Product Variants

Many products are available in different styles and variations, such as color or size. On your B2B Wave platform, you can set up different options for products, give them different prices and codes (SKUs), and assign different quantities and images to them. Below, you will find how to add and manage product variants and how to assign them in bulk by importing them to your B2B eCommerce platform.

Creating Product Options

To add variants to your products, you need to follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to Products >Options, then click “New product option group.”

Step 2. Fill in the necessary information on the “New product option group” page.

Specifically, on this page you will encounter the following fields:

Name	Enter the name of the option you want to create (e.g., Size)
Code	Add a code name for the option (e.g., SZ)
Type	Choose the appropriate option from the drop-down menu. Here you will find the following selections: Simple Text: Available product options will appear on your B2B store as a simple text field that your customer can fill in. Consider this option if customers can customize your product (e.g., add or engrave a message on a product) List of values: Available options will appear in a drop-down menu for your customer to choose from. Consider this option if customers can choose from products that come in different colors, sizes, weights (e.g., 10 oz, 12 oz), or flavors. Remember that you must insert additional information here, such as each option’s name, code, color, or image. To find out more, click here. Product variants can be created only for these options. Add Image: Available product options are custom based on customer requests. Consider this option to allow customers to upload images of how they want the product variant to look (e.g., custom designs for screen printing or wallpapers)
View Order	Specify the order for this option to appear on your B2B portal’s product listings. For example, if you want it to appear first on your homepage, set the value to “0”, if you want it to appear second, set the value “1”, and so on
Is required	Check this box if you require customers to select a product variant when placing orders

Step 3. Once you’ve added your variant values, click “Save.”

Adding Product Variants to Existing Products Manually

Once you set your product options, it’s time to assign them to the products for which you offer variants. Remember that you can create variants only for product options whose type is “List of Values.” Let’s see how you can do this.

Step 1. Go to Products >Products and click on the product you want to add variants.

Step 2. On the “Editing product” page, look for the “Product Options” tab. Then, click on “+” and select the appropriate option from the drop-down menu. Remember that you can add up to two (2) options per product.

Step 3. Go to the “Code & price variants” tab. Check the product option(s) you want to add to the product, and then click “Create Code & Price Variants” to generate variations based on your selected options. You can also choose which product variant values you want to enable here. For each variant, you can:

Choose if the variant is active or not
Add a unique variant code
Input inventory quantity
Specify variant prices for multiple price lists at once
Upload images

NOTE: The product’s pricing on your storefront will automatically change to match the price you set for the selected variant to ensure customers see the right price.

Step 3. Once you’ve created your variations, click “Save.” The product listing on your storefront will now reflect these too.

Adding Product Variants to Existing Products in Bulk

Before mass importing product variants for the first time, remember that you must first create or import products and product options.

To upload product variants for the first time, complete these steps:

Step 1. Go to Tools >Import Product Variants and click “Sample file import” to download the sample file.

Step 2. Open the spreadsheet and fill in the necessary information.

Specifically, you need to fill out the following:

product_sku	Enter the main product’s code (e.g., KN0003)
variant_sku	Insert the product variant's code (e.g., KN0003-BL)
option_set	Add the list of product options that apply to this product, using a comma (,) to separate them (e.g., Color,Size)
Product options (based on your options)	Insert each product option in the appropriate “option_set” column and specify which options you want the product to inherit (e.g., if you have added color as an option, the column's name will be “Color” and a possible variant could be “Black”)
quantity	Add the inventory quantity for this product variant. Note that this does not currently sync with the main product’s quantity
active	Type “1” to specify that the variant is active on your B2B store or “0” if the product is inactive
price	Enter the product variant's price for a specific price list

NOTE: Remember to create a new row for each variant in your spreadsheet if a product has multiple variants.

Step 3. Go to Tools >Import Product Variants, and choose the relevant price list you want to mass import product variants and their pricing from the “Price List” drop-down menu. Then, click “Choose File” to upload your file, and click “Import.” Remember that your file should be in .xlsx format.

Exporting Product Variants

To export your existing product variants, follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to Tools >Import Product Variants on your Admin Dashboard and click “Export Product Variants.”

Step 2. Choose from the available options on the “Export Product Variants” page and click “Export.”

Specifically:

Price List	Select the appropriate price list from the drop-down menu
Category	Choose the appropriate option from the drop-down menu. Remember to choose “All” if you want to download all product categories
Active variants?	Select the appropriate option from the drop-down menu to export: (a) all products, or only (b) active or (c) inactive product variants
Active products?	Select the appropriate option from the drop-down menu to export: (a) all products, or only (b) active or (c) inactive products

Updating Product Variants in Bulk

You can update product variants in bulk by downloading and re-uploading them on our B2B eCommerce platform. To do this:

Step 1. Go to Tools >Import Product Variants, click “Export Product Variants,” select the appropriate price list and options on the “Export Product Variants” page, and click “Export.”

Step 2. Make the necessary changes to the file, then import this new file through Tools >Import Product Variants. Remember that your file should be in .xlsx format. Below, you will find the columns included in the downloaded spreadsheet.

product_sku	Corresponds to themain product’s code (e.g., SKU1)
b2b_product_id	Refers to the main product’s identification code used internally on B2B Wave
product_name	Corresponds to the main product's name
variant_sku	Reflects the product variant's code (e.g., SKU1L)
b2b_variant_id	Refers to the variant’s identification code used internally on B2B Wave
option_set	Refers to the list of product options that apply to this product. If multiple options are available for this product, these will appear here with a comma (,) separating them (e.g., Color,Size)
Product options (based on your options)	Each product option will appear in separate columns on the spreadsheet. Use these columns to update product variants
quantity	Corresponds to the inventory quantity for this product variant. Use this column to update the relevant amount. Note that this does not currently sync with the main product quantity
active	Corresponds to whether the product variant is active or inactive on your B2B store. To update this information, use values “1” (active) and “0” (inactive), respectively
price	Refers to the product variant's price for the selected price list. Use this column to update the variant’s pricing

NOTE: You can upload product variant images in bulk. To do so, add a column at the end of your exported spreadsheet named “gallery_image_url1,” and insert the image’s URL in the relevant cell. For more information on mass-uploading photos, read our dedicated article here.