Schedule product launch windows

This Product hard launch use case manages products with limited availability windows. Perfect for seasonal products, flash sales, limited editions, or promotional items that should automatically appear and disappear without manual oversight.

How it works

Specify both start and end dates for product availability using publish_date and expiry_date custom attributes. The system shows products during their availability window and hides them when the period expires.

Note that this is an API driven use case that requires changes in your API calls. No dashboard changes are needed.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have access to the Catalogs & events admin permission.

Implementation steps

Step 1: Configure attributes for availability range

Configure the two custom attributes publish_date and expiry_date for availability windows or a custom timestamp range as follows:

Avoid using reserved attributes like launch_date and start_date. Custom attributes are better suited for this use case and allow greater flexibility.

Step 2: Send attributes in your feed

Send both publish_date and expiry_date attributes for time-bound products. Products will only appear during their specified availability window.

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Note

This use case depends on your feed update frequency and is tightly coupled with feed processing timelines. Products will only become visible after your next feed processing cycle.

Step 3: Filter API calls for date ranges

Use both filter parameters in your API calls to show only products within their availability window:

&fq=publish_date:[* TO CurrentTimeCode]
&fq=expiry_date:[CurrentTimeCode TO *]

Replace CurrentTimeCode with the appropriate timestamp, ensuring the format matches your feed. CurrentTimeCode represents the current local time code, using the same format as publish_date/expiry_date.

If you provide publish_date/expiry_date in YYYYMMDDHHMM, you should also provide CurrentTimeCode in YYYYMMDDHHMM. If your site and servers are in the same region, provide the time code in the same time zone as the publish_date/expiry_date.

Handle time zones consistently

The publish_date/expiry_date timestamps in your feed correspond to the time zone used for generating your API calls.

To adjust your API calls to the desired time zone, add to CurrentTimeCode if the local server is behind the publish_date/expiry_date time zone, or subtract from CurrentTimeCode if the local server is ahead of the publish_date/expiry_date time zone.

See the table below for examples on changing CurrentTimeCode to adjust the launch time:

If you want a simultaneous, global launch

1. In the feed, provide publish_date/expiry_date values in UTC +0.
2. In your API calls, provide CurrentTimeCode in UTC +0.

If you want launches based on local time

1. In the feed, provide publish_date/expiry_date values in your primary market’s time zone.
2. In your API calls, provide CurrentTimeCode in local time.

Example

Holiday seasonal merchandise

A home goods retailer manages multiple seasonal collections with overlapping availability periods. They use the launch window method to control product visibility:

• Halloween collection: publish_date=202510010000, expiry_date=202511010000
• Black Friday specials: publish_date=202511250000, expiry_date=202511302359
• Holiday gifts: publish_date=202512010000, expiry_date=202412252359

The system automatically shows Halloween products starting October 1st and hides them November 1st, while simultaneously managing Black Friday and holiday collections according to their respective schedules.

This eliminates manual oversight and ensures products appear and disappear at optimal times.