Category path
A category path names a category together with every category above it, from the top level down, usually with a > sign between the levels.
- Category breadcrumb
What it means
A category path spells out where a category sits in its tree: the top level first, then each level below, down to the category itself. Kitchen > Cookware > Frying pans is a path. Frying pans on its own is only a name.
Platforms read paths, usually with > between the levels. For its product type attribute, Google advises including every level. Its own example: Books > Non-fiction > Sports > Baseball is better than Baseball.1 Its Google product category attribute takes either the full path or a numeric ID.2
Some platforms call a path a breadcrumb. Shopify matches the Product category column in an import on “either the category breadcrumb or the category ID exactly”.3
Think of it like this
A category path is like a postal address read from the country down to the street. Each line narrows it, and only all of them together point to one door.
For example
A supplier sends Kitchen/Cookware/Frying Pans on one row and Cookware; Frying pans on the next, for two pans that belong on the same shelf. Rewritten as one path, both become Kitchen > Cookware > Frying pans, the form WooCommerce’s importer reads.4
Why it matters
A bare name is rarely enough. For a Google product category, Google says entering only the last part of a path “will not be accepted and will cause an error”. It adds that invalid values “may prevent your products from appearing”.2 Shopify turns away a supplier’s own Bedding as “Not a valid product category”.3
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help. Product type [product_type].
- Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Invalid product category.
- Shopify Help Center. Solutions to common product CSV import problems.
- WooCommerce documentation. Product CSV Importer and Exporter.