Product Attributes

What are attributes?

Attributes in Xada are distinct from standard custom fields. While they are technically stored as fields, attributes are standardised data points supplied via Promodata and shared across all supported suppliers. Attributes are designed to support filtering, comparison and category navigation. Understanding the difference between attributes and custom fields is essential to maintaining a clean and standardised storefront experience.

Attributes Versus Custom Fields

Attributes:

• Are standardised and consistent across suppliers
• Are used for storefront filtering and discovery
• Represent common product characteristics

Custom fields:

• Support supplier-specific or business-specific data
• Manually created to enhance product data or used for logic and integrations

When to use an Attribute vs Custom Field

Use an attribute when the data:

• Is shared across multiple suppliers
• Needs to be filterable by customers
• Represents a standard product characteristic

Use a custom field when the data:

• Is supplier-specific or business-specific
• Drives logic rather than discovery

Activating/Deactivating Attributes

Attributes provided via Promodata are typically available by default. Activation involves ensuring they are enabled within your catalogue and correctly mapped during supplier imports.

To deactivate an attribute, you can do so manually by changing the status from active to inactive in the product edit page. You can deactivate attributes in bulk using a Rule with the action: Deactivate Attribute. This is essentially the same process as deactivating a custom field with Rules:

Article: Deactivate Custom Fields

Best Practice

Filtering should remain attribute-driven. Avoid recreating attribute data as custom fields, as this leads to filter bloat and inconsistent customer experiences.