Displaying Collections

When a customer shows interest in an item, presenting the customer with related items is a good way to turn the sale of a single item into a sale of multiple items. ECS groups items in many ways. For example, some items are grouped with optional accessories, some items are variations of one another, such as a shirt that comes in a variety of colors and sizes. The SimilarityLookup operation uses its own logic to return items related to the one specified in the request. The Collections response group, however, offers another way in which items are grouped.

A collection is a group of items that are related thematically. For example, all of the linens that go into a bedroom might be associated in a bedding collection.

The Collections response group returns all of the items in a collection. If, for example, ItemSearch returns four items and each of them are in a collection, the Collections response group returns the ASINs and titles of all the items in all four collections, for example:

<Collections>
  <Collection>
    <CollectionParent>
      <ASIN>B0006PLAOE</ASIN> 
      <Title>Fieldcrest® Classic Bedding Collection GarnetIvory</Title> 
    </CollectionParent>
    <CollectionItem>
      <ASIN>B00067IV8U</ASIN> 
      <Title>Fieldcrest® Classic Solid Sheets Garnet</Title> 
    </CollectionItem>
    <CollectionItem>
      <ASIN>B000673NE2</ASIN> 
      <Title>Fieldcrest® Classic Solid Pillowcases Set of 2 Garnet</Title> 
    </CollectionItem>
    <CollectionItem>
      <ASIN>B00065WTJY</ASIN> 
      <Title>Fieldcrest® Classic Dobby Pillowcases Set of 2 Garnet</Title> 
    </CollectionItem>
  </Collection>
</Collections> 
   

Collections have one parent item (CollectionParent) and one or more child items (CollectionItem). The parent item has an ASIN and title but cannot be purchased. The title of the parent item names the collection, for example, Bedding Collection. Child items usually can be purchased. The only exception is when a child item is a Variation parent ASIN.

ECS does not offer a means of creating collections. Collections are created internally by Amazon only.

Variations and Collections

Collections differ from variations. Items that are variations of one another are essentially the same item but in a slightly different form. For example, the variation of a red, large shirt would be the same shirt in a different size or color. Items in a collection are fundamentally different from one another, for example, bed sheets and pillow cases could be part of the same collection, as shown in the following figure.