Inventory and stock
What are product variants? Meaning and examples
Definition
Product variants: Product variants are versions of one product that differ in an option such as size, colour or flavour, each with its own SKU, barcode, price and stock.
Also called: variants, size and colour variants, item variants, parent and child SKU, variant products
Products, options and variants
A product with variants has three layers. The product, sometimes called the style or family, is what the customer thinks of: the Anaya kurta. Options are the choices, such as size and colour. Values are the choices within each option: S, M, L, XL; maroon, navy, mustard. A variant is one combination, such as the Anaya kurta in navy, size M, and it is what you actually stock, label and sell.
The number of variants is the number of values in each option multiplied together. Five sizes in three colours make 5 × 3 = 15 variants; add two sleeve lengths and it becomes 30. Each variant needs its own SKU and, if you scan, its own barcode.
When to use variants
Use variants when the versions share almost everything, such as name, description, tax rate and supplier, and differ only in the options the customer picks. Use separate products when they differ in many details, such as a different HSN code or supplier. And use pack sizes, not variants, when it is the same stock sold in different quantities, such as single pens and boxes of 10 taken from the same carton. If you are unsure, ask how the customer chooses: if they pick a size off the same rack, it is a variant.
Common variant mistakes
Variants save work only if they are set up consistently from the start.
- Creating every possible combination, even ones you never stock.
- Writing values differently, such as Red, red and RED, which splits your reports.
- Using one barcode for all sizes, so the counter cannot tell them apart.
- SKUs that do not show the option, so staff pick the wrong size.
Worked example
A kurta range at a garment store
A store stocks the Anaya kurta in sizes S, M, L, XL and XXL and colours maroon, navy and mustard: 15 variants, 10 of each, 150 pieces in all. After the festival weekend, navy in M and L has sold out while mustard XXL still has 9 left. Because each variant has its own stock, the store reorders 10 each of navy M and L, instead of another full set of 150.
In managemate
In managemate, a product with options becomes a family. Add up to three options, such as Size, Colour or Flavour, with up to 50 values each, and up to 100 variants per product, switching off combinations you do not stock. Each variant has its own SKU, barcode, selling and cost price, reorder level, photos and stock, and shares the family's category, description, stock unit, HSN code, GST rate, usual supplier and pack sizes. SKUs are suggested from the product code and values, such as TEE-RED-M, and barcodes can be generated for every variant in one step. The family itself is never bought, stocked or sold. Variants can also be imported from Excel or CSV with a parent SKU column.
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