A Quality is the qualitative attribute of the products.
A Quality is a qualitative attribute value assigned to a product—used to describe characteristics that influence shopper decisions, personalization, and merchandising. Each Quality belongs to a broader QualityType, which defines the dimension the attribute represents (e.g., Brand, Flavor, Organic).
Qualities are standardized, reusable values that can be consistently applied across products and categories.
Unstructured Values Cannot Be Filtered
When 'Organic' exists as a free-text note in a product description, shoppers cannot filter for it. Structured Quality values make every attribute a first-class filter dimension.
Substitution Cannot Match on Free Text
A substitution engine that relies on free-text attributes cannot reliably match 'Decaf' products to other 'Decaf' products. Structured Quality values make attribute-based substitution exact.
Product Comparison Requires Structured Parity
Comparing 'Dark Roast' products side-by-side requires that every product carries the same structured Quality attribute. Free text makes comparison impossible at scale.
How Quality Works
Each product can have one or many Qualities, depending on its attributes and the relevant QualityTypes for its category.
01
Canonical Attribute Values
Every Quality value is canonical and typed. 'Dark Roast' is not a free-text string — it is an enum value of the 'Roast Type' Quality Type, shared across every product in that category.
02
Powers Attribute Filtering
Quality values are the data behind every filter in your shopper experience. 'Show me Organic, Decaf, Single-Origin coffees' works because each of those is a structured Quality value.
03
Feeds Substitution Matching
The Substitutes API uses Quality values to match substitutes on key attributes. An Organic K-Cup out of stock? The substitution engine finds the next-best Organic option first.
Examples of Qualities by Quality
Ready to make every attribute filterable?
See how Prodx Quality structures every product characteristic into a queryable, substitution-ready data layer.
