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05 The Elastic Product Catalog

In the last two chapters of the quick start guide, we dive into configurations for the most crucial capabilities of a robust end-to-end subscription platform–the Elastic Product Catalog and Order Journeys, which set keylight apart from other subscription billing platforms.

What is the Elastic Product Catalog?​

The elements that make keylight's unique Elastic Product Catalog are:

  • Products
  • Price Books
  • Price Effects
  • Product Rules
  • Subscription Plans
  • Promotions
  • Entitlements

Each of these elements can be independently configured at an atomic level and dynamically coupled together for advanced business requirements.

For the purpose of this guide, the configurations in this chapter focus on the essential aspects of Products and Price Books needed to launch a shop. To explore keylight's advanced capabilities for dynamic bundling and pricing, see Elastic Product Catalog.

Before you begin​

Create subscription plans​

Subscription Plans refer to the contractual terms for selling your recurring subscription products and the frequency of billing your customers during that period. Each subscription plan is a reusable element that should be associated with Products to take effect.

To create a subscription plan:

  1. Navigate to Sales & Commerce > Subscription Plans.
  2. Click Create New.
  3. Enter a Name for your subscription plan. For example, "Monthly Plan" or "Annual Plan".
  4. Under Subscription Term, select a period. See configure periods, if the desired period is not yet configured.
  5. If the full term should be invoiced at once, set Billing to "Full-Term". If you wish to use a shorter billing cycle within the subscription term, set Billing to "Billing Period" and select a period from the Billing Period drop-down list. See configure periods, if the desired period is not yet configured.
  6. If you wish to have this subscription plan automatically renew at the end of the subscription term, check the Auto Renew checkbox.
  7. Click Create.
  8. Repeat steps 2 to 7 until you have configured the different subscription plans you want to offer for your subscription products.

Learn more about subscription plans.

Create a price book​

Price Books offers a centralized and intelligent price database that automatically assigns the correct price to products for different business entities, currencies, channels, and billing models. Each price book created represents a category of prices, where the price information of products is stored.

To create a price book:

  1. Navigate to Sales & Commerce > Price Books.
  2. Click Create New.
  3. Enter the Name for the price book and select the Currency the price book should use. For example, if "USD" is selected as a currency, you can use "Default USD" as a name to easily find this price book later, when you are defining the USD price for your products. See add a currency, if no currency is shown.
  4. Assign a period to Default Price Period. A Price Period is for how long the prices that are saved in the price book should be valid. See configure periods, if the desired period is not yet configured.
  5. Click Create.

Learn more about keylight's complete price management capabilities

Configure products​

Products in keylight contain all the offerings that your business provides to customers. keylight supports one-off, pay-as-you-go, subscription, free, and hybrid and dynamic packages as product types.

Create a product​

A product can be physical goods or intangible services, one-off and recurring fees, or conditional charges when certain criteria are fulfilled.

To create a product:

  1. Navigate to Sales & Commerce > Products
  2. Click Create New.
  3. Enter the product Name and select "Subscription" as the product Type.
  4. From the Status drop-down list, select "Active".
  5. Click Create.
  6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 to add the different products you offer.

Note: The product created here is not yet effective, continue to the next tasks to assign attributes to the product.

Assign metrics​

Metrics are units of quantity used to bill the customer and/or track usage volume for the product. In keylight, businesses can assign multiple metrics to one product.

To add a metric to your product:

  1. Click on the product name to edit.
  2. In the General tab, scroll down to the Metrics section and click Add to List.
  3. Select a metric. See define product metrics, if no metric is shown.
  4. Check the Billable checkbox if the metric selected should impact the price of the product.
  5. Click Add.

Add prices to a product​

A price is the monetary value of a product sold. Admins can define different prices of a product in multiple price books. keylight will automatically determine the correct price to use based on rules and conditions. In this task, you will define a price for every billable component of your product, such as Base Price and Billable Metrics.

To add prices to your product:

  1. Under the Prices section, click Add to List.
  2. Select the Price Book created at the beginning of this chapter and click Add.
  3. Click on the price book that you have just added to enter the price for your product and its billable metrics.
  4. In the upper right of the first section, click on the pencil icon and check the Active checkbox.
  5. Scroll down to edit the Base Price section. The base price represents the fixed selling price of your product, regardless of any associated metrics. If your subscription product is not quantifiable or does not have any defined metrics during the define product metrics task, a base price must be defined at this step.
    • In the upper right, click on the pencil icon to start editing.
    • Check the Has a base price checkbox, and enter a Price. A currency symbol is not needed in the text field, as it is already defined in the initial price book configuration.
  6. Scroll down to the billable metrics assigned in the previous task to define their prices.
  7. In the upper right, click the pencil icon to start editing and Save after the settings are complete.
  8. Return to the product settings page to complete the product configuration.

Learn more about Price Books and how prices are defined.

Assign text items​

Text items are translatable UI elements that describe your products in an itemized manner. The text items added here will be displayed on your shop page according to your product card layouts configuration.

To add a text item:

  1. Navigate to the Presentation tab to configure how your product will be displayed in Public Apps.
  2. Click Add to List under Text Items.
  3. Select the configured text items that describe your product. If no text item is shown, see define text items.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 until you have added all desired text items.
  6. Return to task create a product above to complete the configuration for each product that will be offered in your shop.

Configure a product selection​

A product selection is a page where users, including end customers, can view available products and their corresponding prices. It is an important step in Order Journeys for customers to select the products to purchase in the webshop.

To create a product selection:

  1. Navigate to Sales & Commerce > Product Selections.
  2. Click Create New.
  3. Enter a Name for your product selection. For example, "Base Products" or "Default Shop".
  4. Select Independent from the Type drop-down list.
  5. Optional: Enter some text in the Title and Subtitle text fields. The text will appear above the product cards on the page to give more context about the product selection.
  6. Select a subscription plan from the Default Subscription Plan drop-down list. See create subscription plans above, if the desired subscription plan is not yet configured.
  7. Select a Price Period Mode. For this guide, select "Catalog Period".
  8. Click Create.
  9. Click on the product selection that appeared on the page.
  10. Scroll down to the Products section and click Add to List.
  11. Select a Product and click Add.
  12. Repeat steps 10-11 until the products you wish to display in this product selection page are all added.

Learn more about advanced configurations for conditional product selection.