WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress that adds e-commerce functionality to your WordPress website so that you can have an online store. You can connect your WooCommerce store and export your catalog data from PCC to WooCommerce platform after the connection is established between PCC and WooCommerce.
The PCC WooCommerce connector enables you to connect PCC with your WooCommerce store and transfer data between these applications seamlessly.
Click the View Details
icon to view the details and features of the connector and the following is displayed.
Figure 208: WooCommerce connector description.
Configuring the Connector
You need to configure the connector and add the tokens and keys for setting up the stores. Once the stores are configured, the attributes present in the WooCommerce store can be mapped with the attributes in the PCC catalog as explained here.
NOTE | You can add multiple stores for a WooCommerce connector if a customer has multiple stores configured for different vendors in the WooCommerce platform. |
The first step is to generate the keys and the token and use them to configure a WooCommerce store. A detailed description about the same is explained in the Appendix section Generating Token and Keys to Configure WooCommerce Store.
To add a new WooCommerce store configuration:
Go to the PCC Platform Connectors screen and click the Set Configurations
icon available for WooCommerce as shown below.
OR
Click Configure Woo Commerce Connector as shown in Figure 208: WooCommerce connector
The following screen appears.
Figure 209: PCC WooCommerce Connector screen
By default, the Setup Credentials tab is selected.
Click Add New Store Configuration and the following dialog box appears to add the store details.
Type the Store Name, that is, the name of the WooCommerce store which contains the product attributes to be mapped. For example, Test store.
Type the Store URL, that is, the URL of the WooCommerce store (in this case Test store) to be configured. For example, http://11.20.111.100:10000/
Copy-paste the Consumer Key and Consumer Secret generated as shown in Figure 372: Keys Generated in the respective fields as explained in the Appendix section A.8 Generating Token and Keys to Configure WooCommerce Store.
The
icon next to each field provides details on what data must be added.
NOTE | All fields are mandatory. |
Once all the values are entered, click the Check connection with entered values
icon next to the Store Name to check whether the consumer keys entered as well as the store URL is valid.
If the details are not valid, an error is displayed as follows.
Make the necessary changes and ensure that the connection is valid. If the connection is valid, the following message is displayed.
Click Add Store and the store is added successfully and is visible in the list on the PCC Woo Commerce Connector page as shown below.
The following table lists the various fields along with its description that are visible on the Setup Credentials screen.
Fields | Description |
|---|---|
Actions | Displays the icons of the various actions that can be performed:
|
Store Name | Displays the name of the store added while configuring a store |
Created By | Displays the name of the user who configured the store |
Created On | Displays the date when the store was configured |
Updated By | Displays the name of the user who made any changes to the store |
Updated On | Displays the date when any modifications / changes were made to the store |
- To edit the store configuration details
- To delete the store configuration details
- To setup attribute mapping details You can sort / filter the data in the columns in ascending or descending order as needed. By default, the latest store created is displayed first based on the date when it was created in descending order.
Editing the Store Configuration
Sometimes, the connectors might have some updates (a new feature / version update) which might result in changes in the keys / tokens of the stores configured. You can edit the details configured in case of any such changes.
To edit the store configured:
In the Actions column, click the Edit Store Configuration
icon next to the store to be edited. The following screen appears.
Make the changes as needed and click Edit Store. The details are updated successfully.
Deleting the Store Configuration
You can also delete the store configured if the store is no longer required for mapping the attribute details.
To delete the store configured:
In the Actions column, click the Delete Store Configuration
icon next to the store to be deleted. The following screen appears.
Details about the store to be deleted are displayed.
Click Delete Store and the store is deleted successfully.
Attribute Mapping between WooCommerce and PCC
Customers using the WooCommerce platform will have stores configured depending on their vendors. These stores will have product attributes based on the requirements of the vendor. In PCC, the customer will curate their data and then the data can be pushed to WooCommerce. However, it is possible that the attributes used in WooCommerce stores will be different from the ones used in PCC but have similar properties. For example, let us say a customer has a WooCommerce store named Apparels dealing with clothing accessories. For a product such as a shirt, it contains attributes such as Color and Material. In PCC, the customer has a catalog curated for its clothing accessories and here the attributes present for the same product shirt are Fabric Color and Cloth Material. Now, both attributes have the same properties but the naming convention used is different. Since, the WooCommerce store is configured as per the vendor’s requirement, the product attributes in the WooCommerce store should be mapped to the respective attribute in PCC. Thus, you need to map all the attributes that should be displayed for a product in the WooCommerce store.
Once the store is configured, you can map the product attributes between WooCommerce and PCC by selecting the relevant store and catalog respectively.
Once the attributes are mapped, the data can be synced to the WooCommerce platform by the customers and shared with the vendors.
To map the attributes between the WooCommerce store and PCC:
As shown in Figure 209: PCC WooCommerce Connector screen, click the Setup Attribute Mapping tab and the following is displayed.
Select the WooCommerce Store configured containing attributes to be mapped from the drop-down list.
OR
As shown in Figure 209: PCC WooCommerce Connector screen, click the Setup Credentials tab and in the Actions column, click the Setup Attribute Mappings for this Store
icon next to the store for attribute mapping. In this case, since the icon is present next to the store, the attributes in the store will be populated automatically and you do not need to select the store again.
The fields, that is, the attributes present in the selected WooCommerce store and the field code assigned to each attribute will be displayed.
Also, the total number of attributes present in the store is displayed. In this case, the count is 52. 
NOTE | The field code is a unique code assigned to each attribute listed in the store. |
Select the PCC Catalog from the drop-down list which has attributes to be mapped. The following screen appears.
The field names in the PCC catalog are blank. Based on the attributes displayed from the WooCommerce store, you need to select an attribute from the catalog in parallel to the WooCommerce store attribute which should be mapped.
For example, let us consider that the customer is mapping attributes for a product Watches. The WooCommerce store uses attributes Brand Name and Color whereas in the PCC catalog, the attribute having the same properties is Brand and Dial Color. So, the WooCommerce store attributes now need to be mapped with the attributes present in the selected PCC catalog.
In the select an attribute field under PCC catalog, go to the field adjacent to Brand Name field in the WooCommerce store and start typing the name of the attribute to mapped as shown below.
A list of all available attributes in the catalog based on the keyword entered is displayed.
NOTE | You can also search the attributes in both the WooCommerce store as well as the PCC catalog. |
Select the appropriate attribute to be mapped. For example, in this case, let us select Brand from the list displayed as shown below.
Similarly, you can map other attributes as well by selecting the relevant attribute from the catalog next to the field displayed for the WooCommerce store.
Click Save Changes and the attributes are mapped successfully.
The attributes which are mapped between WooCommerce and PCC will have an
icon next to it as shown below.
Once the mapping is done, you can export the attributes mapped using the export option.
NOTE | If you need to map a different attribute from the PCC catalog to an already mapped attribute, you just need to select the relevant attribute and save the changes again and the newly selected attribute will be mapped. To delete a mapping, you will have to clear the attribute field and then save the changes. |
Also, attribute mapping is not needed for a set of attributes, if the following metatag has been assigned to those attributes:
WC_REGULAR_PRICE – This can be associated to ‘Regular price’ attribute
WC_SALE_PRICE – This can be associated to ‘Sale price’ attribute
WC_DESCRIPTION (description) – This can be associated to ‘Description’ attribute
WC_SHORT_DESCRIPTION (shortDescription) – This can be associated to ‘Short Description’ attribute
WC_LENGTH (length) – This can be associated to ‘Length’ attribute which is part of Dimensions
WC_HEIGHT (height) – This can be associated to ‘Height’ attribute which is part of Dimensions
WC_WIDTH (width) – This can be associated to ‘Width’ attribute which is part of Dimensions
WC_WEIGHT (weight) – This can be associated to ‘Weight (g)’ attribute
You can assign the above mentioned metatags while adding / editing an attribute by selecting the relevance as Woo Commerce as explained in section 0 Working with Attribute Master List.
For example, an attribute Description in PCC catalog has a metatag WC_DESCRIPTION (description) which is relevant to WooCommerce associated to it, you do not need to map this attribute as the value of this attribute will be automatically added in the WooCommerce platform after the data is exported.
NOTE | In case of PCC, any attribute with metatag WC_LENGTH (length), WC_HEIGHT (height) and WC_WIDTH (width) will be shown as part of a single attribute Dimensions in WooCommerce. For example, in PCC, an attribute Length with value 10 has metatag WC_LENGTH and Width with value 15 has metatag WC_WIDTH associated to it, after the sync is done, the values of these attributes will be shown as part of Dimensions in WooCommerce as 10*15. |
Syncing SKU Data from PCC to WooCommerce Store
The process to export any data and view it remains the same as explained in chapter 22 Export Catalog.
You can sync the product data, that is, SKUs along with their attribute values and linked assets from the catalog in PCC to the WooCommerce store by exporting the data using the WooCommerce Sync option.
NOTE | In case of assets linked to SKUs, WooCommerce supports photo assets only. If a SKU has any other type of asset linked to it such as documents / videos, those will be ignored when the data is synced. Also, photo assets cannot be deleted through sync from the WooCommerce DA library even if those are delinked from SKUs. |
Let us understand how to export the data using the WooCommerce Sync option in the following section.
Exporting the Data Directly to WooCommerce using API
This option will directly export / sync the selected catalog data to WooCommerce. All the mapped attributes present in the selected categories / entire catalog, depending on the option selected during export will be synced to WooCommerce directly.
NOTE | To export SKUs from PCC to the WooCommerce platform, it is important to map the attributes between the WooCommerce store and PCC catalog so that the SKUs have all the relevant attributes. |
Following are some of the key points to be noted while exporting data to WooCommerce:
No categories (taxonomy nodes) will be created in WooCommerce when the data is exported from PCC to WooCommerce. Thus, it is important to create the categories in WooCommerce before exporting the data. For example, SKUs being exported belong to the taxonomy Accessories > Watches > Analog and if this taxonomy does not exist in WooCommerce, the SKUs will be imported in the default category which is ‘Uncategorized’. You cannot change the name of the category after it is imported to WooCommerce. Once the categories are created in WooCommerce, all SKUs being imported in future will be added to the relevant categories.
If a SKU being exported to WooCommerce has an incorrect attribute data type that does not match with the attribute present in the WooCommerce store, no error messages will be displayed. However, such SKUs will not be imported in WooCommerce.
For example, in the case of attributes Price, Weight and Dimension, if the datatype is a mismatch, the values will be ignored in sync and will not be imported. An attribute Price has datatype as String in PCC and the same attribute has data type as Integer in WooCommerce, in this case, since the datatype does not match, the attribute value for Price will not be imported in WooCommerce.
If SKU title is not present for any SKU in PCC, a default description ‘Product’ will be added for those SKUs when imported to WooCommerce.
Currently, SKUs belonging to the same category will be shown in related SKUs (This is a Woo-commerce functionality), that is, if a SKU belonging to Accessories > Watches > Analog is synced, the related SKUs will be displayed by default from the node Analog only. In this case, photo assets linked to other SKUs belonging to the Analog node will be displayed as related SKUs.
If the same metatag is added in two different attributes, that is, the metatag WC_SHORT_DESCRIPTION is used for 2 attributes Description and Short Description in PCC, then either of the attribute values will be synced in WooCommerce.
By default, UoM has been set for the following attributes in the WooCommerce store:
Price – In the Settings tab in WooCommerce, a default currency is already set. You can change the currency to ensure there is no mismatch in the UoMs for the Price attribute mapped between WooCommerce and PCC.
Weight – In the Settings tab in WooCommerce, a default UoM is already set for weight. You can change the unit to ensure there is no mismatch in the UoMs for the Weight attribute mapped between WooCommerce and PCC.
Dimension – In the Settings tab in WooCommerce, a default UoM is already set for dimension. This includes the length, width and height attribute which will be displayed as length*width*height. You can change the unit to ensure there is no mismatch in the UoMs for the Dimension attribute mapped between WooCommerce and PCC.
If there is mismatch in UoMs for the attributes being mapped in PCC and WooCommerce store, an error log will be generated in the export tab for those SKUs. For example, the Price attribute in the WooCommerce store has UoM as Pound whereas the same attribute, which is mapped from PCC has UoM as Dollar, the value for the Price attribute will be ignored after the sync is done and will not be updated in the WooCommerce store as the UoMs do not match.
To export the product data to WooCommerce:
Open the catalog in PCC from which the data is to be synced to WooCommerce as shown below.
Select the nodes which have the SKUs to be exported / you can export the entire catalog if all the SKUs from all the nodes have to be exported. Let us select a node Analog which contains SKUs to be synced to WooCommerce.
Right-click the node and then click Export Node to export SKUs from specific nodes as shown below.
The following screen appears.
Click the Export Catalog
icon for file type WooCommerce Sync and the following screen appears.
Enter the Export Name for the file to be saved.
Move the Nodes(s) To Be Exported toggle to All if you need to export the data from the entire catalog. Here, we will export the selected node.
Select the Store Name from the drop-down list to map the attributes (as explained here).
Click Export and the export process is initiated. Refer section Viewing the Export File for more information on how to view the status of the export. Once the export process is successfully completed, you can go to the WooCommerce platform and view details in the Home page as shown below.
As shown above, the SKU Ana1458 present in the Analog node selected to be synced to the WooCommerce site is displayed here. You can scroll the page further to view the attributes Brand and Case Color from PCC catalog mapped to attributes Brand Name and Color in WooCommerce store as explained in section Attribute Mapping between WooCommerce and PCC.
Also, if the SKU has any related SKUs which are part of the same node Analog, it will be displayed in the Related products section.
Thus, you can make changes to the mapped attributes in PCC or add new SKU attributes and export the SKUs again to update the information which will be reflected in the Woo Commerce platform after the sync is done successfully.
However, if an error occurs during the export process, an error file will be generated with details of the errors. The Export page will display the following information in case of an error.
You can download the error file and make the necessary changes and export again after correcting the errors listed. Following is a sample error file.
An error ‘UOM for [Regular Price] is different from UOM in the store [GBP]’ is displayed for a SKU ID. This means that the UoM for attribute Price set in WooCommerce store is different from that of the same attribute present in the PCC catalog. Since there is a mismatch in UoMs added in PCC and the WooCommerce store, an error log is generated for those SKUs having the Price attribute.
NOTE | If some or all of the SKUs fail to sync, the process will be still shown as completed. However, since there is a failure, an error log will be generated. The sync process will be marked as ERROR only if an exception occurs before the actual loading is started, in which case an error file containing the cause of error will be generated. |
The Product load summary will be shown for all records, and it will have the following fields:
Total products – displays the total count of SKUs being exported
Products processed – displays the total count of SKUs processed
Products successfully loaded – displays the count of SKUs loaded successfully from the processed SKUs
Failed to load – displays the total count of SKUs that have failed from the processed SKUs