Answer:

A Custom Hierarchy (also referred to as a Custom Product Hierarchy, or "CPH") is a table which contains custom attributes.

Custom Hierarchies are most often used for products, but can also be used for stores, DCs, or other objects which can be used to filter and summarize reports in Consumer Insights Platform.

What does a Custom Hierarchy look like?

A Custom Hierarchy is really just a table of information - It's stored as a table object in 1010data.

The first column in the table is always the "lookup" (or "primary key") column and contains the primary identifier of the objects in the table.

  • Product: SKU (or sometimes UPC)
  • Store or DC: Location number
  • Vendor or Supplier: Vendor ID number

Any other columns in the table are created by the user to store useful attributes about the objects. The example below, with the lookup column ("sku") highlighted in yellow, shows a Custom Hierarchy called "Bath Tissue" which contains custom information about bath tissue items:

Why would I use a Custom Hierarchy?

A Custom Hierarchy can be used for a number of different things:

  • Filter a CIP report on your custom attributes (e.g.: only return sales for the "Scott" brand)

  • Aggregate sales data in a CIP report (e.g.: aggregate all inventory amounts based on Size to see which sizes of items are in stock at each store)

  • Add informational attributes to a CIP report (e.g.: summarize by Store Number and a custom Regional Manager column to show the person in charge of each store)
  • If you have ad-hoc access, a Custom Hierarchy can be used in custom queries for any number of applications when using the Macrolanguage Workshop or Trillion-Row Spreadsheet

How do I get started making a Custom Hierarchy?

There are two ways to create a new Custom Hierarchy:

  1. Use the Custom Table Manager (create a table in CIP): How to Create a Custom Hierarchy Using the Custom Table Manager
  2. Use the 1010data Excel Add-In with a Custom Hierarchy template (create a table and upload it to your company account directly from Excel): Create and Use a Custom Hierarchy (Excel Add-In)

How do I edit an existing Custom Hierarchy?

There are two ways to edit an existing Custom Hierarchy:

  1. Use the Custom Table Manager (better for smaller tables less than 10,000 rows): Edit a Custom Hierarchy using Custom Table Manager
  2. Use the 1010data Excel Add-In: Edit a Custom Hierarchy using 1010data Excel Add-In

You can only edit a Custom Hierarchy that you own. If you need to edit a Custom Hierarchy owned by someone else, they will need to change ownership of the hierarchy to your userID