Create a Variation Product

Variation attributes can be Local or Shared. You create shared variation attributes in the scope of a catalog, and you can apply them to some or all products of that catalog. You create local variation attributes for a specific product, and apply them only to that product.

1. Select site > Merchant Tools > Products and Catalogs > Products > product link > Variations tab.

   If you see unavailable fields, you have read-only permission. You can search for product variations and view details. You can't modify, delete, or create product variations. If you have mixed permission to access one module (via different roles), the higher-level access is granted. See your administrator if you require write access.

   Three sections appear: Variation Attributes, Variation Groups, and Variation Products.

   The Variation Attributes section enables you to select and maintain the variable attributes of the variation, for example, 'color' or 'size'. The section lists the existing variation attributes with their ID and Name and shows how many variation attribute values are defined.

2. To select new variation attributes:
   1. Lock the product for editing.
      When a product is a base product, Business Manager automatically locks the main's variation products. If another user has locked the variation product, it remains locked for the other user. If you unlock a base product, all variation products locked by the other user remain locked for the other user.
   2. To show the Select Attribute Definition window, click the ellipsis (...). You can delete existing variation attributes by selecting them and pressing Delete. You can change the sorting order of the attributes by selecting them and clicking the Move Up or Move Down arrows.
   3. Use the checkboxes to select the variation attributes and click Apply. Alternatively, you can click New to create a new local or global (shared) variation attribute.
3. The Variation Groups section is optional. Variation groups are used to control how variation products appear on your site. See also Variation Groups.
4. The Variation Products section lists the related variation products of the current base product product. The list shows the ID of the variation products, the values of the variation attributes and the default variation product. You can:
   • Preview each variation product on the storefront page (click the View icon).
   • Create variation products (click Add). If no ID has been provided, the newly created variation product uses the ID and suffix of the base product product. If a product ID has been provided, this ID is the ID of the newly created variation product. If a product for the provided ID exists, this product is assigned as variation product.
   • Assign existing products as variation products on the Select Product popup page (click the ellipsis (...)).
   • Unassign variation products (select them and click Unassign).
   • Delete variation products (select them and click Delete).
   • Specify the concrete variation attribute values (select the appropriate value per variation attribute and click Apply).
   • Indicate the default variation product (select the variation product and click Apply).
     The default variation product is used to determine the price of the product by the search functionality.

     Note: Variation products with an incomplete variation value set are not shown in the storefront.
   • Display localized contents in other languages (select the language and click Apply in the Select Language section).
5. When creating or editing a Variation Product variations tab in the Product Editor, two sections appear: Base Product and Variant Values.
   • The Base Product section shows the Product ID, Name, Manufacturer, and Status of the related base product product. To preview the base product on the storefront page, click the View icon. To unassign the current variation product from the base product, click Unassign.
     Note: To make changes, you must lock the product.
   • The Variant Values section of the page shows the list of variation values with Attribute ID, Attribute Name, and the defined value. To update the values, select the desired values from the dropdown list boxes and click Apply.
6. You can create new local or shared variation attributes, or use any shared variation attributes already defined. To create other variation attributes (local or shared):
   1. Select site > Merchant Tools > Products and Catalogs > Variation Attributes.

      A catalog selection page appears:

   2. To open the list view of all defined shared variation attributes of this catalog, select a catalog. If an attribute definition of a shared variation attribute is deleted or the definition has an invalid type, the list view extends the ID with a suffix (Missing or Invalid).
   3. To create a new shared variation attribute and supply values for the following fields, click New.
      Attribute Definition ID: Valid attribute definition ID (type non-localizable string or integer). You can click the ellipsis (...) to open the filtered attribute definition selection window.

      Name: Name of the attribute definition after selection by the ellipsis (...).

      ID: ID of the new shared variation attribute; must be unique for the selected catalog.

      Custom Display Name: Custom display name of the shared variation attribute. If no custom display name is specified, the name of the attribute definition is used at the storefront.

      Slicing Attribute: Select to indicate that the search groups the products according to this attribute value.

      To open the attribute definition window, click the Attribute Definition ID ellipsis (...) . The window lists all defined product attribute definitions of type Non-localizable string and integer. You can search attribute definitions by ID or Name: The edit page of a shared variation attribute lists all defined values of the attribute. You can:
7. Click the Attribute Definition ID ellipsis (...) to open the attribute definition window that lists all defined product attribute definitions of type Non-localizable string and integer. You can search attribute definitions by ID or Name: The edit page of a shared variation attribute lists all defined values of the attribute. You can:
   • Search by value or name
   • Sort values (select one or more and click the sort buttons)
   • Add a new variation attribute (enter a valid value and display value, click Apply)
   • Define localizable descriptions for the display values of shared and local variation attributes.
8. To remove variation products from a base product:
   • Click Delete to delete the variation product completely from the system.
   • Click Unassign to return the variation product to the catalog as a regular product.
   • When you delete a Base Product, the variation products are unassigned into regular products.