Variants

in this guide, we'll walk you through the step by step process of leveraging your pim system to create and manage variants efficiently step 1 accessing variants upon logging in, navigate to the side menu of the upstart commerce portal, go to pim, and click on variants initiate the variant creation process by clicking +create new in the top right corner step 2 create new variant in the variant creation process, provide the following details sku input the unique code for the variant's storekeeping unit variant name enter a name that distinctly identifies the variant and will be displayed on your site product template choose the appropriate product template for your variant from the available dropdown options this template provides the basic gray structure for your product give custom variant id enter a unique variant id that would help identify the product link products here you can link the created variant to its main product for example, if you have created a variant named iphone 13 pro max , you can link it to the base product iphone 13 to establish the relationship between the two you can link variants to products using either of the following methods search and select products from the list using the search bar copy and paste comma separated product ids directly into the input field users can input a custom id for their variant; however, if the variant id already exists, an error will occur if no variant id is provided, the system will assign a randomly generated variant id note only products with the same template id as the variant can be linked here this ensures that the variant and the linked products follow the same structural template, allowing for proper association and functionality step 3 finalizing variant creation after completing the form, you are presented with two choices create draft click the create draft button to save your variant as a draft, keeping it unpublished on the portal this allows you to revisit and edit the variant details at your convenience before making it live for user visibility create & open click on the create & open button, and you will be directed to the variant details page this is the preferred choice when you intend to make the variant live and immediately utilize it on your site and the upstart commerce portal step 4 configuring variant details in the core information, provide the following details note you do not need to re enter the sku or variant name here, as these were already provided during the variant creation process description enter a brief description of your variant in two to three lines include features and specifications, and any other unique selling points for your potential customers variant tags add relevant variant tags to enhance searchability and improve seo (search engine optimization) tags are keywords or phrases that describe your variant and help customers find it more easily when searching on your website or through search engines implement seo practices under seo, you are required to add the following details page title specify the seo page title to optimize the variant's appearance in search results the page title should be descriptive and include important keywords related to your variant, increasing its visibility and click through rate in search engine results pages slug enter the unique part of the url that identifies the variant page against the user's search query meta description write a brief description of the page's content to influence click through rates from search engine users meta keywords input relevant seo meta keywords to enhance search engine visibility these keywords should accurately reflect the content and purpose of your variant, helping search engines match your variant with relevant search queries schedule your variant navigate to the schedule variant section in navigation menu here, you can specify the activation date and deactivation date for your variant activation date this is the date when your variant becomes available for customers to purchase or access on the website once the activation date is reached, the variant will be made visible and accessible to users, allowing them to place orders or interact with it as intended deactivation date conversely, the deactivation date is the date when your variant will no longer be available for purchase or access after this date, the variant will be automatically removed or hidden from the website, preventing further orders or interactions add shipping methods select the shipping methods you want to enable for the variant these methods will determine how this variant of the product can be delivered to customers during checkout associate to website under the associate to website section, link the variant to your website by selecting the appropriate site from the dropdown menu this ensures that the variant is correctly connected to the desired storefront within the pim system add related products in the related products section, you can associate other relevant products with your variant search for products by name, select the most appropriate ones, and add them as related products these items will appear as suggestions or related recommendations alongside the variant on your site, helping to enhance cross selling opportunities and improve the user shopping experience add media in the media section, upload relevant images or videos for the variant this includes variant images, lifestyle photos, or promotional videos view custom section the view custom section displays the name of the custom product template associated with the product this field is non editable and is shown here for reference only if you wish to modify the name or details of the template, navigate to the respective custom product template page, where edits can be made step 5 publish your variant once all variant details have been added, navigate to the bottom left of the page to access the following actions ready click ready to mark the variant as ready this indicates that the variant is finalized and prepared for internal review publish click publish to make the variant live on the upstart commerce portal this action officially releases the variant to your storefront, making it accessible and visible to end users any changes made before publishing will be instantly reflected once published variants listing page on the variants listing page, you will see two icons on the top below filters select your desired variant, then click the three dotted icon to reveal the available actions duplicate – create an exact copy of the selected variant for reuse or modification download – export the variant details in a downloadable format (e g , csv or json) group attributes – add the selected variant to an product group for better organization and easier management set state manage the variant 's visibility and accessibility hidden – temporarily remove the variant from public view without deleting it view only – make the variant visible but prevent further edits archive – retire the variant from active use while retaining it for record keeping when you click the bulk download icon, all the variants listed on the screen will be downloaded , check box with variants or not your choice and then they will be transfered to the download tab in the pim system go to downloads and there will be a link provided to you where you can download it note when updating an existing variant, the system automatically generates a draft with the status "edits in published " this status indicates that a draft version exists, but your live variant remains unchanged until you choose to publish saving as a draft lets you refine and review your updates without affecting the current published variant once ready, you can publish the draft to apply your changes duplicate sku creation for archived skus pim allows users to create a duplicate sku if the original sku has been archived once a duplicated sku has been published and is live, the original archived sku cannot be recovered