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B2C Commerce Variation Group Guide

Variation Groups allow merchants to create subsets of product variations that share certain attributes, like color or size. This provides more flexibility in merchandising compared to traditional slicing. Key points about Variation Groups include: - They represent a collection of individual product variations under a single group ID - Inventory is derived from the grouped variations - They can be assigned to categories and promotions like other products - Attributes can be defined at the group level to influence site search and metadata fallback The document provides instructions for setting up Variation Groups within a master product, categorizing the groups, and repositioning them for merchandising. It also discusses how Variation Groups impact site search and offers solutions for preventing duplicate results.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
94 views18 pages

B2C Commerce Variation Group Guide

Variation Groups allow merchants to create subsets of product variations that share certain attributes, like color or size. This provides more flexibility in merchandising compared to traditional slicing. Key points about Variation Groups include: - They represent a collection of individual product variations under a single group ID - Inventory is derived from the grouped variations - They can be assigned to categories and promotions like other products - Attributes can be defined at the group level to influence site search and metadata fallback The document provides instructions for setting up Variation Groups within a master product, categorizing the groups, and repositioning them for merchandising. It also discusses how Variation Groups impact site search and offers solutions for preventing duplicate results.

Uploaded by

manju koppal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Merchandising by Product Variations

What are Variation Groups?


Variation Groups allow users to create a product type that represents a subset of variation products that are part of a Variation Master.
Attributes such as color/size/width/length etc. must be maintained or imported as product variations to then build out the Variation Groups.
An attribute on the product record such as ‘sale’ or ‘new’ cannot be used to create a Variation Group. Every variant in a Variation Group
must exist as its own single product. For example, a Variation Group may be all blue variation products of any size that belong to the
master product or all size Small and blue variation products of any width. With the slicing feature you could only slice by one variation (color
or size or width) whereas now with Variation Groups you can create a group with a specific color/size/width combination. Some additional
key elements of Variation Groups:

● Every variant in a Variation Group must exist as a single product.


● The Variation Group derives its inventory from the collection of SKUs associated with the group.
● A Variation Group can be a set product or a bundled product.
● A Variation Group can be assigned to any category, just like other products.
● Variation Groups can be assigned to promotions and adjust pricing through promotions. However, Variation Groups cannot have
prices assigned in Business Manager. In this way, Variation Groups are similar to product sets.
Variation Group Features

● Colors visible for category position, making it easier to adjust the category position of variations in your category landing pages.

● You can put the Variation Group in each category rather than slicing in each category

● Curate products sets by attributes like color, size range, etc.

● Put images of a style in a specific color order in the Storefront


● Assign specific colors or sizes to a content slot on grid or landing pages

● Easily create promotions by size range or color

● Specify category position for select group of SKUs in a master product

Variations Groups vs Variation Slicing

Variation Slicing Limitations Variation Group Advantages

Product Type Color slicing which is grouping by color/size only With Variation Groups you can
merchandise by any product attribute

When using color slicing a product image represents a Variation Groups represent a product
variation product or single SKU and not all the variants for that object that represents all the variations
Inventory color. So when a product variant went out of stock, the of an attribute.
Management product or image disappeared from the storefront. As these
variant images disappeared, URL changes causing SEO
implications.

Merchandising You have to slice in each category. With Variation Groups you can put the
group in each category.
Sorting Colors are not listed in the category list to be able to Put images of a style in a specific color
manipulate order. order using category position or visual
merchandising in the Storefront with
Variation Groups

Workflow A color slice represents a single product or single SKU and A Variation Group is a product type
does not represent a product object. As a result, representing a subset of variation
merchandising is limited. For example, you can not link a color products. As a result, you now have
slice from a content slot or apply to a promotion. enhanced merchandising capabilities,
such as associating to a content slot or
promotion.

Variation Group Setup Instructions


In this example, we will go through the process to create, categorize, and position Variation Groups for a product master,
which comes in several colors.

STEP 1: Creating Variation Groups


Create Variation Groups within a master product based off of the product attributes.

INSTRUCTIONS

1.​ Search and locate the product page you wish to create Variation Groups for. In our example, we will be creating Variation Groups for
Long Sleeve Ruffle Front Trim Cardigan, product ID 25501032.

2.​ Lock the product page to allow editing.

3.​ Click on the Variations tab.


4.​ Scroll down to the Variation Groups section.

5.​ Click on Add to create the first Variation Group. If you want to name each group, then enter a name in the ID field and then create Add.
6.​ Select the color for this Variation Group. In this example, Fawn Heather is selected.

7.​ Continue until all Variation Groups have been created for all colors of the master – OR – all the colors you want to display in specific
categories.
8​. Click on Apply.

9.​ IMPORTANT:​ ​Next click on each Variation Group ID and change Searchable to Yes and change Online to Yes.
10.​ While on each Variation Group. Continue on to the Categorization step.

STEP 2: Categorizing Variation Groups


Once Variation Groups are created, you must add Variation Groups to a category page.

INSTRUCTIONS

1.​ Click on Categories and Edit Categories.

2​. Assign all Variation Groups to the specific category. In our example, that will be Women > Clothing > Tops
3.​ When completed, review the category and you will see the Variation Groups in the category.
STEP 3: Positioning Variation Groups in a Category
Once Variation Groups are created, you can use Category position or Drag and Drop to easily reorder them in the
category page.

INSTRUCTIONS

1.​ While in the category list, merchandisers can add category numbers to the Variation Groups to change their position.
2.​ You can also use the Grid View and use Drag and Drop to reorder the Variation Groups.
3.​ This will allow you to easily drag and drop the Variation Groups into place.

4.​ When you are done merchandising, run the Product Index

5.​ Also if you go into the Storefront and turn on the Storefront Toolkit, you will see that the first few images in the category are actually
Variation Groups.
Variation Group Fallback
Attribute Fallback

Variation Groups have a defined fallback. Similar to a Variation Product a Variation Group inherits attributes from the
master product, e.g. name, description or SEO data and all relations (e.g. product recommendations). If the variant does
not define its own value, the value is first retrieved from Variation Groups, sorted by position. If the value is not
provided by one of the Variation Groups, the value is retrieved from the Variation Master. But divergent from slicing you
can maintain attributes at a Variation Group level. Attributes maintained at the Variation Group level for related variants
will be included in the attribute value fallback for variants. Please note that no fallback for price is provided for Variation
Groups (it takes the price (range) of the variations) and slicing will be disabled for a Product Master with a defined
Variations Group.

Site Search Implications


You’ve followed the steps in the document and created some Variation Groups across your site but now you notice when
performing a site search that you’re experiencing duplicates?

See example and steps below on how to resolve:

● Create a ‘Red’ Variation Group on the Floral Luxe Scarf and categorize it into the Scarves category.
● As you will notice when you do so, it merchandises the product nicely in the category by color variations but if you
perform a site search it appears duplicated in search suggestions as well as on the search results page.
To fix this, there is a new Search Site Preference called 'Merged Variation Groups Display Mode.' When this feature is
enabled it will display search results containing Variation Groups as merged master products. If you are interested in
using this new feature please reach out to your CSM to work with our Product team to be part of the beta.

Another solution is highlighted below:

Navigate to the Master Product ID and mark it offline and perform a re-index:

● Note, marking your Master offline could have additional implications depending on how you are merchandising
products throughout your site. If you are categorizing your master, as most clients do, you will need to take a step
back and determine a strategy of merchandising all your Variation Groups associated with the master.
Then when you perform the same search only 1 product will appear in the suggestion and it will land you on the product
detail page of the product.

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