Product Categories

Product Categories are an excellent and robust way to manage Products as well as offer a better overview of sales and business performance on your Odoo system.

Category Creation

There are two primary methods we use to create and manage product categories in Odoo:

1. Importing Categories via Template Using the Product Category Import Template provided during implementation is the fastest and most efficient way to load a large number of categories into the system at once.

2. Creating Categories through the User Interface (UI) This method provides a more visual, data-driven experience, allowing you to see how each category fits into the overall hierarchy in real time. While it’s excellent for small adjustments or adding a few new categories, it’s not ideal for bulk creation.

Category Formatting & Structure

Product categories in Odoo follow a hierarchical (tree-like) structure, defined by parent–child relationships. A parent category can have multiple child categories, and each child can also have its own children, creating multiple levels within the hierarchy.

Proper category formatting is essential because it ensures that your products are clearly organized, easy to locate, and accurately reflected in reporting and analytics.

Here is a visual representation of a sample category tree:

In the diagram above, the parent category Products has three direct children: Hardware, Services, and Consumables. Each of these child categories then has its own sub-categories.

For example, if we are classifying an Acer Predator Computer Monitor, it belongs in the Monitors category. However, Monitors is a child of Hardware, which is itself a child of Products.

Therefore, the full category path for the Acer Predator Monitor would be:

Products → Hardware → Monitors (Parent Category → Child Level 1 → Child Level 2)

We refer to each step in this chain as a Level, with each level representing a deeper position in the category tree.

Product Category Import Template

Uploading product categories using the provided Product Category Import Template is the fastest and most efficient way to set up your category hierarchy—especially when dealing with large datasets or when implementing a new system from scratch.

This method allows you to define all category levels (Level 1 → Level 4+) in a structured, consistent, and error-free manner before importing them directly into Odoo.

Understanding the Category Import Template

The template you provided contains four worksheets, one for each level of your category tree:

Sheet Name	Purpose
Category Level 1	Top-level parent categories
Category Level 2	Children of Level 1 categories
Category Level 3	Children of Level 2 categories
Category Level 4	Children of Level 3 categories

Each sheet follows the same basic structure but references the parent category from the level above.

Your template file includes columns such as:

Columns Used in the Template

• Name – Category name you want to create

• Parent Category – The category directly above it (Levels 2–4 only)

• Force Removal Strategy – Optional setting used for inventory removal (FIFO, LIFO, etc.)

Please note that these Category Structures listed below are examples, and you do not need to build very complex Category Structures.

Category Level 1 (Top-Level Parent Categories)

This sheet contains only your root (highest-level) categories.

For our example:

Name	Force Removal Strategy
Products	First In First Out (FIFO)

These categories have no parent. Everything else in the tree will sit under one of these.

Category Level 2 (Children of Level 1)

This sheet defines the direct children of Level 1 categories.

In our case, Hardware, Services, and Consumables are all children of Products, so they go here:

Name	Parent Category	Force Removal Strategy
Hardware	Products	First In First Out (FIFO)
Services	Products	First In First Out (FIFO)
Consumables	Products	First In First Out (FIFO)

Each row links a Level 2 category back to a Level 1 parent using the Parent Category field.

Category Level 3 (Children of Level 2)

This sheet is used when you want to go one level deeper and define children of your Level 2 categories.

Examples:

Monitors	Products / Hardware	First In First Out (FIFO)
Computers	Products / Hardware	First In First Out (FIFO)
Accessories	Products / Hardware	First In First Out (FIFO)
Consultancy	Products / Services	First In First Out (FIFO)
Maintenance	Products / Services	First In First Out (FIFO)
Office Supplies	Products / Consumables	First In First Out (FIFO)
Cleaning Products	Products / Consumables	First In First Out (FIFO)

The Parent Category here uses the full path up to Level 2, in the format: Level 1 / Level 2 e.g. Products / Hardware.

Following this format for all levels, your product category structure would be built according to your specification with a quick import.

Odoo User Interface (UI)

Creating product categories directly from the Odoo User Interface (UI) allows you to visually build and refine your category hierarchy. This approach is ideal when adding a few categories, reviewing the structure, or making small adjustments during day-to-day operations.

Understanding the Category Form

When you open a product category or create a new one, the category form contains several key fields:

• Category Name – The name of the category (e.g., Monitors, Hardware, Consumables).

• Parent Category – Allows you to position the category within the hierarchy. Selecting a parent automatically places this category under it as a child.

• Routes / Logistics Options – Used for advanced workflows like MTO, Buy, Manufacture (optional depending on configuration).

• Account Properties – Used for financial mapping (optional based on your accounting setup).

For basic classification purposes, the most important fields are Category Name and Parent Category.

Creating a New Category

1. From Inventory → Configuration → Product Categories, click Create.

2. Enter the Category Name.

3. Select a Parent Category (optional).

   • If left blank, the category becomes a top-level parent (Level 1).

   • If a parent is selected, the category becomes a child of that parent.

4. Click Save to apply your changes.

Building the Category Hierarchy

To create a structured and logical hierarchy:

• Start with broad, high-level parent categories. Example: Products, Hardware, Services, Consumables.

• Add more specific sub-categories underneath them. Example: Hardware → Monitors → Gaming Monitors.

This step-by-step approach ensures that your product classifications remain clean, consistent, and easy to navigate.

Viewing the Category Tree

While Odoo displays product categories in a list format, it is still quite simple to understand the hierarchy. Odoo helps with this by displaying the category breakdown on the list for you to see.

For example, in the list view, you will see something like this:

Product Category
Products
Products / Hardware
Products / Hardware / Computers
Products / Hardware / Monitors
Products / Hardware / Accessories
Products / Services
Products / Services / ...
Products / Consumables
Products / Consumables / ...

The image below shows how the categories will appear within your Odoo environment: