Product variants are variations of the same product that differ in several properties.
A variant attribute is a parameter that distinguishes variations of products of the same model. Variant attributes are set in product templates.
A product may have variants that differ in one or more attributes. For example, sneakers of the same model will differ only in size. One phone model may come in several body colors and have different storage capacities.
To create products with variants on your site, you need to:
In the product template, create special parameters — variant attributes.
Determine which of these parameters will be used to make a selection on the product page.
Create a product variants.
It is possible to group the variants of one model — separate products with their own unique SKUs, and all of them are combined by a common Parent SKU.
An example of a product with variants
Let's look at creating variants from scratch using the example of a product with two variant attributes.
The page shows a model of a women's T-shirt available in three colors (burgundy, mustard, pink) and five sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL). In this case, there are two variant attributes: color and size.
Accordingly, there are 15 products with unique SKUs, one of which is the main one, and its SKU will be used to combine variants.
Variants by size
Let's create the Size variant attribute as one of the most common. Other variant attributes are created by analogy.
To create variants by size, you need to create a variant attribute Size with the type Selection from list in the product template.
Creating a value list
First of all, you need to create a value list that will store the values of the attribute:
In the admin panel , go to the Products → Attribute values lists section.
Click Add and enter a clear name for the list.
Click Save.
In the example, we have created a new list Clothing: Size, which will store all possible values of the Size attribute (in the example — XS, S, M, L, XL).
Creating a variant attribute
Now you need to create a new attribute in the template, which will be a variant attribute for the product:
Go to Products → Product templates and select the template that matches the product.
In the template settings, select Add option/attribute.
In the window that opens, set the Name. This value will be displayed on the product page.
In the Group field, select the Variants group.
In the Type field, choose the Selection from list type.
In the Select from field, select the value list that you created earlier to save the values of this attribute.
Click Save.
Please note: For correct operation, do not enable the Multiselect option for the attributes of the Variants group.
Example: In this step, we create a variant attribute Size and select the previously created Clothing: Size list for its values.
Filling the attribute list with values
There are two ways to fill in the attribute list with values: manually or using the product import table.
Adding a value to the list manually
To add a new list value manually:
In the Products → Attribute values list section, click the name of the desired list.
Select Add value and enter the desired values for all language versions.
Click Add.
Filling the list using import
If you are creating new products using import, you do not need to add the list values separately. When you match a column with values with the required template attribute, the value list will be automatically filled with unique values from the table during import.
Creating a product variant
You can create variants in one of three ways:
By copying a product, changing its attributes, and merging it with the parent product in the table.
By creating a new variant in the product properties using the Add variant option.
By creating variants in bulk during import.
Creating a variant by copying a product
Use the checkbox in the left column to select items. After selection, the group actions panel appears at the bottom of the screen.
Click Copy Products and confirm in the dialog box.
A copy of the product with the filled in attribute values appears in the table with the title of the product copy_Product_Name and the SKU copy_SKU. Edit the SKU, title, and values of the variant attributes that will be different for the new product variant.
Select both products with the checkboxes and click Join. At this step, you will need to determine which of the products will be the main variant.
Similarly, you can combine two existing products. In this case, the general attributes, if they differed, will be changed to the values of the main variant.
Creating a variant using Add variant option
You can create a new variant in the product editing. To do this:
Select the desired product in the product table and enter the editing.
Click Add, and the New variant block will appear on the product editing page.
Unlike the first method, the values of all fields for variant are empty — you will need to fill them in.
Creating product variants during import
You can create products with variants in bulk using import. In the table, each variant must be described as a separate product:
Each variant has an unique SKU.
The main variant is indicated first in the table.
For all variants of the same item, a common parent SKU must be specified, which is the SKU of the main variant.
An example of a file for importing a product with variants
Choosing a variant on the product page
To configure the attributes that will be used to select the variant on the product page:
In the admin panel, in the section Products → Product templates, select the desired template and enter the settings.
Click Options to switch on product page, in the window that opens, drag from the left column to the Variants select form column the attributes by which the product should be selected on the product page.
You can change the order in which the attributes are displayed on the product page by changing the order of the blocks in the Variants select form column.
For our example, we move the attributes Color and Size to the Variants select form column.
Attributes that change when you select a variant
Variant attributes that are not used for a variant selection, can be displayed in the Features block on the product page. Read more:
Variants by color
Color is a variant attribute that has already been created at the system level and is available in any product. You do not need to create this attribute separately for each template.
All values of the Color attribute are located in Products → Attributes values lists → Colors.
By default, the Colors list contains several standard colors. You can add an unlimited number of custom colors manually or using the import table, similar to filling in other values lists.
Color field in product settings
Variants by color on the product page
On the product page, the color variant selection icons can be displayed in one of three ways — colors, images, and thumbnails of product photos.
To manage display options, go to the Website → Design → Design editor section, expand the Product page item and in the Page layout tab expand the Product variants item. Then in the Color options sub-item choose the Variant buttons style — Color icon or Product image.
Icons — colors
The selection of variants is displayed in the form of colored icons.
If you need to change or customize the icon for a color:
Go to Products → Attributes values lists → Colors and select a color or create a new one by clicking Add.
In the Color field, specify the desired color in hex format or by moving the selector in the color box.
Click Save.
Icons — images
With this option, instead of selecting colors for the icons, you can upload your own images that will be displayed in the variant selection. This option is suitable if you want to convey the look of wood, leather, ornaments, etc.
If you need to change or customize the image icon:
Go to Products → Attributes values lists → Colors and select a color or create a new one by clicking Add.
In the Color Icon field, upload an image for the icon.
Click Save.
Icons — thumbnails
In this case, the selection of variants will be displayed as thumbnails of product photos. For icons of this type you can also set their size in the design editor — S, M or L.
Product title and variant title
There are two similar fields in the product properties — Title and Variant title.
Title is a common field, it can be filled in once and will be common to all product variants.
If only the general name is filled in for the products, the variant name in the shopping cart will be generated automatically according to the rule Title + values of the product variant attributes (for example, color and size).
Variant title — a unique name for each variant that will be displayed on the site and in the cart instead of the automatically generated one.
You can use different properties for each product: where it is convenient to specify only the Title, and where you need to specify the particular Variant titles.
Both of these fields can be filled in manually or using the import table.