Creating a Configurable Product

Overview

A Configurable product offers the customers a variety of options, which are selected from drop-down lists.  For example, a tee shirt that comes in three colors and three sizes would have two drop-down lists of options for Color and Size.

Although it may appear to be a single product, in this example, there are actually nine associated Simple products to cover every possible combination of options:  Blue (Small, Medium, Large), Green (Small, Medium, Large), and Orange (Small, Medium Large). Each option in the drop-down list represents a separate Simple product with a distinct SKU, which makes it possible to track inventory for any variation the customer selects.

Configurable Product with Drop-Down List

A Configurable product can be used to create a “one-to-many” relationship with the following product type:

• Simple Product (without Custom Variants and Options)

Although you could achieve a similar effect using a Simple product with Custom Variants and Options, you would not be able to track inventory for the variations. A Configurable Product does require more SKUs and may initially take a little longer to set up, but it gives you more control of your inventory.

Follow these steps to create a configurable product:

Step 1: Create the “Dropdown” Attributes

Step 2: Create the Attribute Set

Step 3: Create the Configurable Product Record

Step 4: Add the Associated Products

Step 5: Manage Shopping Cart Images

Points to Remember

• A Configurable Product is essentially a collection of Simple products which are presented as options in drop-down lists.
• The drop-down list values are based on Attributes that must be set up in advance with required settings. The attribute Scope must be set to Global, and Use to Create Configurable Product must be True.  The drop-down Attributes must be included in an Attribute Set, which is then used as a template for the Configurable Product.
• The Simple products associated with a Configurable Product cannot include Custom Variants or Options, and must be based on the same Attribute Set that is used to create the Configurable product.  The associated products can be generated automatically from inside with Configurable product record.
• The image of the product that appears during checkout can be set to display either the “Parent Image” or the “Product Thumbnail Itself.”


< Previous Next >
“Creating a Configurable Product”