub-groups.
Products can only have a Subgroup if they also have the corresponding Parent Group assigned.
Product Groups and Sub-groups cannot be deleted if they're assigned to any products, including obsolete ones.
Tutorial Video
Product Sub-groups
Manage Product Groups
Setting up Product Groups is a straightforward process that can dramatically improve your inventory organization and reporting capabilities.
Add Product Groups
You can create Product Groups individually through the user interface for precise control, or use bulk import methods when you need to set up many groups and product assignments quickly.
Parent Product Groups
By default, Product Groups created without a Parent Group assigned at the point of creation will themselves be classified as a Parent Product Group. To create a Parent Group:
From the main menu, go to Settings > System > Product Groups.
In the "Product Group Name" field, enter the new parent group's name.
Leave the "Parent Group" drop-down menu blank.
Optionally, select an Attribute Set that will automatically apply to products the Parent Group is assigned to using the "Default Attribute Set" drop-down menu.
Click Add.
When added, Parent Groups will be listed in bold in the Product Groups page.
New Parent Groups can also be created when they are included during the import of a Products CSV template. Any Product Group name in the Products template's "Product Group" column that does not match an existing Parent Group's name will be added.
Product Sub-groups
Product Sub-groups can only be created when a parent group is selected at the point of creation. To create a sub-group:
From the main menu, go to Settings > System > Product Groups.
In the "Product Group Name" field, enter the new sub-group's name.
In the Parent Group drop-down menu, select the Parent Group the sub-group will be a part of.
Click Add.
When added, Product sub-groups will be listed below their bold-named Parent Group in the Product Groups page.
New Product sub-groups can also be created when they are included during the import of a Products CSV template. Any Product sub-group name in the Products template's "Product Sub Group" column that does not match an existing Product sub-group's name will be added, provided a Parent Group has been entered in the "Product Group" column too.
📌 Note: Default Attribute Sets are not supported in Product sub-groups.
Edit Product Groups
Product Groups can be edited as your business needs change. To update a Product Group's name:
From the main menu, go to Settings > System > Product Groups.
Click on the Product Group's Group Name.
Update as required.
Click away from the Group Name field.
To update a Parent Group's Default Attribute Set:
From the main menu, go to Settings > System > Product Groups.
Click on the Parent Group's Default Attribute Set.
Use the drop-down menu to select a new Attribute Set.
Click away from the Default Attribute Set field.
Any changes to a Product Group's name or Attribute Set will immediately apply to all products using that group and will update historical transaction data for reporting purposes.
Delete Product Groups
If a Parent Group or Sub-group has not been used and is not assigned to a product, including obsoleted products, it can be deleted.
To delete a Product Group:
From the main menu, go to Settings > System > Product Groups.
Click on the bin icon in the Product Group's row.
Using Product Groups
Once you've established your Product Group structure, the next step is assigning these groups to your actual products. This is where your organizational framework comes to life and starts providing real business value. When you assign Product Groups and Sub-groups to products, every transaction involving those products automatically inherits the group classifications, enabling powerful reporting and analysis capabilities. If your business requires additional product categorization, consider using the Product Brands. This can serve as a pseudo-third hierarchical layer, allowing you to organize complex product structures more effectively.
The assignment process is flexible; you can work with individual products for precise control or update multiple products simultaneously for efficiency. Remember that sub-groups can only be assigned when the corresponding Parent Group is also selected, ensuring your hierarchy remains intact.
To assign Product Groups to a product:
Open the product's record.
In the Details tab, use the Product Group drop-down menu to assign a Parent Group.
Use the Product Sub Group drop-down menu to assign a sub-group when applicable.
Click Save.
Use the Import Products template to update Product Group assignments in bulk, following the same process described in the creation sections above.
Reporting with Product Groups
Once Product Groups are assigned to products, they become available as filters across various reports and views, enhancing your ability to analyze performance by brand category.
The following reports and pages can be filtered by Parent and Sub-group:
If you have access to BI Vision, you can filter and drill down into sales, inventory and purchasing data by Parent Group and Subgroup levels too.