# Understanding and using Products

## 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:

<table><thead><tr><th>Field Name</th><th width="301">Description</th><th>Format</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Product ID</td><td>A Canoa defined unique identifier for the product</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Product Name</td><td>A human readable product name or description</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>SKU</td><td>Stock keeping unit, unique identifier</td><td>alphanumeric</td></tr><tr><td>Images</td><td>Stock or marketing image of the product</td><td>URL (copy image address)</td></tr><tr><td>Drawing</td><td>2D vector drawing (top-down view)</td><td>.dwg, .dxf, .3dm</td></tr><tr><td>Manufacturer</td><td>Name of the manufacturer</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Vendor</td><td>Name of the vendor</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Color</td><td>Color description</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Material</td><td>Materials used</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Description</td><td>Detailed description</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Quantity</td><td>The number of items available or required</td><td>integer</td></tr><tr><td>Size</td><td>Dimensions ("W x "D x "H)</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>List Price</td><td>Product's list price</td><td>currency</td></tr><tr><td>Discount</td><td>Discount rate</td><td>percent</td></tr><tr><td>Sell Price</td><td>Price after discount</td><td>currency</td></tr><tr><td>Net Price</td><td>Price after all discounts</td><td>currency</td></tr><tr><td>Markup</td><td>Markup rate</td><td>percent</td></tr><tr><td>Net Discount</td><td>Net discount rate</td><td>percent</td></tr><tr><td>Lead Time (Weeks)</td><td>Time required to deliver, including transit in weeks, (i.e. 12 Weeks)</td><td>integer</td></tr><tr><td>Finish</td><td>Product finish</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Fabric</td><td>Fabric details if applicable to the product</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Product URL</td><td>Link to the product's webpage</td><td>URL</td></tr><tr><td>Category</td><td>Canoa product category</td><td>string, single select</td></tr><tr><td>Subcategory</td><td>Canoa product subcategory</td><td>string, single select</td></tr><tr><td>Tags</td><td>Tags for classification (search-ability)</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Available Stock</td><td>Stock quantity</td><td>integer</td></tr><tr><td>Weight (lbs)</td><td>Weight of the assembled product</td><td>decimal</td></tr><tr><td>Condition</td><td>Product condition (e.g., New, Used)</td><td>single select</td></tr><tr><td>Warranty</td><td>Warranty details in years</td><td>integer</td></tr><tr><td>Certifications</td><td>Associated certifications</td><td>URL</td></tr><tr><td>Configuration</td><td>Configuration details</td><td>COM/COL</td></tr><tr><td>Embodied Carbon</td><td>Carbon footprint of the product</td><td>Decimal</td></tr><tr><td>Customized</td><td>Customization status (Yes, No)</td><td>single select</td></tr><tr><td>Alternate SKU</td><td>Alternate identifier</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Last Update</td><td>Timestamp of last update</td><td>string (ISO 8601 format)</td></tr><tr><td>Recycling Info</td><td>Recycling details</td><td>string</td></tr><tr><td>Attachments</td><td>Any additional information (i.e. Assembly Instructions)</td><td>URL</td></tr></tbody></table>

### 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.&#x20;

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.


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