Product variant : How to effectively structure your sheets for an optimal customer experience

When a T-shirt exists in 5 sizes and 6 colors, should 30 individual product sheets be created?

Not only does this complicate the management of your catalog internally, but it also risks losing your customers. This is where the Product variants, or combinations.

Badly managed, these variants quickly become a source of confusion, both for your teams and for your buyers. Fortunately, a Product Information Management (PIM) solution, like SolidPepper, simplifies and optimizes the management of product variants, for clearer, consistent and efficient data sheets.

In this article, discover how to structure your variants to improve your customer experience, strengthen your SEO performance and gain omnichannel efficiency.

What is a product variant?

One Product variant is a variation of a main product that shares a common base (like a root SKU) but is distinguished by a or several attributes specific, such as size, color, material, or format.

Concrete examples:

• T-shirt : available in sizes S, M, L, L, XL and XXL.
• Paint : available in 1L, 5L or 10L jars.
• Drilling machine : sold with battery or without battery.

These variations highlight the relationship between a parent product (the main entity) and its children's products (the variants). A clear parent-child structure is essential for the smooth and efficient management of your product sheets.

Why is good product variant management crucial?

Rigorous management of product variants has significant advantages for:

• The customer experience : intuitive navigation, simplified choices and clear visuals encourage buying.
• The SEO : a single optimized URL avoids duplicate content and improves your natural referencing.
• Internal teams : fewer errors, greater consistency and simplified management.
• Sales channels : a unified logic allows smooth distribution on marketplaces, e-commerce sites and printed catalogs.

In short, properly structuring your product variants has a positive impact on both your commercial performance, your teams and your customers.

Common mistakes in variant management

Poor variant management can lead to several problems:

• Duplicating forms : creating several sheets instead of grouping the combinations generates risks for your SEO (duplicate content) and makes navigation confusing for customers.
• Misleading display : ignoring to report unavailable sizes or options can frustrate your buyers.
• Lack of a logical link : the associated products are not connected properly, which disorganizes your catalog.
• Chaotic export : a poorly structured catalog complicates integration with marketplaces like Amazon or Leroy Merlin.

The essential role of PIM in the management of product variants

A PIM tool like SolidPepper is designed to make your life easier. Here's how it's transforming product variant management:

1. Creation of parent products and master sheets : structure your catalog from the start.
2. Custom attributes : combine variation characteristics such as size or color.
3. Automatic generation : create all the child cards in one click.
4. Centralized view : simultaneously enrich your variants en masse or individually.
5. Omnichannel publishing : distribute your correctly formatted variants on all your channels (e-commerce site, marketplaces, printed catalogs).

Concrete example:

A furniture brand effectively manages 1200 variant references (dimensions, colors and materials) in SolidPepper thanks to a single parent model. With a single click, it publishes simultaneously on its e-commerce site and three marketplaces. The result: impressive time savings and total consistency.

Variants and omnichannel: an essential performance driver

Optimized management of product variants directly feeds your omnichannel performance:

• On an e-commerce site : simplified navigation improves conversion rates.
• On marketplaces : a clear structure promotes visibility and sales.
• In the PDF catalogs : grouping combinations saves space and provides clarity.
• For teams : a single point of truth in the PIM guarantees perfect consistency.

Best practices for structuring your variants in a PIM

To get the most out of product variants, follow these recommendations:

1. Define essential attributes from the start (size, color, etc.).
2. Create typical models according to product categories.
3. Standardize names and formats to avoid confusion.
4. Test your product sheets on your main channels before broadcast.
5. Use completeness charts in SolidPepper to verify that all required information has been completed.

Improve your variant management with SolidPepper

Product variant management is an essential pillar of your omnichannel performance. With a solid structure, you offer a better customer experience, boost your online visibility and simplify the daily life of your teams.

SolidPepper provides you with powerful tools to structure, enrich and distribute your product variants effortlessly.

👉 Increase performance and consistency today. Request a SolidPepper demo now!

‍