Product types and attributes

Every product kind in your shop can possess its distinct collection of attributes, including the custom ones you establish yourself. For instance, category Novels with the following attributes: ISBN, publisher, language, target age, and cover; or category Apparel with the sex, age group, shade, and dimensions attributes.

Though product types remain unseen on the shopfront, attributes and their values can be showcased on the item pages, simplifying the selection and comparison process for consumers:

Attributes are also valuable if you aim to enrich the search functionality in your online shop using item filters. If you wish to keep significant information in the shop admin, you can create concealed attributes that won’t be visible to consumers.

Whenever you append a fresh item to your shop, it’s automatically assigned to the Standard product kind. By default, Standard is the sole kind existing in your shop.

If all your items share the same attributes(e.g., they all possess net item weight) or you maintain a small inventory, you can simply persist with the Standard kind. Nevertheless, if you own an extensive inventory with various kinds of items, you can introduce new product kinds, each with its unique set of attributes, and assign them to selected items.

By default, every product kind in your shop has two universal attributes:

• UPC — a distinctive item identifier referred to as EAN in Europe, JAN in Japan, and ISBN for novels
• Brand

You can modify attributes for any product kind (including the default Standard kind): alter their display name and visibility on the shopfront, as well as append new custom attributes. In this manner, you can formulate a distinctive set of attributes for a particular product kind based on your requirements.

Modifying product attributes

You have the option to introduce new attributes or modify default attributes to establish a distinct set of item traits for a specific product kind. For instance, if you specialize in accessories, you might include Style and Material attributes to facilitate customers in accessing essential product details promptly.

To modify attributes for a product kind:

1. Navigate to Setting → Product types from your shop admin panel.
2. On the left-hand side, choose your product kind (typically, it’s Standard).
3. Modify the visible names of the existing attributes if necessary. For instance, rename UPC to ISBN and Brand to Manufacturer.
4. Fill in the blank spaces with the names of your new custom attributes (if required). For example, Pattern and Size for clothing:
   

   

5. To include additional attribute fields, select + Add New.
6. To conceal certain attributes from customers, opt for Do not show from the Show dropdown menu. Hidden attributes will solely appear in your shop admin interface and will not be visible on the item description page.
7. To rearrange the sequence of attributes on the item description page, simply drag and drop the fields:
   

   

8. Click on Save.

Voila! You have successfully adjusted the attributes for your product kind.

Now you can append attribute values for the items that pertain to this category.

Specifying values for product attributes

Once you've modified attributes for a specific product kind, you can define attribute values for items belonging to this category. For instance, for your Material attribute, you might input “Gold”. Attribute values are assigned to each product individually.

Assigning attribute values is discretionary. If you opt not to define attribute values for certain items, the attributes won't be visible on their respective product pages.

To specify attribute values for a product:

There you have it! Now all items belonging to this product category possess the attribute values you've specified. Public attributes will be displayed on the product page in your store, while hidden attributes will only appear in your shop admin panel.

Addition of New Product types

If you wish to categorize your inventory (e.g., you offer a wide range of items with distinct attributes), you have the option to introduce new product varieties to your shop. You're free to create as many product types as necessary, and each variety can possess its unique array of attributes.

To initiate a new product variety:

1. Visit Options → Product types from your shop admin section.
2. Click on + Add New Product Variety.
3. Browse through the list or utilize the search function to pinpoint the most suitable option from the list:
   

   

4. Click on Add.
5. (optional) Click on Change, then Apply to modify the name of the product variety (e.g., to a name that better fits your products).

And there you have it! The product variety is now established in your shop. You can now introduce a unique set of attributes for it and assign this variety to specific items.

Unlike attributes, product types will not be visible on the product pages within your shop.

Assigning product categories to products

Following the creation of a new product variety, you can allocate it to any item in your shop. All items associated with this specific variety will share the same set of attributes.

To assign a product variety to an item:

1. Navigate to Catalog → Products in your shop's admin area.
2. Select an item or create a new one.
3. Access the Attributes tab, then click on Change type:
   

   

4. Choose the necessary product variety from the dropdown menu.
5. Click on Save.

That's it! You've assigned a variety to an item.

Alternative uses of product types and attributes

Apart from showcasing additional product details on your storefront, product varieties and attributes can serve other purposes such as storing certain service information about items in your shop admin, improving search functionality in your online shop with product filters, and more.

Maintaining confidential information about items

By utilizing hidden item attributes, you can retain item specifications that are used for internal purposes in your shop admin without disclosing them online. For instance, you can utilize them to store manufacturer codes, internal memos, and so forth.

To designate an attribute as hidden:

1. Go to Settings → Product types in your shop admin.
2. Select the variety to which your attribute pertains.
3. Opt for Do not show from the dropdown menu for this attribute:
   

   

4. Click on Save.

Any value you add for this attribute on the item page in Catalog → Products will only be visible on the Attributes tab in your shop admin:

Searching items by attributes

Facilitating easy navigation through your inventory is crucial, especially for stores with extensive multi-brand catalogs. Attributes enable you to offer product filtering which allows shoppers to refine their searches by attribute values (e.g., brand, material, etc.).

Removing items from search results

If you have hidden items and categories in your catalog, you may have observed that items from disabled categories still appear in search results.

By utilizing hidden item attributes, you can apply special tags to items, which will be utilized in custom JS code based on API to determine whether the item should be searchable.

Displaying net item weight

In your shop, you may sell items that require careful packaging before shipping (e.g., fragile items). In such cases, there may be a significant difference between the weight of your item with and without packaging. The values from the Weight field on the General tab of the item page in your shop admin are utilized to calculate shipping rates. Therefore, you should input the maximum possible weight (“with” packaging) there to avoid pricing errors. You can toggle the display of this field in your storefront by selecting the respective option for the Weight box in the Design, Sidebar section of your shop admin.

To showcase weight without packaging on the item page (i.e., net item weight) for your customers, you can employ custom item attributes. Simply create an attribute named “Weight (without packaging)”, input your value, and opt to Show it on the Manage Attributes page.

Generating reports

You can utilize the values of your custom attributes in reports by exporting them using the API. For instance, if you employ item attributes for maintaining internal information about items such as manufacturer codes and wish to include it in reports, consider developing a custom application for gathering the attribute values.