Categorization makes it easy to structure and label large catalogs at scale. With a single, unified workspace, teams can view all context at once, annotate multiple items together, and adapt to any type of data, static or dynamic. Designed for speed, consistency, and flexibility, it helps businesses organize information efficiently and scale their data operations with confidence.

What is Categorization?

Categorization is the process of assigning the correct label to an item by interpreting its context, including titles, descriptions, imagery, and metadata. Categorization requires semantic reasoning and consistency across large, evolving catalogs.

Product Capabilities

The workspace combines a Context Section (left) for side-by-side product review and an Annotation Panel (right) for structured data entry. This layout speeds decision-making and keeps quality high.

Context Section

Review all relevant product information in a single table view where each column is a product and each row is an attribute (e.g., ID, Title, Brand, Category). This structure enables rapid comparison and consistent decisions across items.

 

 

Annotation Panel

Enter or confirm category and attribute values with guided, structured inputs. The panel supports both selecting values from source fields (Mapping) and entering values directly (Extraction), depending on your data strategy.

 

 

Workflows: Static vs. Dynamic

Categorization supports two complementary workflows to match your catalog’s structure.

Static Categorization

Use a fixed set of attributes for every item (e.g., Class, Description, Brand). Consistent, repeatable layout ideal for uniform retail catalogs. Simplifies training, QA, and throughput forecasting. Best for programs where data format rarely changes.

 

 

Dynamic Categorization

Adapts automatically to each item; fields update based on available context. Supports multiple objects and variable attribute sets. Ideal for marketplaces and heterogeneous catalogs (e.g., varying taxonomy depth). Reduces edge-case handling with flexible, data-driven forms.

 

 

Key Features

• Unified, Side-by-Side Review
  Compare multiple products at once and make consistent decisions faster by viewing context and annotations together.
   
• Bulk Actions
  Apply the same mapping or extraction to multiple items in a single action to increase throughput and reduce rework.

• Guided, High-Quality Input
  Configurable tooltips and inline guidance help teams apply consistent definitions, translations, and examples, improving first-pass yield and auditability.
   
• Flexible Navigation
  Smoothly navigate across attributes and items with independent scrolling in the context and annotation panels, keeping the most relevant details in view.

• Integrated Feedback
  Capture feedback at the item or batch level to drive continuous improvement and maintain consistency across large teams.

Ideal Use Cases

• E-commerce & retail product classification and attribute standardization.
• Marketplace taxonomy alignment across diverse sellers and catalogs.
• Content tagging and metadata enrichment for search and discovery.
• Training datasets for recommendation engines and ranking models.

Expected Outcomes

Getting Started

Categorization is available as part of the Sama data annotation platform. Our team configures taxonomy, attributes, quality checks, and workflows to match your goals and data structures. We can start with a pilot on a focused subset of your catalog and scale up quickly after alignment on quality bars and SLAs.