Shopify. How to manage product variants

This tutorial shows how to manage product variants in Shopfy.

Shopify. How to manage product variants

A product variant is a feature/style a product can have, for example, color or size.

Product variants are defined by their option names and option values. Each option must have a set value. For instance, the values for option name ‘color’ can be ‘red’, ‘black’ and ‘white’.

NOTE: By default, any product created without any specific option selected will be given the option “Title” with the value “Default Title”. If you change this, it’s possible that a single-variant product may display incorrectly to your customers.

Creating a Product with Variants

1. When creating a new product (Admin → Products → Add a product), variants can be set up immediately:

   

2. Click This product has multiple options checkbox.

3. Use the Option Name drop-down menu, choose the name of an option you want your product variants to have. For example, size:

   

4. Enter the option values for the option you’ve created in the Option Value box, separated by a comma.

   As example, if you select Size as your option, you might type Small, Medium, Large in the box, separating each variant with a comma to distinguish each variant:

   

   Whenever you create a new option value, you will have the ability to automatically create variants for the product based on the number of option values you have set. If a product comes in different material, each size will be made available in both materials:

   

   This also allows you to generate sets of variants automatically based on the options and values you’ve just set up. However, if you want to set different prices, SKUs, or barcodes for each item, uncheck that box to select which variants will be created:

   

   NOTE: You can create products on Shopify with up to 3 product options with a total of 100 variants. If you want to create Products with greater customization, you will need an app to do it, or use Line Item Properties.

Creating New Variants

1. To add a variant to a product, click Add a variant in the Inventory & variants section of the product screen:

   

   

2. To add a new option to a product, click edit options:

   

   

   

   Here you can add options to your product variants. As an example, you would add Material as an option.

   You may only create an option with one value at a time, and so for example, enter hemp as the material.

3. Now that you have a small and medium hemp t-shirt, use the bulk actions dropdown to create the rest of the variants.

   • First, create a large hemp t-shirt by selecting one of the variants:

     

   • Next, click Bulk actions to open the bulk actions menu.

     Click … in another Size, and enter Large in the pop up, and the third size will appear:

     

     

     You can repeat the process to continue adding multiple variants.

Managing Variants

• Editing variants

  1. Editing variants in-line. You can edit one value at a time by clicking on a specific value and making changes on the overview:

     

  2. Editing variants with Bulk actions. The bulk actions menu allows you to:

     • Change variant prices
     • Change on-hand inventory
     • Change variant images
     • Delete selected variants:

     

  3. Using the Edit variant menu. Click Edit on the right side of the Inventory & variants section of the product screen:

     

     The Edit Variant window opens:

     Product Options	These are option values that are configured for the product. The edit variant menu allows you to alter values as needed, but options are edited separately.
     Price	The current selling price of a variant. This can vary from variant to variant.
     Compare at Price	Allows you to show a higher price than your current selling price. You can use this to indicate a markdown, or a discount on MSRP.
     Weight	The weight of your variant, which is used to calculate the weight of your order. This is used in weight-shipping rates and real-time carrier calculated shipping.
     SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)	It is a unique identifier you can use with your suppliers or fulfillment services to identify your variants. This field is case-sensitive.
     Barcode	The barcode associated with your product on Shopify POS. This is also used to list products in the Google Shopping app.
     Charge taxes on this product	Allows you to enable or disable taxes on a variant. If this box is unchecked, taxes will not be charged on that variant, but can still be charged on others.
     Require shipping	Indicates whether the product is a physical product or not. If your product is a physical object, enable this checkbox.
     Fulfillment	Defines which fulfillment service to use when fulfilling an order with this variant. If you are fulfilling this variant yourself, select manual from the drop-down menu.
     Inventory Policy	Configures a product inventory policy, as well as how many units you have in stock.

     

• Editing options

  1. To change which options your product has, click edit options in the Inventory & variants section of the product screen:

     

  2. To offer this t-shirt in two colors instead of two materials, use the drop-down menu to select color instead of material:

     

     NOTE: You cannot rename option values within the edit options menu. This must be done with in-line editing or through the edit variant menu. Changing an option does not change its values.

Feel free to check the detailed video tutorial below:

Shopify. How to manage product variants