Product variants

Variants are versions of one product, for example a size, a colour or a capacity. Each variant is a full product with its own codes, price, photos, parcels and stock. The product the variants belong to becomes a template that groups them.

Where to find it: Catalog → Products → Product list, open a product, click Edit, then the Variants step. On a new product (Catalog → Products → New product / set) it is the last step.

When you'll use it

• You sell the same product in several sizes or colours and want them kept together.
• You are adding a new size to an existing family.
• An order line or a production order is refused, and the message mentions a variant template.
• Add variant is unavailable and you want to know why.

Key concepts

• Variants are optional. You can add versions of a product as variants or as separate products. Both ways work. Variants keep the versions together on one card.
• The product becomes a template. Once you save the first variant, the product groups the variants and serves as the pattern for new ones. From then on you sell, produce and receive stock only for the variants.
• A variant is a full product. It has its own SKU (stock keeping unit), price, photos, attributes, parcels, stock and product card.
• A variant starts as a copy. The description, category, price, attributes and other values are copied from the product, so you change only what differs. Copied fields are marked as filled in from the product. The codes are the exception. SKU, EAN (European Article Number) and UPC (Universal Product Code) are not copied, because they must be unique.
• One level only. A variant cannot have variants of its own.
• Variant changes are saved with the product. Adding, editing and removing variants on the Variants step takes effect when you save the product.

What a template cannot do:

The template…	Use instead
cannot be put on an order or a shipment	a specific variant
cannot be received into stock or adjusted	a specific variant
cannot be produced	a specific variant
cannot be put into a set or a recipe	a specific variant
has no order product mappings and no low-stock alert of its own	set them on each variant

The screen

The Variants step. It has a Product variants section with:

• an Add variant button;
• a table with the columns Variant (photo, name, SKU), Price and Stock;
• an edit button and a delete button on each row.

Rows with unsaved changes are tagged New, Changed or To remove. A banner above the table counts the unsaved variant changes and reminds you to save the product.

The variant window. Add variant opens New variant. The edit button on a row opens Edit variant. You work through these steps:

Step	What it holds
Basics	Variant name: the part added after the product's name, such as "White" or "XL". A preview shows the full name. Then category, brand, manufacturer, description, the product type and origin, and the SKU, EAN and UPC.
Images and price	Photos. You can copy any of the product's photos with one click. Then the price fields: currency, price with Net / Gross, Default VAT rate (%), the One-Stop Shop (OSS) rates if your company uses them, and Prices in other currencies.
Attributes	The variant's own attribute values.
Logistics	Parcels & dimensions and Order product mappings.
Warehouse & type	Unit, Low-stock alert, and the Own recipe switch.
Recipe	Only when Own recipe is on.

The final button differs:

• For a new variant it is Add to list, on the last step.
• For an existing variant it is Apply, on every step. If a step still has something missing, the bar at the bottom names the step and the problem.

On the product list, a product with variants has an Expand variants (n) button. Click it to show the variants underneath, with their SKU, available stock and base price. The product's Inventory figures are the sum across its variants.

On the product card, a product with variants has a Product variants tab with a Manage variants link. A variant's card has a Parent button in the header.

📷 Screenshot to add: the Variants step with three variants, one of them tagged New.

Common tasks

Add variants to a product

1. Open the product, click Edit and go to the Variants step.
2. Click Add variant.
3. On Basics, type the Variant name.
4. Leave SKU empty to have one assigned, or type your own. Add the EAN if the variant has its own barcode number.
5. Click Next through the steps and change only what differs from the product, for example photos, price, attributes or parcels.
6. Click Add to list. The variant appears in the table, tagged New.
7. Repeat for the other variants.
8. Click Save in the bar at the bottom of the product form. This is when the variants are created.

If these are the product's first variants, Complaia asks first whether to turn the product into a variant parent. The window explains what changes. If the product has order product mappings, it warns that they will stop assigning orders until you move them to a variant. See Move mappings from a product to its variants.

On a new product the steps are the same. The variants are created right after the product itself.

Edit a variant

1. On the Variants step, click the edit button on the variant's row.
2. Change what you need and click Apply. You can click it on any step.
3. Click Save on the product.

Give a variant its own recipe

A variant uses the product's recipe unless you give it its own. BOM stands for bill of materials, another name for a recipe.

1. Open the variant from the Variants step and go to Warehouse & type.
2. Turn on Own recipe.
3. Build the recipe on the Recipe step, which appears when the switch is on. See Recipe & production.
4. Click Apply, then Save on the product.

Turning the switch off again does not delete a recipe that was already saved for the variant.

Remove a variant

1. On the Variants step, click the delete button on the variant's row. The row is tagged To remove. To take the tag off, click Undo.
2. Click Save on the product.
3. Complaia lists the variants that will be deleted and asks you to confirm. Deleting is permanent, together with the variant's card and photos.

A variant is deleted under the same rules as any product: not while it is in a set, on an open order, or in stock. When the last variant is removed, the product stops being a template and becomes an ordinary product again.

Map shop orders to variants

Order product mappings belong to variants, because an order must always point to a specific variant.

1. On the Variants step, click the edit button on the variant's row.
2. Go to the Logistics step of the variant window and add the mappings.
3. Click Apply, then Save on the product.

To remove a mapping in the variant window, click its bin and confirm. The mapping is removed when the variant is saved.

If the product had mappings before it got variants, move them. See Move mappings from a product to its variants.

Import variants from a file

1. In the file, give each variant its own row.
2. Put the product's SKU in the Parent SKU column of each variant row.
3. Import the file. See Importing products.

Print labels for variants

1. Open the product that has the variants and click Print labels.
2. Choose the variants to print for. See Identifiers & labels.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
The first variant can't be added yet	After the first variant, the product holds no stock of its own, cannot be produced and cannot be part of a set or a recipe. Something on the product conflicts with that. The section lists each reason.	Clear each reason listed, then come back.
…issue all stock …	The product itself has stock. The message names the warehouses.	Bring its stock to zero first.
…finish or cancel the open production orders …	Production orders are open for the product.	Finish or cancel them.
…remove the product from the sets and recipes where it is a component …	Other products use it. The message links to them.	Remove it there, or use a variant in its place afterwards.
…the product is itself a variant …	You opened a variant.	Add the new variant on its parent.
A code is already taken, in the variant window	Another product or variant has that SKU, EAN or UPC.	Use a different code.
Enter the variant name	The Variant name is empty.	Type the part that tells this variant apart.
One of the items points to a product that is a variant template. Choose a specific variant of this product.	An order line points to the template.	Choose the variant on the order.
A variant template cannot be received into stock. Choose a specific product variant.	A goods receipt was attempted for the template.	Receive the variant.
A note that a product with variants has no order mappings of its own, when you create a product	You added mappings on Logistics and then variants.	Remove the mappings from the product and add them in the variant windows.
Mappings not saved: …. Add them again in the variant window.	The variant was saved but one of its mappings was not.	Open the variant and add the mapping again.
A variant was not created, and a message mentions a multi-parcel product in the recipe	The variant's own recipe contains a product that ships in several parcels.	Use a single-parcel product in the recipe. See Recipe & production.
The Low-stock alert on the product is locked.	The stock belongs to the variants.	Set the alert on each variant.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See variants on the list and on product cards	Products: View
Add a variant	Products: Create
Edit a variant, or open the Variants step of an existing product	Products: Edit
Remove a variant	Products: Delete
Set a variant's price	Products: Price editing

Related

• Product types & structure — simple products, sets and templates
• The product record — the form a variant copies
• Identifiers & labels — codes must be unique for each variant
• Importing products — variants in a file, and order product mappings
• Pricing · Packaging & parcels · Recipe & production
• Glossary — variant