Products: Manual and Smart Collections

What Are Manual and Smart Collections?

Manual and Smart Collections are two powerful ways to organize products in your CRM's store. A Manual Collection allows you to personally select and arrange products, while a Smart Collection uses predefined rules to automatically group products that meet specific criteria. Both methods help streamline your catalog, reduce repetitive updates, and maintain a well-structured storefront.

Key Benefits of Manual and Smart Collections

Using collections enhances your store management and improves product presentation:

• Flexible organization: Choose between hand-picked or rule-based collections.
• Automated updates: Smart Collections refresh automatically when product details change.
• Product overlap: Products can appear in multiple collections simultaneously.
• Improved SEO: Add SEO titles and descriptions to boost visibility.
• Faster merchandising: Reuse collections across store pages, emails, and workflows.

Manual Collections

Manual Collections are custom lists of products that you select individually. They are ideal for seasonal promotions, themed displays, or any situation where you want full control over which products are included.

Key details:

• You can add or remove products at any time.
• Items can be reordered manually using drag-and-drop.
• Best suited for fixed sets or specific campaigns.

Smart Collections

Smart Collections automatically include products based on saved conditions, making them perfect for dynamic categories like low-priced items or in-stock products.

Key details:

• Conditions can be based on product title, variant title, price, or inventory.
• A product qualifies if any variant or price row matches the rule.
• Invalid or conflicting conditions (such as “Price greater than 100 and less than 50”) are blocked when saving.
• Smart Collections update automatically in the background within minutes.
• Manual edits are disabled to maintain rule accuracy.

Collection Rules and Operators

Smart Collections rely on rule operators to determine product inclusion. Valid rules ensure accurate results and prevent errors.

Supported operators:

• Equals
• Not equals
• Greater than / Less than
• Contains / Does not contain

Multiple conditions can be combined using AND or OR logic for more precise control.

Permanent Collection Type

Once a collection is created, its type—Manual or Smart—cannot be changed. If you need to switch types, create a new collection and replace the old one in your pages or workflows.

Configuring Manual and Smart Collections

Proper setup ensures products appear as intended:

1. Navigate to Payments → Products → Collections.
2. Click Create Collection.
3. Enter a name, optional image, and SEO details.
4. Select a collection type:
   • Manual: Search for and select products manually.
   • Smart: Define one or more rules (e.g., Price less than $50). Choose whether to apply All or Any conditions.
5. Click Save. Smart Collections will process and update automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I switch a Manual Collection to Smart (or vice versa)?

No. The collection type is permanent once created.

What happens if no products match a Smart Collection rule?

The collection remains empty until a product meets the conditions.

Can products belong to multiple collections?

Yes. A product can appear in multiple collections based on selection or rule matching.

Can I manually remove a product from a Smart Collection?

No. Smart Collections manage inclusion automatically based on rules.

How often do Smart Collections update?

Updates occur in the background and complete within a few minutes.

Where can I display collections?

Collections can be used in Store Pages, Email Templates, and Workflows for filtering or automation.