Klevu has introduced a new feature for acquiring locks on categories to avoid over-writing edits when multiple KMC (Klevu Merchant Centre) users are merchandising the same categories simultaneously. You can now acquire locks for the categories that you wish to merchandise, which will in turn allow other KMC users from your team to see that those categories are already being merchandised.
This feature is included in any plan that has subscribed to the Smart Category Merchandising Add-On.
Overriding Locks
It is also possible to override locks from another user. During the category selection, you will see a lock icon alongside categories that have been locked. When you choose to merchandise these categories, which are already locked, you will be prompted for confirmation as per the image below:
In order to understand how lock overriding works, consider the following scenario:UserA locked three Categories (Cat1, Cat2, Cat3) at 9AM for merchandising. At 10AM, UserB saw that UserA had locked the above three categories, and decided to override & acquire locks for Cat1 and Cat3. In this case:
- If UserA had made any edits during merchandising for Cat1 and Cat3, then UserB will be asked if they would like to load the edits made by UserA.
- UserB then will acquire the locks for Cat1 and Cat3. UserA will now only have a lock for Cat2.
- When UserA tries to make edits on Cat1 and Cat3, after the locks were overridden, a warning will be shown that another user acquired the locks for Cat1 and Cat3, and that any edit made by UserA will not be saved or published.
- When UserA saves & publishes his edits, the system will show a warning that Cat1 and Cat3 are not going to be saved and will prompt if they wish to save the edits made for Cat2, since they still hold that lock.
Changes you can expect with the new locking feature
Acquiring locks prior to merchandising will have the following impact:
- In the Visual Merchandiser screen, within the category drop-down selection, you will now only be able to see the categories you have acquired locks for.
- If you wish to merchandise all categories, you may choose "Select All Categories" when prompted to acquire locks.
- If you wish to copy a certain rule from one category to other, you will now have acquire locks on both the source and destination categories.
- For campaigns, the campaign preview will now only display the categories for which you have acquired the locks.
- In Scheduled Campaigns, multiple users can now work on the same category but in different campaigns. This will allow for better campaign merchandising management amongst account users.
Additional benefits on acquiring locks on categories.
When you acquire locks on specific categories, there are some benefits & features that you can take advantage of.
- Other users are informed that you are currently merchandising specific categories.
- For any merchandising actions that you make after locking categories, but before you save & publish, the system will save a copy of your changes in a draft version. This means that you can acquire locks for a category at 9:00 AM, merchandise it, close your browser (without saving any changes), then come back at 11:00 AM and continue where you had left off.
- When you acquire a lock, the lock will remain intact for 24 Hours (or until you decide to publish or discard the category within that time). After 24 Hours, the lock will be automatically released by the system.
Category Locking FAQs
GENERAL
What happens when I acquire a lock?
- When you acquire a lock on a category, that category will be assigned to you for merchandising. Other users from your team will be able to see that you have acquired the lock on the category. When you merchandise the category, any changes will be saved as a draft as long as you have the lock acquired with you.
How many categories can I acquire a lock on?
- There is no upper limit on how many categories you can lock for merchandising.
How long do the locks stay in place?
- The locks on your categories will stay intact for 24 Hours, unless you have published or discarded the changes, in which case the locks will be released immediately.
Why do I see an email address while hovering over a lock?
- In case a user has not configured their First and Last name as part of their user details, then the system will show the user's email address instead.
I acquired locks on some categories, but later realised I want to lock additional categories, what do I do?
- If you wish to acquire additional locks on categories after you've already locked some categories, you can simply close the browser/tab and re-open Visual Merchandising. Upon returning to category selection, the system will pre-select the categories for which you have already own the locks. You can now select any additional categories to acquire additional locks.
My browser crashed while I was merchandising. Are my changes lost?
- No. Since you had acquired locks on the categories for merchandising, any changes you made will be saved as a draft version. This means that when you return back to VM, any categories that you acquired locks for will be pre-selected and you will be prompted if you wish to load the unpublished changes.
COPYING RULES
Why is the Copy Rule button greyed out?
- The copy rule button might be greyed out in case you have only acquired a lock on one category. In order to copy a rule from a source category to a destination category, please ensure to acquire locks on both the source and destination categories.
Why is 'Copy Rule to all Categories' not applying?
- When you copy a rule and select "All Categories", it implies that the rule will be copied to all categories that have only been locked by you. If you wish to copy a rule to all of the categories on your store, then during acquiring lock selection, please select "All Categories"
I'M A SINGLE USER
Why do I need to lock a category to merchandise it?
- If you are are a single user who uses visual merchandising frequently, you can still benefit from the draft functionality and may enjoy the flexibility of locking a few categories at a time to complete your work. If you prefer to merchandise all categories, please use the "Select All Categories" option when prompted to acquire locks.
SHOPIFY & BIGCOMMERCE
I am unable to see any locks acquired by my team. Why is that?
- The KMC currently treats BigCommerce & Shopify accounts as single KMC users even when accessed by different users. If you have multiple staff accounts in your Shopify or BigCommerce storefront who access Visual Merchandising, then the KMC will treat them as a single user.