What is a product catalog?
A product catalog is the complete set of items you sell through your Cartva store — each with a name, description, price, images, and optional variants. The catalog powers your storefront product pages, search and browse navigation, and order line items.
A well-organized catalog helps customers find what they need and helps you manage inventory, pricing, and fulfillment as your business scales.
Catalog building blocks
- Products — Individual sellable items with core details
- Variants — Options like size or color, each with optional SKU, price override, and stock count
- Categories — Hierarchical groupings for browsing (e.g., Clothing > T-Shirts)
- Collections — Flexible groupings for marketing (e.g., Holiday Gifts, Under $20)
How it works on Cartva
Product management is centralized in the Products section of your dashboard.
Adding and editing products
- Click New product and enter basic details: title, description, price, and images.
- Add variants if the product comes in multiple options. Cartva generates a variant matrix from your option names and values.
- Set inventory per variant or at the product level, depending on how you track stock.
- Assign categories so the product appears in the right browse paths on your storefront.
- Save — the product page goes live on your store (unless you mark it as draft or hidden).
Categories and collections
Categories define your store's navigation structure. A product can belong to one or more categories. Collections are created separately and can pull products across categories — useful for homepage features and seasonal promotions.
Images and media
Upload multiple images per product. The first image typically serves as the thumbnail in listings; additional images appear on the product detail page.
Imported products
Products imported from dropshipping or print-on-demand integrations appear in the same catalog. You edit retail prices and descriptions; supplier data syncs based on the integration settings.
Who it's for
A structured catalog benefits any merchant selling more than a few one-off items.
Good fit:
- Retailers with size or color variations
- Brands with seasonal collections and rotating inventory
- Dropshippers and POD sellers managing imported SKUs alongside custom items
- Food, grocery, or multi-category shops needing clear browse paths
Simpler needs:
- Service businesses selling a single package may only need one or two product entries
- Merchants selling exclusively via WhatsApp quotes might start with a minimal catalog and expand later
What you control vs what Cartva handles
| You control | Cartva handles |
|---|---|
| Product titles, descriptions, and pricing | Product page templates on your theme |
| Images, variants, and stock levels | Variant selection UI on the storefront |
| Category and collection structure | URL generation for product and collection pages |
| Which products are visible or hidden | Order line item capture from catalog data |
| Retail markup on imported supplier products | Sync mechanics for connected integrations |
You own your product content and pricing strategy. Cartva provides the data model, storefront rendering, and order integration.
Pricing model
There is no per-product fee on Cartva for standard catalog usage. Costs relate to your overall plan and how you source products:
- Manual products — No additional platform charge beyond your subscription
- Dropshipping imports — You pay supplier costs per fulfilled order; Cartva does not add a per-SKU import fee on standard plans
- Print-on-demand — Base product costs come from the POD provider; your margin is the difference between your retail price and that base cost
Check your plan for any limits on total product count or storage for images.