Product Variants: Benefits, Tips & Tricks to Boost Your Sales

When browsing online, finding the perfect item only to realise it’s out of stock in your preferred size or colour can be frustrating. This highlights a typical eCommerce issue: poorly handled product variation. 

Product variations help online stores showcase all possible options for an item—in different colours, sizes, or fragrances—within a single product listing. This feature simplifies customers’ shopping experience by offering all choices in one place, eliminating the need for unnecessary clicks or confusion.

Handling product variants can be demanding for businesses. Minor differences, such as colour or size, require unique listings and accurate information, which becomes problematic with thousands of products. Effective management of these variations helps create a smoother shopping experience.

What You Need to Know About Product Variants?

Product variants refer to the different options available for a single item, such as in varying colours, sizes, materials, or designs. These offer customers more choices, allowing them to find the exact fit, style, or feature they want in a product. Whether picking a specific shoe size, phone storage capacity, or snack flavour, variants make it easy for shoppers to select precisely what suits their needs, all within one product listing.

Each product variation is assigned a unique SKU to aid businesses with inventory management. This ensures that stock levels are tracked and updated automatically when a product is purchased.

Categories of Product Variants

The following are a few typical types of product variations:

• Size variants: Products like clothing or shoes come in multiple sizes, such as small, medium, or large.
• Colour variants: Colour options let customers pick their preferred shade, which is common in products like apparel.
• Capacity variants: Products like storage drives or batteries come in different capacities, such as 16GB or 64 GB.
• Material variants: Items like furniture and clothes may be made of various materials, such as cotton, metal, or wood.
• Flavour variants: Foods, drinks, and supplements often come in different flavours.
• Style variants: Fashion products provide style options to match different tastes and trends.
• Packaging variants: Some products come in different packaging options, like single items or bundles.

Real-World Examples of Product Variants

Here are some examples to understand product variations:

Mobile Phones

Smartphones, like the iPhone, often come with different storage options, such as 128 GB or 512 GB. They’re also available in various colours, including black, red, blue, and purple, allowing customers to choose based on personal taste and storage needs.

Beverages

Starbucks sells coffee in different sizes, like Tall, Grande, Venti, and Trenta. Customers can also choose between hot, iced, and blended options.

Product Options vs. Product Variants: Key Differences

Understanding the distinction between product options and variants is essential when managing products. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they refer to different aspects of a product.

• Product options refer to the choices available for specific attributes of a product. For example, the colour of a t-shirt or its size are product options.
• Product variants are the actual combinations of these options. They represent a unique product that results from selecting specific options. For instance, a pink, medium-sized top is a product variant.

In simple terms, product options are the different features available for customisation, and product variants are the final products customers receive after choosing their options.

How do Product Variants Appear on eCommerce Pages?

Product variants show up on eCommerce pages in a structured way to help shoppers pick the right option. These may include size, colour, style, or material. When viewing a product, one often sees all available options, such as clickable images, dropdown menus, or colour swatches like Amazon variation listing. 

Each variant might feature different images or specific descriptions to highlight its unique qualities. The chosen variant usually updates automatically so that users can see the selected product. Some pages adjust prices based on the selected option, ensuring clear pricing information. 

This layout makes it easy for consumers to compare choices without extra steps, which improves their shopping experience.

Advantages of Implementing Product Variants in Your eCommerce Store

Implementing product variants in your eCommerce store can significantly improve customer engagement. Here are some key benefits.

1. Boosts Product Visibility: Product variants make it easier for customers to find specific items. For example, a shopper searching for a “blue shirt” may only land on your product page if you offer that specific colour variant. 
2. Enhances Shopping Experience: Different variations improve user experience, allowing customers to easily browse options on one product page. Instead of clicking through multiple listings, they can view all colours, sizes, or materials in one place. This approach saves time and creates a more organised, enjoyable shopping experience.
3. More Purchases: Variants help boost sales by showcasing related options and encouraging customers to explore more. They may discover options they didn’t initially seek, increasing the likelihood of purchasing. Additionally, product variants allow for shared reviews, helping lower-ranked items gain credibility and visibility.
4. Optimises Inventory Tracking: As each variation has its own SKU, managing inventory is made simpler. With clear stock levels, you avoid overselling and can restock popular items faster, ensuring overall store efficiency.

Leveraging Product Variants to Increase Sales

Using product variants effectively can boost sales by helping customers explore options without overwhelming them. When a product comes in different versions, like varied colours, sizes, or styles, shoppers find it easier to pick one as per their preferences. For instance, a winter jacket could have options for hood types such as detachable, fixed, or helmet-compatible, allowing customers to choose based on their needs.

Displaying variants on a single page streamlines comparison, encouraging multiple purchases. Shoppers often buy complementary items, like different scents of soap or matching cushions in varied colours. By balancing the available choices to avoid decision fatigue, you can make products more appealing and increase the chances of higher sales.

Strategies for Effectively Using Product Variants in eCommerce

Here are some strategies for using product variants to make shopping smoother and more enjoyable.

• Barcode Integration: Including unique barcodes for each product variant can improve your tracking and help increase conversion rates. This also allows for better inventory control.
• Price Adjustments: You can adjust the price for each variant based on specific features, like colour or size. This flexibility lets you offer variations at different prices while keeping things simple.
• Set Availability: Clearly showing which product variants are in stock helps you avoid wasting time or marketing resources on unavailable items. Ensure your inventory data is updated.
• Product Type Organisation: Instead of using broad categories, use specific product types that align with your site’s structure. This helps organise your listings more effectively and enhances the shopping experience.
• Product Images: Assign unique images to each variant to give customers a clearer product view.
• Promotions: You can add promotions for individual product variants to attract attention and encourage customers to purchase, making offers more targeted.

Designing Templates for Product Variants

Creating templates for product variants makes adding new products quicker and easier. By using an attribute structure you’ve already set up, you can save time on each new addition. Many eCommerce platforms allow users to design these templates as pre-built Excel files or through their online tools.

When a similar product needs to be added, you don’t have to start from scratch. Instead, simply adjust values that differ, saving effort on repetitive tasks. This setup not only speeds up product listing but also keeps your store organised and consistent.

Best Practices for Working With Product Variants

When managing product variants in an online store, there are a few essential practices to keep things simple. Here are some tips to optimise your approach.

• Avoid Confusion: When adding product variants, keep the choices manageable to avoid confusing your customers. Too many options for a single product can be overwhelming. For example, if you sell T-shirts, consider keeping the neckline style—like crewneck and v-neck—separate products instead of making them variants under one listing. 

• Keep Variants Consistent: Ensure a consistent approach to grouping product variants. If you organise shoes by size, don’t suddenly mix in colour as a separate variant. Each variant should be a logical variation of the main product, like different colours or sizes.

• Optimise Product Thumbnails: Displaying each product variant with clear, attractive thumbnails is key to good merchandising. Ensure each image is consistent in size and alignment to give your store a polished, reliable look.

• Use Dropdowns or Swatches: To help shoppers explore options, select the correct display type for your product variants. Dropdown menus work well for items with multiple variations, such as size and material. For simpler choices like colour, swatches provide a quick visual selection. Choosing the best method based on product complexity ensures better organisation.

• Include Clear Titles and Descriptions: Detailed, variant-specific product titles and concise descriptions help customers understand their choices. Adding characteristic details in the title saves time and reduces confusion, allowing buyers to make confident decisions.

• Review Variants Regularly: Regularly check your product variants to keep your listings fresh. Analysing variant performance helps you see what customers prefer and update your offerings accordingly, helping you match customer demand effectively.

Conclusion

Product variations are a valuable way for eCommerce businesses to cater to customer needs and preferences. By offering different options like sizes, colours, and styles, stores make it easier for shoppers to make purchases. These choices also simplify website navigation, enhancing the user experience and encouraging customers to explore the site more.

Incorporating product variants allows businesses to expand their offerings clearly and organised, boosting customer satisfaction. When shoppers feel their preferences are met, they are more likely to return, fostering loyalty and driving long-term growth in online sales. If you want to optimise your sales channel, inventory, and catalogues, you can do so with one platform, Shiprocket.