Manage the Reward catalog in Simpplr
Updated 10 days ago
Overview
The Reward catalog is the admin surface where you review and control the products that make up your organization's reward store. From here, you decide which items appear in the store, restrict individual products from specific audiences, and audit every change. This article walks you through every part of the workflow, from opening the catalog to reviewing changes in the audit log, and it also covers the surrounding Analytics and Settings areas that shape the program overall.
Before you begin
You need admin access to Recognition and Rewards in Simpplr. This article covers Rewards store, the updated Recognition and Rewards experience. Some sections assume you are on a specific screen inside Manage > Recognition. Each section calls out its starting point where it matters.
Access the Reward catalog from the home page banner
When a catalog refresh is in progress, a banner appears at the top of the Simpplr home page. It reads "The new rewards store is on its way! Start managing the rewards catalog to get ready." The banner is a one-click shortcut into the Reward Catalogs admin screen, so admins can start reviewing products without opening the sidebar or navigating manually.
The banner only appears for users who have admin access to Recognition and rewards. If you do not see it on your home page, confirm your role before troubleshooting further.
Open the Reward catalog from the banner
Follow these steps to jump straight into the catalog:
Sign in to Simpplr and open your home page.
Look at the top of the screen for the banner with the yellow warning triangle and the underlined message "The new rewards store is on its way! Start managing the rewards catalog to get ready."
Click the banner text. The underline confirms it is a link.
Simpplr opens Manage > Recognition > Reward Catalogs and lands you on the Products tab.
You do not need to select anything else. The catalog opens with your default country view already applied.
[Screenshot: Cursor hovering on the banner link, showing the underline and click state.]
Alternative path from the sidebar
If the banner is not visible or you prefer sidebar navigation, use the Rewards store sidebar on the left.
In the Rewards store sidebar, click Reward store to expand its sub-menu.
Select Reward Catalogs.
Simpplr opens the same admin screen the banner links to.
Both paths lead to the same view, so pick whichever fits your workflow.
[Screenshot: Reward store item expanded in the sidebar, showing the Reward Catalogs sub-item.]
Navigate the Reward catalog products tab
The Products tab is the default view of the Reward catalog and shows every individual reward item available in your selected country catalog. From here, you search for items, filter the list, and open the per-row Actions menu to change visibility.
Understanding the Products tab layout
The Products tab stacks in three horizontal bands.
The top band holds the tab strip: Products, Brands, Categories, and Activity. The active tab is underlined. All four tabs share the same visibility and filter mechanics, so anything you learn on Products carries over to the other three.
The middle band holds the controls that scope your view. A search box on the left filters the table by product name in real time. A country dropdown scopes the entire view to one regional catalog, since pricing and currency differ per country. Next to it, an Available or Pending segmented control separates items already live in the store from newly synced items awaiting review. A Show hidden only toggle filters the table down to items hidden from at least one audience, which is useful for auditing. A Filters button on the right opens a side panel for finer control.
The bottom band is the table itself, with a row for each product and an Actions column at the far right.
Read the table columns
Each row in the table shows one product. From left to right, the columns are Category and Type, Country catalog, Visibility, Hidden from, Currency, and Actions.
Category and Type describe what kind of reward it is, for example Merchandise and Physical. Country catalog shows which regional catalog the row belongs to. Currency shows the pricing currency for that row.
Visibility is color-coded and tells you at a glance who can see the product. A green dot means All org, and the product is visible to everyone. An orange dot means Limited, and the product is hidden from a specific audience only. A grey dot means Hidden from the entire organization. The Hidden from column next to it names the exact audience the item is hidden from, such as Allowance, Followers, All org, or None.
The Actions column on the right holds the three-dot menu you use to change visibility for that product. Click the menu to open the visibility options for that row.
Search for a product
To find a specific product, type its name into the search box above the table. The list filters in real time as you type. Search matches against the product name only, so partial matches work but SKUs and category names do not. To clear the filter, delete the search text.
Switch the country catalog
Pricing and currency differ per country, so the catalog is scoped to one country at a time. To switch regions:
Click the country dropdown next to the search box.
Select a country from the list.
The table reloads with items available in that regional catalog. All other controls, including search and filters, reapply to the new region.
Switch between Available and Pending views
The Available or Pending segmented control decides which set of items you see.
Available shows items already live in the store. Pending shows newly synced items awaiting your review before they go live. Click either segment to switch. Search, filters, and the Show hidden only toggle continue to work in both views.
Filter items with the Show hidden only toggle
When you are auditing which items have restricted visibility, turn the Show hidden only toggle on. The table narrows to items hidden from at least one audience, whether that is a specific group or the entire organization. Turn it off to return to the full list.
Apply detailed filters
For finer control, click Filters at the right end of the controls band. A side panel slides open with four dropdowns.
Visibility lets you pick Any, Limited, Hidden, or All org. Brand narrows the list by manufacturer or brand name. Category narrows by top-level bucket, such as Donations, Gift cards, Merchandise, or Prepaid cards. Hidden from audience narrows to items hidden from a specific group.
Select values in one or more dropdowns and click View results to apply. The result count updates live as you change selections, so you can preview the impact before committing. Click Reset all filters to clear every selection at once.
Hide and unhide products
You can hide any product from your entire organization when it should no longer appear in the reward store, and you can unhide it later to bring it back. Both actions live in the same three-dot Actions menu on each product row, and the menu label always reflects the next logical action.
Understanding the Actions menu
The Actions column sits at the far right of the table. Each row has a three-dot icon in this column, and clicking it opens a small menu with two options.
The first option is Manage visibility, which opens a modal for controlling audiences and is covered later in this article. The second option changes based on the product's current state. If the product is currently visible, the option reads Hide product for all org. If the product is already hidden, the same slot reads Activate product for all org. This means you never have to remember which action applies, since the menu tells you.
Hide a product from the whole organization
Follow these steps to hide a product from every user:
In the Products tab, find the row for the product you want to hide.
Click the three-dot icon in the Actions column.
Select Hide product for all org from the menu.
A confirmation dialog opens. It names the product, states its current visibility, and explains that hiding it removes the product from the reward store for every user in your organization.
Click Confirm to apply the change.
Simpplr shows a Products visibility updated toast at the bottom of the screen, and the row updates immediately. The Visibility dot turns grey, and the Hidden from column changes to All org. The Actions menu on that row now reads Activate product for all org, so you can reverse the change later without hunting for a different control.
Unhide a product
Follow these steps to bring a hidden product back into the store:
In the Products tab, find the row for the hidden product. Turning on the Show hidden only toggle above the table makes this faster.
Click the three-dot icon in the Actions column.
Select Activate product for all org from the menu.
A confirmation dialog opens, similar to the one shown when hiding. It names the product and confirms that activating it will make the product visible to your organization again.
Click Confirm to apply the change.
The Products visibility updated toast appears, the Visibility dot turns green, and the Hidden from column changes to None. The Actions menu on that row now reads Hide product for all org.
When to use hide instead of Manage visibility
Hide product for all org is an all-or-nothing switch. It removes the product from every user's view, which is the right choice when the item is out of stock, discontinued, or should not appear in the store at all.
If you only want to restrict the product from a specific group, such as an Allowance audience, use Manage visibility instead. That option keeps the product visible to most of your organization and hides it from the audiences you select.
Control audience visibility with Manage visibility
Manage visibility is the tool for restricting a product from a specific group of users while keeping it visible to everyone else. Use it when a product should stay in the store for most of your organization but should not appear for a defined audience, such as an Allowance group or a set of Followers.
Before you start restricting, know which audience you want to target. Manage visibility works against audiences that already exist in Simpplr, so you cannot create a new one from inside this flow.
Understanding the Manage visibility modal
The Manage visibility modal opens on top of the current screen and focuses your attention on a single product. It shows the product name at the top so you can confirm you have the right row. Below that, it lists the audiences the product is currently hidden from, along with the number of users in each audience. An add control lets you pick an audience to restrict, and a remove control next to each existing entry lets you undo a restriction.
At the bottom of the modal, a Save changes button applies your edits, and a close control cancels without saving. Nothing on the main table changes until you save.
Restrict a product to a specific audience
Follow these steps to hide a product from one audience while keeping it visible to everyone else:
In the Products tab, find the row for the product you want to restrict.
Click the three-dot icon in the Actions column and select Manage visibility.
In the modal, use the add control to select the audience you want to hide the product from. The audience appears in the list along with the number of users it contains.
Repeat the previous step for any additional audiences you want to restrict.
Click Save changes.
Simpplr shows a Products visibility updated toast, and the row updates immediately. The Visibility dot turns orange to signal Limited access, and the Hidden from column lists the audiences you selected. Users outside those audiences continue to see the product in the store.
Remove an audience restriction
Follow these steps to bring a product back into view for a restricted audience:
In the Products tab, find the row for the restricted product. The Visibility dot for these rows is orange.
Click the three-dot icon in the Actions column and select Manage visibility.
In the modal, find the audience you want to remove from the restriction list.
Use the remove control next to that audience.
Click Save changes.
If the product is no longer hidden from any audience after your change, the Visibility dot turns green and the Hidden from column changes to None. If other audiences remain in the list, the dot stays orange and the column updates to reflect the remaining restrictions.
Manage visibility versus Hide product for all org
Manage visibility and Hide product for all org solve different problems. Choose Manage visibility when the product should stay visible to most users and only a defined audience should not see it. The Visibility dot turns orange in this case. Choose Hide product for all org when the product should disappear for everyone. The Visibility dot turns grey in that case.
You can switch between the two at any time. Hiding a product for the whole organization overrides audience-level restrictions until you unhide it.
Review catalog changes in the Activity tab
The Activity tab is a chronological audit log of every visibility change made across the Reward Catalog. Whether an admin hid a product for the whole organization, unhid one, or edited an audience-level restriction, the change appears here with a full record of who did it and when. Use this tab to confirm your own changes, investigate an unexpected state, or manually revert an earlier edit.
Understanding the Activity tab layout
The Activity tab uses the same three-band layout as the Products, Brands, and Categories tabs, so the navigation stays familiar. The tab strip at the top marks Activity as active. Below it, a controls band lets you scope the log by country and search or filter entries. The rest of the screen is the log table itself, sorted with the most recent change at the top.
Each row in the log represents one change. The columns are Date, Actor, Item, Country, Attribute, Hidden from (old), and Hidden from (new).
Date shows when the change happened, down to the time of day. Actor names the admin who made the change, so accountability is always clear. Item names the product, brand, or category affected. Country shows which regional catalog the change applied to. Attribute describes what was changed, such as visibility. Hidden from (old) shows the state before the change, and Hidden from (new) shows the state after. Reading these two columns side by side tells you exactly what shifted.
[Screenshot: Activity tab audit log with the seven columns visible and one recent change highlighted.]
Find a specific change
To locate a change you know happened recently, scroll from the top of the log. To locate an older or specific change, use the controls above the table.
If your organization has multiple regional catalogs, set the country dropdown to the region you want to review. The log narrows to changes that apply to that region.
Use the search box to find entries by item name or actor name.
Apply filters from the Filters panel to narrow by attribute or by the values in Hidden from (old) and Hidden from (new).
Comparing the two Hidden from columns is the fastest way to understand a change at a glance. A row that goes from None to All org means the product was hidden from everyone. A row that goes from Allowance to None means an audience restriction was lifted.
Revert a change manually
The Activity tab is a read-only log. You cannot undo a change from inside the tab itself, but the log gives you all the information you need to revert manually.
Note the Item, Country, and Hidden from (old) values from the row you want to revert.
Switch to the Products, Brands, or Categories tab, depending on what type of item the row references.
Find the row for that item, using search or filters if needed.
Open the three-dot Actions menu and choose Hide product for all org, Activate product for all org, or Manage visibility to restore the previous state recorded in Hidden from (old).
Save the change. A new entry appears in the Activity tab confirming your revert.
The original change stays in the log, and the revert appears as a separate entry above it. This keeps the audit trail complete.
When to check the Activity tab
Check the Activity tab whenever the reward store looks different from what you expect, when a user reports that a product they used to see is missing, or when you need to confirm compliance with a change request. Because every visibility action is logged, the tab is the definitive source of truth for who changed what and when.
View reward program analytics
The Analytics section of the Recognition admin panel is separate from the day-to-day catalog upkeep in Reward Catalogs. It shows how your reward program is performing across the organization, so you can judge participation, spot underused categories, and report program health to leadership. The Rewards tab inside Analytics is the one that tracks reward-store activity in particular.
To open it, go to Manage > Recognition and select Analytics from the left sidebar.
Understanding the Analytics layout
The Analytics area has five tabs across the top: Overview, Activity, Company values, Participation, and Rewards. Each tab focuses on a different slice of the program.
Overview surfaces high-level metrics for the whole program. Activity tracks recognition events over time. Company values shows how recognitions tie back to your organizational values. Participation reports how many users are giving and receiving recognition. Rewards, the tab covered here, reports on points, redemptions, and gifting behavior tied to the reward store.
Above the metrics on each tab, a set of filters lets you scope the view by department, location, and time period. Change any filter, and every metric on the tab refreshes to match.
[Screenshot: Analytics tab strip with Rewards selected and the department, location, and time period filters visible.]
Read the Rewards metrics
The Rewards tab groups its metrics into cards, each showing a single number and its trend against the previous period.
Points given is the total points admins and peers have awarded during the selected time period. Points redeemed is the total points users have spent in the reward store during the same period. Comparing these two tells you whether points are circulating or accumulating unused.
Avg points per peer recognition shows the average size of a peer award. A rising average may signal generosity or catalog price shifts, and a falling one may signal fatigue.
Peer recognitions gifting points counts how many peer recognitions included a points award, as opposed to recognitions without points. Users that received points counts distinct recipients. Users with allowances who gifted points counts how many allowance holders actively used their allowance.
Together, these numbers answer a simple set of questions: Is the program active? Are points reaching recipients? Are users redeeming what they earn? Any metric that drops sharply is worth investigating with the filters.
Filter to a department, location, or time period
Follow these steps to focus the Rewards metrics on a slice of your organization:
Set the department filter to the team or business unit you want to analyze.
Set the location filter to a country, region, or office.
Set the time period filter to the range you want, such as the last quarter or a custom range.
The cards refresh automatically. There is no separate Apply button.
Use combined filters when you want to answer specific questions, such as how a particular location performed in the last month, or how a department compares against the previous quarter.
When to check Rewards analytics
Check the Rewards tab when you plan the next program cycle, when leadership asks for a program health summary, or when you notice an unexpected drop or spike in the reward store. If a specific product suddenly looks over-redeemed or under-redeemed, cross-reference with the Reward Catalog to check whether visibility or pricing changed recently.
Configure recognition program settings
The Settings area under Recognition holds the global configuration that applies across your whole reward program. Unlike the Reward Catalog, which is where you manage individual products, Settings is where you set the rules of the program itself, name the concepts your users see, and manage exchange rates for multi-currency catalogs. Changes here affect every user in your organization, so review them carefully before saving.
To open it, go to Manage > Recognition and select Settings from the left sidebar.
Understanding the Settings layout
The Settings area is organized into three sub-pages, each covering a distinct part of the program: Recognition, Naming, and Currency conversions. Selecting a sub-page loads its options on the right side of the screen.
Recognition is the largest sub-page and holds core program rules. Naming is a smaller sub-page for customizing the terminology your users see. Currency conversions holds the exchange rates that power multi-currency catalogs.
[Screenshot: Settings sub-navigation with Recognition, Naming, and Currency conversions listed.]
Configure recognition rules
The Recognition sub-page groups its rules into six tabs across the top: Peer recognitions, Spot awards, Milestones, Recurring awards, Badges, and Rewards.
Peer recognitions covers user-to-user recognition rules, including whether points can be attached and how much a peer can award at once. Spot awards covers one-time recognition awards, typically given by managers. Milestones covers automated recognition tied to work anniversaries or other events. Recurring awards covers scheduled recognition programs. Badges lets you set which badges users can earn or receive. Rewards covers rules that connect recognition to the reward store, such as points expiry and redemption rules.
Each tab has its own set of controls and a Save button at the bottom. Changes on one tab do not affect settings on another tab, so you can update Peer recognitions without touching Milestones.
[Screenshot: Recognition sub-page with the six tabs visible and Peer recognitions selected.]
Customize terminology on the Naming sub-page
The Naming sub-page lets you rename the concepts your users see in Simpplr, so the program language matches your organization's voice.
For example, if your organization calls its reward currency Coins instead of Points, change the label on this page. The new term appears everywhere Points is used across the recognition experience, including in recognitions, the reward store, and analytics. Similar renames are available for other program concepts.
To rename a concept:
Open the Naming sub-page under Settings.
Find the concept you want to rename.
Enter the new term in the input field next to it.
Click Save.
Roll out naming changes carefully, since they affect every user's view of the program immediately. Consider announcing the change to your organization before you save.
Manage exchange rates on the Currency conversions sub-page
If your organization runs reward catalogs in more than one country, the Currency conversions sub-page is where you manage the exchange rates that convert between them. Simpplr uses these rates to price products consistently across regions.
To update a rate:
Open the Currency conversions sub-page under Settings.
Find the currency pair you want to update.
Enter the new rate.
Click Save.
Set a review cadence, such as monthly or quarterly, so rates stay reasonably current. Large swings in a live rate can shift the effective cost of rewards for users in one region compared to another.
When to update Settings
Update the Recognition sub-page when program rules change, such as a new points cap or a revised badge structure. Update the Naming sub-page when your organization adopts new terminology or launches a rebranded program. Update the Currency conversions sub-page on a regular cadence, or when you launch a catalog in a new country.
Quick reference
This section is a quick reference for the most common tasks. Use it when you already know the workflow and just need a reminder of which control does what.
Visibility states at a glance
The Visibility column in the catalog uses a color-coded dot to signal who can see a product. A green dot means All org, so every user in your organization sees the product. An orange dot means Limited, so the product is visible to most users but hidden from one or more specific audiences. A grey dot means Hidden, so the product is hidden from the entire organization. The Hidden from column next to the dot names the exact audience or organization scope that is restricted.
Common tasks
To hide a product from everyone, open the three-dot Actions menu on the row, choose Hide product for all org, and click Confirm. The Visibility dot turns grey.
To unhide a product, open the three-dot Actions menu on the row, choose Activate product for all org, and click Confirm. The Visibility dot turns green.
To restrict a product for a specific audience only, open the three-dot Actions menu on the row, choose Manage visibility, add or remove audiences in the modal, and click Save changes. The Visibility dot turns orange when at least one audience is restricted.
To find hidden items quickly, turn on the Show hidden only toggle above the table. The list narrows to items hidden from at least one audience.
To scope the entire catalog view to one region, select a country from the country dropdown above the table. Pricing, currency, and product availability adjust to that region.
To review who changed what and when, open the Activity tab. Every visibility change is logged with Date, Actor, Item, Country, Attribute, and the Hidden from values before and after the change.
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