Variants
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Variants are the versions of a product a shopper can choose between, such as a T-shirt in S, M and L. You describe them with options (Size, Colour, Material) and their values. Kartlo creates one variant for every combination, and each variant carries its own price and stock.
Options and variants#
An option is a choice the shopper makes. Its values are the answers you offer. For example:
| Option | Values | Variants created |
|---|---|---|
| Size | S, M, L | 3 |
| Size and Colour | S, M, L and Black, White | 6 (S / Black, S / White, M / Black, and so on) |
A product can have up to three options. Two options cannot share the same name.
Add variants to a new product#
To add options while you create the product:
- In Products, click Add Product and fill in the name and price.
- Open the Options — sizes, colours, materials section.
- Click Add options like size or colour.
- Type the Option name or pick one from the list, for example Size.
- Under Values, type each value and press comma after it, for example S, M, L, or tap a quick pick below the field. Size and Colour offer common sizes and colours; spellings like xl or XLarge are saved as XL.
- To add a second or third option, click Add another option.
- In the variant list, set each variant's Price, SKU, Barcode and Qty.
- Click Save product.
Every variant starts at the product's price. Change the price on any variant that costs more or less, for example a larger size.
Suggested options from the category#
When you pick a Category, Kartlo may suggest common options for it, such as Size and Colour for clothing. Click the Add button in the Common options box to add the option names. You still type the values you actually sell; the full list of possible sizes or colours is never added for you.
Keep the number of variants sensible#
Variants multiply: three options with ten values each make a thousand variants. A warning appears once a product has more than about 100 variants, so trim the values on your options if you did not mean to create that many.
SKUs and barcodes#
A SKU is your own stock code. Each SKU must be unique in your store, across all products. Two variants cannot use the same SKU, and a SKU already used by another product is refused when you save, with a message naming it.
You can leave SKUs blank. Blank SKUs never clash.
Stock for products with variants#
Once a product has options, stock is counted per variant. The Track Inventory card on the form shows a summary instead of a single quantity: each variant with its quantity, and the units in total.
Settings that apply to the whole product stay in the inventory card: Track Inventory, Reorder Point and When out of stock.
To change the stock of a variant on an existing product:
- Open the product from Products.
- Under Quantity per variant, type the new count for each variant.
- Click Save changes. Each change is recorded as a count correction in the stock history.
Change variants after saving#
You can change options and variants at any time. Open the product from Products and use the Options — sizes, colours, materials section:
- Add a value, for example a new size, and a new variant appears for it.
- Remove a value or a whole option. Variants that no longer exist are removed; the others keep their stock, SKU and sales history.
- Rename an option or a value. The variant keeps its stock and SKU.
- Change each variant's Price, SKU, Barcode and Qty in its row.
Click Save changes to apply everything at once.
Variants from a photo draft#
When you use Draft from photo, the AI may list option groups that products in that category usually come in. Tick the groups you sell. Every combination is created at the same price and stock, and you can change stock per variant afterwards. If a combination count is too high, untick a group. See Add products.