In terms of user-friendliness, accessing Magento 2 catalog management tools is straightforward, and should be accessible for any users familiar with a standard content management system (CMS).

Through the Magento 2 CMS, you can easily modify catalog pages to convey the right message and brand image for a specific product. The CMS allows users to quickly find a page, perform bulk actions on multiple pages or make quick changes to any existing page.

Magento 2 CMS Controls

The process of adding a new page to a Magento website is fairly simple and straightforward. You can add any kind of content in the form of text, images, blocks of content, or widgets to a newly created page.

While Magento 2's CMS ensures pages are search engine optimized to a fair degree, users have the ability to adjust configurations so pages rank better on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Magento 2's CMS editor has a familiar interface that simplifies the process of editing the content of any page. For experienced users, the module offers a toggle for switching to the HTML mode.

Blocks are static areas that allow for different types of content to be added to any area of the page. Magento 2 blocks are used to display information (like text, images, and videos), as well as dynamic information which can be displayed through widgets.

Widgets are sections of code that can be used to display a wide range of content formats. They are helpful for displaying real-time dynamic data, thus increasing the chances of the visitor engaging and converting.

The Widget tool makes it easy to place a widget within existing content, such as blocks with images and text, and interactive elements most anywhere in your store.

Widgets allow Magento CMS users to create a better eCommerce store by creating better marketing campaigns for landing pages and displaying promotional content on any location of the website. Widgets can also display external content, real-time and engaging activities, or similar functionalities.

Product Types

The Magento 2 product workspace is fundamentally the same for all product types, although the section options change depending on the chosen attribute set. The attributes are at the top of the form, followed by expandable sections of product information.

When adding a new product, Magento 2 reveals a simple dropdown menu at the top of the page, showing the most frequently used product settings and attributes, followed by custom attributes. Any other product settings are in expandable sections at the bottom of the page.

As seen below, Magento 2 supports multiple product types within the catalog:

A simple product is a physical item with a single SKU. Simple products have a variety of pricing and of input controls which makes it possible to sell variations of the product. Simple products can be used in association with grouped, bundle, and configurable products.

A configurable product is a single product with a list of options for each variation. However, each option represents a separate, simple product with a distinct SKU, which makes it possible to track inventory for each variation.

A grouped product presents multiple, standalone products as a group. You can offer variations of a single product, or group them for a promotion. The products can be purchased separately or as a group.

Virtual products are not tangible products and are typically used for products such as services, memberships, warranties, and subscriptions. Virtual products can be used in association with grouped and bundle products.

A bundle product lets customers “build their own” from an assortment of options. The bundle could be a gift package, computer, or anything else that can be customized. Each item in the bundle is documented as a separate, standalone product.

A digitally downloadable product consists of one or more files that are downloaded. The files can reside on your server or be provided as URLs to any other server.

Simple products are the most basic product type in Magento 2. It is a physical item with a defined attribute that cannot be changed by customers. Simple products are also used as parts of more complex products —configurable, grouped, or bundle.

Moreover, admins are also allowed to set up specific options for a simple product by adding custom options. You may consider using this instead of configurable products if there is no worry about managing the inventory, but users need to be mindful that these customizations may force a product to be stored in the site database as “unstructured,” which raises a risk of certain extensions no longer supporting them. 

Advanced Pricing

Besides the basics, Magento 2 also allows store owners to set up advanced pricing for simple products. Special price offers a discounted price during a period (setting at the backend). In the storefront when a special price is available, the retail price is crossed out, and the special price appears below in large, bold text.

Tier price offers a quantity discount to members of a specific customer group and website.

Inventory

There are two general approaches to stock management in Magento 2. Users can control all products' general inventory settings, or they can handle each product individually. 

For global stock management, the following parameters are adjustable:

Decrease Stock When Order Is Placed – Allows the system to decrease the stock quantity of the product when an order is placed.

Set Items' Status to Be in Stock When Order Is Canceled – Allows users to place items from canceled orders in carts when back in stock.

Display Out of Stock Products – Allows users to display products that are out of stock.

Only X Left Threshold – adds ‘Only X products left’ to all relevant products, where X is the entered number. This can be configured for each individual product, or left to 0.

Display Products Availability in Stock on Storefront – enables users to display stock availability on product pages.

As it relates to specific products, the following parameters are adjustable:

Manage Stock – Used to count products in stock. It can be disabled if you sell products that can't run out of stock, such as digital items.

Backorders – Allows customers to place orders of out-of-stock products, to complete when items are back in stock.

Maximum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart – Sets the maximum number of products that can be placed in a shopping cart.

Out-of-Stock Threshold – Sets the minimum number of products to reach before the out-of-stock message is displayed.

Minimum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart – Establishes the minimum number of products required to place an order. These limits can be adjusted for different groups of customers.

Notify for Quantity Below – Notifies users when the number of products in stock drops below a predefined quantity.

Enable Qty Increments – Sets the quantity of a product in a single lot that you add to your stock.

Automatically Return Credit Memo Item to Stock – When enabled, products added to a cart automatically get an out-of-stock status. The adjustment reverses if an order is canceled.

Each simple product has its own unique SKU at the backend. You can choose the stock to be managed or not. If admin sets up as “No,” it means the stock for the product is limitless. Otherwise, the simple product will be notified as out of stock when all items in quantity number are sold.

Magento 2 allows you to set up the minimum and maximum quantity of products in shopping carts. For example, if the minimum number is two, which means buyers can only add to the cart the product in case the quantity is more than two.

Multiple Magento 2 Store Catalogs

When you set up more than one store, you can control all of them through one admin dashboard, allowing users to share the data between websites, personalize the customer experience, manage separate reports and inventories, and even distinct shopping carts.

All stores share the same domain but can either be set up as subdomains or have entirely different primary domain names. No matter the choice, all subdomains will share the same backend for easier administration.