Creating product variations on Amazon – How to do it and why you should focus on it!
Variety makes life more beautiful. Whether it’s donuts in strawberry, chocolate, and lemon flavors or the favorite shirt in all colors. We like variety, and sometimes consumers even need variations, for example, when it comes to clothing sizes.
This is how you can also find the same product in different versions on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. The band shirt for Dad in XL and for Mom in S. We customers definitely benefit from the selection.
Sellers and vendors can create product variations on Amazon. How to do this and what you should know can be found here.
Let’s start from the very beginning:
What are product variations?
Not only on Amazon can sellers with the appropriate writing rights for the respective ASIN create product variations. Various fashion providers like H&M, Zalando, and Otto have been relying on this method for a long time. A T-shirt in sizes XS to XL – five variations of one item.
Or phone cases: A special case for the iPhone XS in various colors and patterns, from floral prints to animal prints, there are a whole range of possible variations.
Of course, sellers on marketplaces like eBay and Amazon can also offer their products with different variations, provided they have the appropriate writing rights, for example, if they are brand owners. Of course, there are also guidelines from the online giant regarding the content of product variations.
Amazon itself states that products that meet the following requirements are likely to perform well as variations:
The requirements indicate that it should always be practically the same product that differs only marginally from the other variations – like the T-shirt from the example above.
It is also important to note that customers would expect these products to be together on one product page. As we all know, the customer is the focus at Amazon, and they should experience a good customer journey under all circumstances. If they click on a T-shirt and only need to select the appropriate size as expected, it is simple for them and they will not be confused. However, if they click on the T-shirt and now have to choose whether to buy the T-shirt or perhaps a dress with the same pattern, the customer is understandably confused – after all, they wanted a T-shirt, not a dress. Customer orientation, of course, has its justification. After all, this increases the likelihood that customers will shop at Amazon again in the future. You benefit from this as well.
Amazon further states on the topic of product variation: If your products do not meet the following requirements, they may not be as suitable for creating variations:
Of course, if you only offer one product variation, it makes little sense to add a product variation on Amazon. How could it?
The second point is also easy to understand if we invest a little brainpower.
The next two aspects may require a bit more explanation. When you create product variations on Amazon, they are added to the same product page. This means you have the same content – the title and description are identical. This also shows why a T-shirt and a dress, even with the same pattern, are not product variations. You would have to make the product title very cumbersome to do justice to both products, and that is not very clever from an SEO perspective. Additionally, such a title or corresponding description would not be very consumer-friendly. Thus, we have also explained the last point.
Superordinate, subordinate & product design: Amazon-German, German-Amazon
To understand the three terms, it is easier to take a closer look at the structure of the relationships between them:
As the name suggests, the superordinate product is essentially the parent of other products. This product cannot be purchased due to its structure. It serves only as an overview. This could be, for example, a T-shirt with a brand logo.
Each variation that this article has is a subordinate product. It is then the child of a parent, thus a Child. Therefore, some sellers also talk about the parent-child connection. In our example, these would be the T-shirts with the brand logo in white and black or in sizes XS to XL.
The product design describes how the subordinate products differ from each other. For example, in color or size, but sometimes in both, meaning color AND size. In our example, this would be: the white T-shirt in size M.
How to add product variations on Amazon
You have different options for creating product variations on Amazon. Provided you have the appropriate writing rights for the ASIN, for example, because you are the owner of a brand, and you adhere to Amazon’s guidelines.
Product variations can either be uploaded via flat file or created directly in Seller Central. Here, we will only discuss the procedure for creating in Seller Central:
The procedure you should use to add product variations depends on whether this variation already exists or not. For both methods, you start by selecting Inventory from the drop-down menu in Seller Central and then choosing Add a Product. Here, you can search for the product variation you want to add on Amazon. By the way, the search results are most accurate when you search using IDs like ASIN, ISBN, or EAN. Now you need to choose whether you want to add your offer to an existing variation or a completely new one.
How to add your offer to an already existing product variation on Amazon
How to create new product variations on Amazon
When creating product variants on Amazon, you should always adhere to the relevant style guides for product detail pages and for ASIN creation. A violation may result in the revocation of the ability to create corresponding content or even the revocation of selling privileges.
A small note on the side: This content (description, keywords, product category, and other attributes) will be displayed on Amazon for all product variants you create – they apply to the parent product. Of course, only for the respective item and not across products! You can manage and adjust the product details at any time under Inventory
You can also delete product variants, by the way. On Amazon, you can easily do this in the same interface where you also provide the information for variant combinations. Simply select the corresponding listing and click on delete selection.
Automatically detect product variants
With a very large number of different variants, manual creation can of course be very time-consuming. Through the Check My File function, automatic detection can also be performed for some categories to establish variant relationships. All information on this can be found in the inventory file template. Below, we provide an example from the help pages in Seller Central. For a T-shirt that comes in various sizes and colors, the inventory file could look like this:
| SKU | Title | Size | Color | Productrelationship | Parent SKU | Type of product relationship | Variant design | Price | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | T-Shirt | | | parent product | | SizeColor | | | |
| 101MB | T-Shirt blue size M | Medium | Blue | child product | 101 | Variant | SizeColor | 15,97 | 50 |
| 101SB | T-Shirt blue size S | Small | Blue | child product | 101 | Variant | SizeColor | 15,97 | 50 |
| 101LB | T-Shirt blue size L | Large | Blue | child product | 101 | Variant | SizeColor | 15,97 | 50 |
| 101MR | T-Shirt red size M | Medium | Red | child product | 101 | Variant | SizeColor | 15,97 | 50 |
| 101SR | T-Shirt blue size S | Klein | Rot | subordinate product | 101 | variant | SizeColor | 15,97 | 50 |
| 101LR | T-shirt blue size L | Large | Red | subordinate product | 101 | variant | SizeColor | 15,97 | 50 |
What you need to consider when creating product variants on Amazon
On one hand, you should always pay attention to whether you are currently in the parent or subordinate product, as this affects the structure of the product page. When you edit product attributes such as descriptions and titles, this always applies to the parent product. A description like “T-shirt size M” is not very effective if you want to create (or have already created) additional product variants on Amazon. A potential buyer with size S would probably not click on your offer, even though they have the option to select their size. After all, they assume that your offer only refers to size M.
Also note Amazon’s reminder that your items must belong to a product category where variants are allowed, such as clothing.
Additionally, you should ensure that you always adhere to the style guides of the online giant. This way, you also optimize Amazon SEO for your product variants. You can find more tips on how to optimize your listing in our blog.
Why you should focus on product variation on Amazon
Creating product variants on Amazon pusht your visibility enormously. On one hand, all individual subordinate products benefit from the visibility of the parent. This way, you only invest once in good descriptions, and all product variants become equally visible, as the customer finds all versions on the same product detail page.
On the other hand, reviews are always given for the parent product, which means the subordinates also benefit from it. We all know how hard it can sometimes be to get a review from a customer. If each product variant stands alone, the total number of reviews may be high, but the individual variants may not look very good. If you offer five sizes as individual products and each product has three reviews, that alone is not very much. However, if you offer these as product variants, the reviews are aggregated, and your product has 15 reviews. This not only creates a better impression with customers but also with the Amazon algorithm, thus improving your overall rating.
Additionally, you increase the benefit for customers on Amazon when you create product variations. With better visibility, they can see all variants at once and do not have to search again if the color of the desired T-shirt does not match their taste. Instead, customers can simply click through the offered variations and select their favorite.
Incidentally, the likelihood that a customer adds multiple items to their cart increases. If a nice blue T-shirt is offered right next to a white one that the customer is looking for, they will likely buy the blue one along with the white one.
You can also increase the cart by creating bundles on Amazon as product variants. In addition to the standard equipment, another variant can be a set with additional accessories or a combination item. For example, you can offer a bundle with glasses and a VR-compatible game alongside the VR headset as a variant. This way, you market your offers right where they are most likely to be purchased.
Image credits in the order of the images: © Alexander Raths – stock.adobe.com / © Cybrain – stock.adobe.com / © Vera Kuttelvaserova – stock.adobe.com
