Product structure selection criteria in practice

A product option can be modeled as a Product Option, a Stockable Variant, a Product-specific Custom Option, or a Product Group. Choose the structure based on whether the customer's choice affects the SKU, balance, price, or just an additional option stored on the order line.

Open the right maintenance surface

Product structures are maintained in the following canonical locations:

• Product options /products/options for common selection axes and values in the catalog.
• The Product Options tab for options attached to the product and their price changes.
• Variants and Inventory lines on the product's Balance tab for combinations to be stocked.
• Product Custom options for additional product-specific choices.
• Product groups /products/groups for the main product and member products.
• Attributes /catalog/attributes for properties describing the product.

Use product choices as selection axes

Product options define common selection axes in the catalog, such as size, color, or thickness. A product option has a permanent code, language-specific names and descriptions, order, and an Inventory Tracking flag.

Product Option Values are individual choices. A value has a permanent code, a language-specific name and qualifier, an order, an optional hex color, and a weight. The product option or value register line itself is not a stockable SKU.

Attach a Product Option to a product, define values and price changes, and create the necessary variants based on them. An active Product Option value cannot be deleted until the product references have been removed.

Create variants and inventory lines

Variants are combinations of values from a product's Product Options, for example, color + size. A variant identifies the selection; an inventory line contains the actual SKU-level balance and inventory metadata.

A warehouse row can maintain Balance , Warehouse SKU , Barcode , Shelf , Warehouse Price , Original Warehouse Price , Expiration Date , Reserved Quantity , and Incoming Quantity . The Warehouse SKU must be unique.

Use this template when customer selection affects balance, SKU, price, or physical product variant. Create only the actual combinations that are sold. The product base balance is not edited in parallel when balance is managed with variants.

The inventory quantity is changed with the Inventory Change action; other row metadata is saved with the Save Row action. Deleting a variant and deleting an inventory row are separate, permanent actions.

Use custom options for additional product-specific options

Custom options are suitable for product-specific customer selections that are not a stocked variant. Typical cases include accessories, packaging, engraving text type selection, or additional services.

The Custom option uses the definition and values of an existing Product Option. Select Option , Type , Order , and if necessary, Required . Supported types are Radio , Checkbox , Dropdown , and Multiselect .

Then add the allowed values for the Custom option and their order. The value must belong to the selected Product option. The option and values are saved with their own Save Option and Save Value functions.

The mandatory Custom option requires a customer selection before adding to the cart. The selection is saved in the cart and order line information and is also visible in invoice and collection documents. The Custom option does not have its own balance or Warehouse SKU.

Use Product Groups to group distinct products

Product structures, variants and custom options are distinguished from Product Groups , which group separate products into the same store group view. A group has a name, order, members and an optional main product.

Add member products, select the main product, and save the group. The main product cannot be removed from the members without selecting a new main product. An active group cannot be deleted until the products have been disconnected from the group.

Product-specific Hide grouped products hides that grouped product from the store's group views, but maintains the association. It is not the same as setting the product to Disabled.

A product group is not a Product Option, Variant, or Attribute Set. Do not use it as a template for a regular size or color variant.

Use attributes for properties

Product structures, variants and Custom options do not replace the Attribute that describes the product in technical data, filtering, comparison or PDF. An attribute is not a variant or Custom option that can be selected in a purchase situation without a separate transaction implementation.

If the value affects the product variant, balance, SKU, or price that the customer selects, use Product Option and Variants. If it is only an optional choice saved on the order line for this product, use Custom.

Keep the same data in one structure. For example, color can be a customer variant choice and an attribute needed for filtering only if the integrations and maintenance process intentionally keep the values in sync.

Product type limits

Product structures, variants and Custom options also work with the product's internal Product Type . The Product Type is selected in Advanced Settings : the options are Basic Product, Package, Configurable, Group, Product Option and Hidden. Basic Product is the default when no other type is saved.

Group and Configurable require that the product is the main product of the Product Group. Hidden will be excluded from regular product listings and the product page will be prevented from being indexed. Package and Product Option are special container types that should only be used with a supported store implementation.

An additional product is a separate on/off flag for upselling and is not the same as a Product Type. Hide grouped products is a visibility flag for the group view.

Changes to product type and additional settings are automatically saved. Do not change the type without verified merchant and integration support.

When Product Type is Hidden

The Hidden type is used when you want to keep the product in use openable via a direct product link but remove the store from the usual discovery routes.

• The product does not appear in the online store's search results or search index.
• The product will not appear in category and product listings or in product purchases on the home page.
• The product will be excluded from product and marketing feeds and the sitemap.
• The product page can still be opened with a direct link if the product Status is Enabled .
• The product page is marked as unindexable by search engines.

If a product should no longer be openable or purchasable, change its Status to Disabled . Do not use group-specific visibility settings to hide an entire product.

Quick decision model

Product structures are selected as follows:

• Select Product Options , Variants , and Inventory Lines when the selection affects SKU, balance, or price.
• Select Custom options when the selection is a product-specific additional option before adding to cart and not a custom stocked version.
• Select Product Groups when separate products have a main product, members, and group view.
• Select Attributes when the data describes a product in content, filtering, comparison, or enrichment.

Finally, check that the product does not have two competing ways of modeling the same choice and that only the actual combinations that can be purchased are displayed in the store.