Catalog data source priority

Understanding how Bazaarvoice handles catalog data from different sources is important. To see the source of each data value in your catalog, enable the View data sources option. Each catalog attribute will have one of the following labels:

Source label	Description
Portal	The value came from a change made in Portal. It is taking priority over a value from another source. By default, these feeds are considered as Incremental Feeds where the product remains active, even if it is not included in your next feed file.
Feed	The value came from a product feed imported using SFTP. Ensure you include that data in your next full feed file. If you do not include it, the system marks that product as inactive
DCC	The value came from a product feed imported using Dynamic Catalog Collection.

Catalog data from Portal and feeds is merged into your catalog. 

Note: All updates to catalog attribute values using Portal take priority over values coming from feeds and DCC. To learn more on how to select source priority, refer to Import product catalog in Portal. 

A common question is whether values from feeds will overwrite changes previously made through Portal. If a value from a feed conflicts with a value entered in Portal for the same attribute, the value entered in Portal takes priority. This means that once you update an attribute using Portal, this attribute can no longer be updated using a feed or DCC. To enable feed or DCC updates again, contact support.

There are two exceptions to this rule: 

1. Arrays such as UPCs and EANs. For example, if a user enters a product with a UPC in Portal, and then provides a feed which includes a different UPC for that product, the user’s catalog will contain both UPCs for that product.

2. Empty fields. For example, the user leaves an attribute, such as a parent category, blank when importing the product through Portal. The user then adds new data, including the parent category, using a feed or DCC. This field is updated even though the user left this field blank in the Portal import.

Note: If you use Portal to delete a product value, Bazaarvoice flags this catalog attribute so that a value from a feed update will not replace the empty attribute value. 

Watch the following video for a detailed discussion about catalog data source priority. If you require a descriptive transcript for this video, you can access this directly in our Wistia platform. 

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