Collection

A2: Collection Guide

What is a Collection?

A collection is a grouping of multiple products, which is also recognized as a form of first-party data in a retail media platform. It allows platform administrators to conveniently organize similar products or create product sets for specific campaigns.

Examples:

• “Winter Outerwear Collection”
• “Bestseller List”
• “Discounted Products Collection”

Collection data can also be utilized in various ways for future advertising and recommendation features. For instance, you can add an entire collection as a creative asset in an ad campaign or create audience segments based on a specific collection.

Collection Components

The collection structure in the product API is simple as follows:

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{
  "id": "string",
  "product_ids": ["string", ...],
  "metadata": { ... }
}

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In the above structure, the id is used as the unique identifier for the collection, and product_ids represents a list of product IDs belonging to the collection. It is recommended to include various collection-related information within the metadata field. Since there is no technically enforced structure, it is advisable to include the following information in metadata.

(1) Collection Name

• Specify the name of the collection.
• Used to identify the collection in ads, recommendation systems, admin pages, etc.

(2) Collection Description

• Describe the common features of the products in the collection, the planning intent, or the campaign purpose.
• For event-based collections, additional background or planning context can be provided.

(3) Collection Image

• If needed, set a representative image for the collection to be used in advertising materials or campaign pages.

(4) Dynamic Collection Conditions

• Set conditions such as "discount rate 20% or more" or "category = shoes" to automatically generate the list of products in the collection in real-time.

By systematically storing various collection-related information within the metadata field as described above, data management becomes more flexible. Although not technically enforced by the API structure, including details like the collection name, description, image, and conditions in metadata can be highly beneficial for future application integrations or content creation.

Creating and Managing Collections

Platform administrators (or managers) can manage collections through the Collection Management Page or via API, performing the following tasks:

1. Creating a Collection
   • Set the collection name, description, images, etc.
   • Select products to include or set automatic conditions.
2. Editing a Collection
   • Change the products included in the collection, modify the description and images.
3. Utilizing a Collection (Coming Soon)
   • Designate a specific collection as the target of an advertising campaign, or
   • Once the "Generate All Materials for Collection" feature is added, easily create native materials on a per-collection basis.
4. Bulk Registration/Deletion via API
   • Create or delete multiple collections at once through API integration.
   • Use compatible formats such as CSV or JSON for bulk uploads, maximizing management efficiency through integration with external systems or automation scripts.

Examples of Use

• Product Recommendations: Leverage collections in personalized recommendation logic to show only products that fit a specific theme or event
• Ad Targeting: Select a “Spring New Arrivals Collection” as an ad campaign target for large-scale promotions
• Audience Segmentation: Run retargeting ads for customers who frequently view products in a particular collection

Conclusion

A collection efficiently groups products to streamline operations and maximize the potential for advertising, recommendations, and audience targeting. As the A2 platform plans to introduce additional features such as collection-specific ads, collection-based recommendations, and automatic asset generation, organizing your collections in advance can provide a significant advantage in future marketing activities.

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