Understanding and using Products

This article will help you organize and manage product data efficiently, ensuring consistency and completeness for working with Canoa and uploading your data onto the platform.

What is a product?

A product in Canoa represents an item that can be used in your interior design projects. This could be furniture, decor, or any other element you want to include in your designs. Each product in your Catalog contains essential details such as name, description, manufacturer, and specifications that help in identifying and utilizing it effectively.

A product in Canoa goes a bit further than a traditional PDF spec. On Canoa, products contain marketing images, CAD files, commercial data, certifications and more. A product here is logical entity that represents a particular product in the real world.

Why are products important?

Products are important because they are the building blocks for everything we do on Canoa. Any design made on Canoa is a combination of products put together with a particular objective in mind. Products drive the recommendation engine, your ability to schedule designs and your catalog.

Canoa Product Schema

The Canoa product schema, or data model, is a structured format for organizing product data to ensure consistency and completeness to be ready for uploading to Canoa. It includes various key fields listed below with descriptions and the necessary format required.

Here are the supported fields in a product on Canoa:

Field Name	Description	Format
Product ID	A Canoa defined unique identifier for the product	string
Product Name	A human readable product name or description	string
SKU	Stock keeping unit, unique identifier	alphanumeric
Images	Stock or marketing image of the product	URL (copy image address)
Drawing	2D vector drawing (top-down view)	.dwg, .dxf, .3dm
Manufacturer	Name of the manufacturer	string
Vendor	Name of the vendor	string
Color	Color description	string
Material	Materials used	string
Description	Detailed description	string
Quantity	The number of items available or required	integer
Size	Dimensions ("W x "D x "H)	string
List Price	Product's list price	currency
Discount	Discount rate	percent
Sell Price	Price after discount	currency
Net Price	Price after all discounts	currency
Markup	Markup rate	percent
Net Discount	Net discount rate	percent
Lead Time (Weeks)	Time required to deliver, including transit in weeks, (i.e. 12 Weeks)	integer
Finish	Product finish	string
Fabric	Fabric details if applicable to the product	string
Product URL	Link to the product's webpage	URL
Category	Canoa product category	string, single select
Subcategory	Canoa product subcategory	string, single select
Tags	Tags for classification (search-ability)	string
Available Stock	Stock quantity	integer
Weight (lbs)	Weight of the assembled product	decimal
Condition	Product condition (e.g., New, Used)	single select
Warranty	Warranty details in years	integer
Certifications	Associated certifications	URL
Configuration	Configuration details	COM/COL
Embodied Carbon	Carbon footprint of the product	Decimal
Customized	Customization status (Yes, No)	single select
Alternate SKU	Alternate identifier	string
Last Update	Timestamp of last update	string (ISO 8601 format)
Recycling Info	Recycling details	string
Attachments	Any additional information (i.e. Assembly Instructions)	URL

Example of the Canoa Schema in CSV Format

Here’s an example of how data might look in a CSV file following the Canoa framework outlined above:

Quantity,Product,Manufacturer,Size,Color,Lead Time (Weeks),SKU,Vendor,List Price,Discount,Sell Price,Product URL,Material,Net Price,Markup,Net Discount,Available Stock,Condition,Finish,Warranty,Alternate SKU,Category,Subcategory,Tags,Certifications,Configuration,Customized,Description,Embodied Carbon,Last Update,Recycling Info,Fabric,Areas,Projects
7,001 Dining Chair,Vaarnii,"16.1""W x 18.9""D x 31.5""H",Pine,12.0,200100,Small Office,730.00,0.45,401.50,https://example.com/product/001-dining-chair,Pine,401.50,0.06,0.417,0,New,,24 months on manufacturing defects,,Seating,Side Chairs,Beige,Brown,Wood,,,30.30,2023-06-26T20:47:49.181667,,,,

Usage in CanoaGPT

CanoaGPT can assist with verifying data, correcting formatting issues, optimizing data for better organization, and converting files to the required formats. When using CanoaGPT, this model helps ensure that your data is correctly formatted and complete, ready for uploading to Canoa.

To learn how to use the CanoaGPT model on Open AI's ChatGPT, read onto the next article for a step-by-step guide. Have your CSV file ready to go.