Transition to Items with Variants
If using basic items with modifiers or separate inventory items to sell variations of a single product, transition to using items with variants to simplify inventory tracking and reporting. We’ll show you how to transition these items, review how items with variants appear in reporting and at the register, and touch on some unsupported features.
For help deciding whether to continue using basic items with modifiers or switch to items with variants, visit our Variants vs. Modifiers article.
Table of Contents
What to Know Before Transitioning
Before transitioning basic items into items with variants, there are some important details to be aware of.
Basic Items to Items with Variants
Transition basic items into items with variants one at a time from the Item List or in bulk using spreadsheets with Bulk Management.
Item List
- From the Item List, click 'Add New' and select 'Create' under 'Item with Variants'.
For more detailed help creating an item with variants, visit our Add an Item with Variants article.
- Enter a name for the item and fill in the other settings.
All items must have unique names. If an existing basic item is called ‘Sheet Set’, give the item with variants a different name, such as ‘Sheet Sets’. Do not delete the basic item.
- Enter the variations, such as size and color, from the existing basic item into the corresponding 'Option Name' and 'Option Value' fields.
- Enter a price for each variant.
- (Optional) Enter a 'Quantity', 'Cost', 'UPC', and/or 'Reorder Trigger' for each variant.
If the existing basic item uses a UPC that must be used for a variant, remove the UPC from the basic item before adding it to the variant. Failure to do this will result in a ‘UPC already used’ error.
- Save the item.
Items with variants appear on the Item List alongside basic items. Click the arrow icon next to an item to view its active variants. To show or hide variants for every item on the list, click ‘Expand all’ or ‘Collapse all’.
Bulk Management
- Start a new Bulk Management job and download the blank import template.
For more detailed help importing items with variants, visit our Bulk Management article.
- Enter a name for each item.
All items must have unique names. If an existing basic item is called ‘Sheet Set’, give the item with variants a different name, such as ‘Sheet Sets’. Do not delete the basic item.
- Enter the variations, such as size and color, from the existing basic item into the corresponding 'Option Name' and 'Option Value' fields on the template spreadsheet.
- Fill in the remaining parameters for each item.
- Values entered (e.g. UPC, Price, etc.) apply to all variants of an item. After importing the spreadsheet, individual variants can be edited from the Item List.
- If an existing basic item uses a UPC that must be used for a variant, remove the UPC from the basic item before adding it to the spreadsheet.
- When the spreadsheet is finished, save it and upload the file with Bulk Management.
- For step-by-step help saving and uploading the spreadsheet, visit our Bulk Management article.
- Items with variants appear on the Item List alongside basic items. Click the arrow icon next to an item to view its active variants. To show or hide variants for every item on the list, click ‘Expand all’ or ‘Collapse all’.
Reporting
Learn about some of the reporting available for items with variants. For an extended look, visit our Items with Variants in BackOffice article.
At the Register
When an item with variants is selected at the register, its variants appear, similarly to modifiers. Keep in mind that each variant represents a separate item in reporting.
Missing an item with variants on the register? Visit our troubleshooting guide for help.
Unsupported Features
The BackOffice features listed below are not supported for items with variants. Not to worry, they all still work for basic items.