Catalog > Product Options and Variants

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Product Options and Variants

Add product options, or use variants for inventory control.

Adding new Product Options

1. From the Product Editing page, look in the left-column, and click on the Options and Variants tab.
   
   
   

2. The Manage Options page is a starting point for entering new options and selections for each.  These are the Option Choices.

3. Enter an Option name and a list of choices for the option, separated by comma.  You can add more option choices later.
   
   

4. Click the ADD button to view the Manage Options page with your new Option shown with a list of Option Choices, as well as functions to edit and delete.
   
   

5. In the bottom section of the page, you can enter more options and choices in the fields provided.  
   Click the ADD button to create another option with choices.
   
   

6. In the first column, you can now sort each Option list by clicking the green up or down arrows.

7. Use the EDIT icon to view more option features available.

8. To remove an option and all of it's choices, click the DELETE icon.

Editing Product Options

1. From the Product Editing page, look in the left-column to find the Options and Variants tab.  
   This is a continuation of the prior section, so the example below includes two options that have already been created.
   
   
   

2. Click the EDIT icon for any option.  For this example, we'll edit the option name 'Size'.
   
   

3. In the first row, you'll see your Option Name in a field, so it can be changed if needed.  This is a required field.

4. The Header Text is optional.  This can be some text to prompt the user to make an option selection.

5. If you are using images for your option choices, then you can activate the feature by clicking Show Swatches.  More information about using swatches for your product options can be found in the Product Images topic.

6. In the Choices section, each of the Choice Names will be shown in a sortable list.  A name is the only required field for an option choice.

7. Click the green up or down arrows to sort your option choices.

8. A Price for each option choice can be entered in the fields provided.  The option price you enter will modify the base product price of the product, if it is used.

9. The Weight of an option choice will alter the base product weight.

10. The SKU of an option can either stand on its own, or it will be appended to the base product SKU.

11. If you have the Show Swatches feature active, then you will need to use Image selector icon to select a Swatch and full size Image for each option choice.

12. You can remove a single option choice by clicking the red DELETE icon.

13. Click the SAVE button after making any changes.

14. PREVIEW the product to see something similar to the following:
    
    

15. In the last section of the page, you can use the ADD CHOICE form to add more selections for this option.
    
    

16. Click the ADD CHOICE button when finished.

Manage Variants

1. From the Product Editing page, look in the left-column to find the Options and Variants tab.  
   The example below includes two options that have already been created.
   
   

2. Click the MANAGE VARIANTS button.  This will bring you to page where you can manage the individual options created by combining all possible choices.
   
   

3. Notice in the example above, that all the fields have default values, or no value at all.  
   AbleCommerce has the ability to automatically create a combined SKU, and make price and weight adjustments.

4. In the next example, we'll show you a more common, and automated approach to managing variants.
   
   

5. The total number of possible option choice variations are shown.  If you have several variants, then you may see more than one page with navigation provided.

6. The SKU can be automatically generated, or you can enter a different SKU to override the calculated value.

7. If you enter a Price, then the selection to Modify or Override will be used.
   
   Modify - the amount entered will be added to the base price of the product.  e.g. Product Price + Option Price
   Override - the amount here will be set as the price of the product.  Any price entered for the product will be ignored.  

8. Similar to price, the Weight can be used to Modify or Override the base product values.  Any 0 values will be ignored during calculation.

9. For report purposes only, you may enter a COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) for the variant.

10. The Available checkbox is active by default.  If you uncheck any variant(s), they will not be available for purchase, so the option selections will not be displayed in the storefront.

11. Click the SAVE button after making any updates.  One example of a product page is shown below.
    
    

12. The Variants shown in this example were generated by using the base product and the option choices.  Click the MANAGE OPTIONS button to return to the main options page.  The screenshots that follow show the parts that were used to generate variant values automatically.
    
    
    
    Two choices for the option named 'Edition'.  The Std. version equals the base price of the product.  The Featured version is $10 more than the base price of the product.  The Featured version is also heavier than the base product weight.
    
    
    
    Three choices for the option named 'System'.  The SKU's are incomplete, or partial because the product's base SKU will be used as well.
    
    
    The base product SKU is used to generate the complete variant SKU.  
    
    
    The base product weight can be used with, or without, the option weights.
    
    
    The base product price can be used in combination with the option prices, or the option price can override this value.
    If there is no price set for the product, then option pricing will be used alone.  

Manage Inventory with Variants

1. From Product Editing page, find the section for Inventory Control.
   
   

2. If the product has variants created, then the Inventory Tracking option to "Track Variants" will be available.
   
   

3. Select this option, and notice that an Allow Backorder option appears.  If you check this box, then inventory levels will not be enforced, and customers can purchase more than the amount available.

4. Click on the Options and Variants tab.

5. Click on the MANAGE VARIANTS button to view the unique variants for the same example we've been using.
   
   

6. In the far right columns, you'll see two new fields for inventory use.
   
   In Stock - this is the actual number of the item that is available to sell and ship immediately.
   Low Stock - this number indicates when a low stock threshold has been reached.  The Low Inventory email notification is triggered by this event.

7. After activating the Inventory Control feature, you must add stock or the items will be unavailable for purchase.
   
   

8. Click the SAVE button after making your stock updates.

9. In this example, the number of units available is shown, but only after the user has made his/her selection.
   
   

10. Remember, the Available setting can also be used to make an out of stock item unavailable for viewing.
    
    Any option item that is not available for purchase, either by the setting or because it has no inventory, will be automatically removed as a choice from the product listing page.  Likewise, if the option item became unavailable while it was in a user's shopping cart, then the item will be removed as long as the user had not already arrived on the final checkout page.

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