Cloud Retail categories hierarchy

[ali_hamza]

Hi community,

Recently, I implemented a search model in cloud retail using apparel data. In the categories option of facets drop-down menu, the entire hierarchies of categories  are displayed, but the parent categories are not displayed as separate category options. For example, my dataset includes the following categories, but 'shoes' does not appear as a separate category in the entire dataset:

1)Shoes > Girls' Shoes > Boots,      (2) Shoes > Women's Shoes > Fashion & Athletic Trainers > Fashion Trainers.

How can I search for only parent categories? Also, does not having all levels of categories in the hierarchy as separate categories affect the capabilities of search model?