Creating accurate quotations quickly is one of the most important parts of any sales process. Sales representatives often need to search through hundreds or even thousands of products while preparing customer quotations. In previous versions of Odoo, products were primarily added by searching through the Add a Product dropdown in the quotation form. While this method works well for smaller product databases, it becomes increasingly time-consuming for businesses managing extensive product catalogs with multiple categories, variants, and pricing structures.
To make quotation creation faster and more intuitive, Odoo 17 introduces the Product Catalog feature in the Sales application. This modern interface allows sales teams to browse products visually, filter them by categories and attributes, review product availability, and add multiple products to quotations without repeatedly searching for each item individually. The result is a smoother, faster, and more user-friendly sales workflow that significantly improves productivity.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to use the Product Catalog in Odoo 17 to add products directly to quotations, understand its key features, and discover how it enhances the overall sales experience.
What is the Product Catalog in Odoo 17?
The Product Catalog is a new visual product selection interface available in the Odoo 17 Sales module. Instead of relying only on searchable dropdown lists, users can browse products displayed as organized cards containing essential product information. This approach makes it much easier to locate products, especially when working with large inventories.
Each product card displays valuable information such as:
- Product Name
- Internal Reference (Product Code)
- Sales Price
- Product Image
- Quantity On Hand
- Product Variants
- Availability Status
Sales users can quickly review inventory, adjust quantities, and add products to quotations directly from the catalog without navigating away from the sales document.
The Product Catalog is particularly useful for businesses dealing with retail products, manufacturing components, furniture, electronics, automotive parts, medical supplies, wholesale distribution, and any organization managing thousands of SKUs.
Why Use the Product Catalog Instead of “Add a Product”?
The traditional Add a Product option requires users to search for products individually. While this method remains available in Odoo 17, the Product Catalog offers several advantages that make quotation creation considerably more efficient.
Instead of searching product by product, users can visually browse available items, compare products, filter categories, review stock availability, and add multiple products in just a few clicks. This reduces manual effort and minimizes the chances of selecting incorrect products.
For sales teams handling multiple customer inquiries every day, this translates into faster quotation generation, better customer service, and improved sales productivity.
How to Open the Product Catalog in Odoo 17
To begin using the Product Catalog, first create a new quotation from the Sales module.
Navigate to:
Sales → Orders → Quotations → New
Create a new quotation by selecting the desired customer. Before adding products, complete the quotation information based on your organization’s sales process.
Typical quotation details include:
- Customer
- Invoice Address
- Delivery Address
- Quotation Template
- Pricelist
- Payment Terms
- Expiration Date
- Salesperson
- Reference
- Fiscal Position
- Recurring Plan (if applicable)
Once the quotation details have been completed, move to the Order Lines section.
Here, Odoo 17 provides two methods for adding products:
- Add a Product
- Catalog
Select the Catalog option to launch the Product Catalog interface.
Exploring the Product Catalog Interface
The Product Catalog opens in a dedicated window designed to provide a visual shopping-like experience for internal sales users.
Instead of displaying products in a simple list, Odoo presents them as organized Kanban cards containing important product information. This allows sales representatives to quickly identify products without opening each individual product record.
Each product card typically displays:
- Product Image
- Product Name
- Internal Reference
- Sales Price
- Available Quantity
- Quantity Selector
- Add and Remove Buttons
The clean interface makes browsing products significantly easier, especially for businesses with visually distinguishable products or large inventories.
Users can also access additional product information directly from the card whenever needed.
Adding Products to a Quotation
Adding products through the Product Catalog is straightforward and efficient.
Each product card contains quantity controls that allow users to specify exactly how many units should be added to the quotation. Instead of repeatedly inserting the same product multiple times, users simply increase or decrease the quantity using the built-in controls.
Available actions include:
- Add Product
- Increase Quantity (+)
- Decrease Quantity (-)
- Remove Product
As quantities are adjusted, the Product Catalog automatically tracks the selected products, allowing users to continue browsing without interrupting their workflow.
This makes creating quotations with multiple products much faster compared to manually searching and adding products one by one.
Checking Product Availability Before Selling
One of the major advantages of the Product Catalog is the ability to view product availability while preparing quotations.
Inventory visibility helps sales representatives make informed decisions before confirming customer orders. Instead of switching between Inventory and Sales modules, users can instantly see whether products are currently available.
This feature reduces the likelihood of quoting unavailable products and helps improve communication with customers regarding delivery schedules.
Businesses that process high sales volumes benefit greatly from this real-time inventory visibility because it minimizes order fulfillment issues and improves customer satisfaction.
Filtering Products by Category
Organizations often maintain thousands of products across multiple business divisions. Finding the correct item manually can become difficult without proper filtering.
Odoo 17 solves this by allowing users to filter products using Product Categories.
On the left side of the Product Catalog window, users can browse categories such as:
- Saleable Products
- Consumables
- Rental Products
- Expenses
- Air Conditioning
- Furniture
- Electronics
- Office Supplies
Selecting a category instantly updates the product display, showing only the products that belong to the chosen category.
This dramatically reduces search time and allows sales teams to focus only on relevant products.
Businesses with extensive product databases particularly benefit from category-based filtering because it improves navigation and reduces user effort.
Using Product Attributes to Find Variants
Many businesses sell products with multiple variants such as different colors, materials, sizes, or finishes.
Odoo 17 allows users to narrow down products further using Product Attributes.
For example, furniture products may include attributes such as:
- Color
- Material
- Size
- Finish
- Legs
- Upholstery
Suppose a customer requests a chair with:
- Legs: Aluminium
- Color: Black
Instead of searching through dozens of similar products, users simply select the required attributes from the left-side filter panel.
The Product Catalog immediately refreshes to display only matching product variants.
This makes variant selection faster, more accurate, and less prone to mistakes.
Businesses selling configurable products benefit tremendously from this functionality because customers often request very specific combinations.
Returning to the Quotation
After selecting all required products and quantities, users simply click the Back to Quotation button.
Odoo automatically transfers every selected product into the quotation’s Order Lines section.
Each product retains:
- Selected Quantity
- Product Variant
- Unit Price
- Description
The sales representative can continue editing the quotation, apply discounts if required, modify pricing based on customer agreements, and proceed with the normal quotation approval process.
Because products are added automatically, users save significant time compared to manually inserting every order line.
Benefits of Using the Product Catalog in Odoo 17
The Product Catalog is much more than a visual improvement. It introduces a smarter way of managing product selection throughout the sales process.
Sales teams can prepare quotations much faster while reducing manual errors. Visual browsing makes it easier to locate products, especially when similar product names exist. Category filters and product attributes simplify navigation through extensive inventories, while real-time stock visibility helps avoid selling unavailable products.
The Product Catalog also provides a better user experience for new employees who may not yet be familiar with product codes or naming conventions. Instead of memorizing product references, they can browse products visually and quickly identify the correct items.
For organizations with large sales teams, this leads to increased efficiency, improved quotation accuracy, and faster customer response times.
Best Practices for Using the Product Catalog
To get the maximum benefit from the Product Catalog, businesses should maintain well-organized product records within Odoo. Keeping product categories properly structured, uploading high-quality product images, defining accurate product attributes, and maintaining up-to-date inventory levels all contribute to a better quotation experience.
Regularly reviewing product data also ensures that sales teams always work with accurate pricing, availability, and product information.
Organizations that invest time in maintaining clean product data will experience even greater efficiency when using the Product Catalog.
Conclusion
The Product Catalog in Odoo 17 is a valuable enhancement that transforms the way sales teams create quotations. By replacing repetitive product searches with a visual browsing interface, Odoo significantly improves the speed and accuracy of quotation creation.
Features such as category filtering, attribute selection, product availability checks, quantity management, and automatic order line generation allow businesses to prepare professional quotations with minimal effort. Whether your organization manages hundreds or thousands of products, the Product Catalog helps streamline sales operations and provides a more intuitive experience for users.
At Infintor Solutions, we help businesses unlock the full potential of Odoo 17 ERP through implementation, customization, migration, integration, training, and ongoing support. If you’re planning to upgrade to Odoo 17 or optimize your sales workflow, our experienced Odoo consultants can help you implement best practices that improve productivity and accelerate business growth.