Converting an Item from using Options to Variations
- Perry Tew
- Hunter Schaeffer
Introduction
This tutorial demonstrates how to convert an item that uses Options to instead use Item Variations, using a real-world case from an UltraCart merchant.
Both Options and Variations allow customers to select product configurations. However, Variations offer significantly more flexibility. When a customer selects a variation and adds it to their cart, UltraCart replaces the item with a corresponding child item, enabling unique configurations per variation such as:
Separate inventory tracking (e.g., by size)
Recurring order eligibility
Custom pricing and cost structures
Distinct shipping and fulfillment settings
Note: Each variation adds a new item, but the flexibility gained makes it worthwhile.
Scenario
In this example, the merchant is selling a sweatshirt available in two styles: Pullover Hoodie and Zip-up Hoodie. The original item only had a Size option (e.g., Adult Large, Adult Extra Large, Adult XX Large), and the merchant needed to track inventory separately by both Style and Size. To accomplish this, the item is converted from using Options to Variations.
Prerequisites
Prerequisite: You must have an item configured with Options in the Item Editor.
The current item had one option, Size.
The size option had these values: Adult Large, Adult Extra Large, and Adult XX Large.
The rest of this tutorial will show the steps taken to convert this item from the options above to using variations.
Steps
Navigate to the Option/Variations Tab in the Item Editor:
Adding the missing Style Option
We need to add the ‘Style’ option to the item option configuration before we convert to item variations configuration, since the wizard will automatically generate the child items representing each purchasable variation of the item based upon both the selected style and selected size.
From the Options/Variations tab, click the Add Option button, then add Style:
Select Drop-down List of values, then enter the two styles Pullover Hoodie and Zip up Hoodie.
Save the changes. Now we have our two item options that we will convert to the item variations configuration, so that we have all of the 'child items representing all of the purchasable variations:
Using the Variations Wizard to convert the item options for item variations
Click on the Variation Wizard button. (It's in Variations section of the Option/Variations tab in the item editor.)
You’ll be presented with a dialog window ‘Variation Wizard - Step 1’:
For Step 1, you’ll enter each of the variations needed to replace the existing item options.
For Step 1, enter the variations needed. Enter ‘Style' and in the next Variation Name field enter ‘Size’, then click the ‘Next’ button:
For Step 2, enter the Style variation options, they were ‘Pullover Hoodie' and 'Zip up Hoodie’.
Enter those, then click the ‘Next’ button:
Next, complete the same for Size variation:
On the final screen, we're presented with a list of proposed child items that will map to each purchase variation:
Here you have options to change and apply a new item prefix and also to manually modify the itemID’s of the variation child items. In this case, we will accept the suggested items, so we click the Finish button.
When we click the Finish button, the items are created by copying the parent item and then displayed for us to review in the Variations section of the Options/Variations tab in the item editor:
If everything looks good, so the last step is to remove the size option associated with this item.
In the Options/Variations tab, Click on the remove button for the Style & Size option in the Options section:
We end up with our item configuration fully converted to the item variations configuration:
We now have the item converted from item options for Style and Sizing to the item variation configuration!
The customer will now be presented with two drop-down menu options: Style & Size and their selected style and size will be added to the cart:
NOTE: With inventory tracking enabled on the Child items, when the customer selects their style and then clicks the drop-down list for size, only the in stock items will appear in the drop down list.