Ever get confused by Amazon product variations? You’re not alone! These can be a powerful tool to boost your sales, but using them wrong can cause headaches. Here’s a quick guide to mastering variations like a pro. Imagine a single product listing with all its different sizes and colors grouped – that’s the magic of variations. Variations defined by Amazon as products under one parent listing, differ in attributes like size, color, or flavor. Customers can easily browse all the options without hopping between listings. But before you dive in, remember to back up your listings, just in case!

The Benefits of Amazon Product Variations

• Simpler Shopping Experience:

Listing variations show all available sizes, colors, patterns, and flavors in one place, simplifying the shopping experience and boosting conversions.

• Boosts New Products:

Adding less popular variations to a high-performing product listing can improve their visibility and increase sales.

• Improves Search Ranking:

Every sale from all variations counts towards your overall sales history. This can boost your product’s ranking in search results and Best Sellers Rank.

• Stronger Reviews:

All reviews from variations are combined under the main product. This creates a more impressive pool of customer feedback, making you stand out to potential buyers.

Key Considerations Before Setting Up Product Variations

Before setting up variations, it’s essential to check the available variation types in your product category and make sure that the child ASINs for the variations haven’t already been associated with any other existing variations.

To get a category-specific inventory template to see the supported variation types,

1. Download the spreadsheet from the Catalog Menu using the ‘Add Products via Upload’ option 
2. Look for the “Valid Values” tab and locate rows titled ‘Variation Theme’.
3. In the columns in these rows list the available variation types for your category.

Note: Different categories can offer different options, and these can change over time. This step helps you see your current variation possibilities.

Add or modify an existing variation group using the Variation Wizard

The Variation Wizard on Amazon Seller Central is a tool designed to simplify the process of creating variations for products.

Access the Variation Wizard:

Sellers can access the Variation Wizard through their Seller Central account under the “Manage Inventory” section then click on “Add a Variation”

Steps for adding a new child variation to an existing variation family:

1. Click the “Add to or update an existing variation family” option. Find Parent ASIN in the search bar. The parent listing will be marked as “Parent” in the “parentage” column and child variations will be labeled “Child” in the same column.
2. Use the “Edit” function to modify information for any existing child variations that you have created.
3. Click on “Add” to create a new child variation within the variation family. Complete the required fields in the columns provided, and save.
4. Repeat step 3 as needed to include additional child variations.
5. Utilize “Edit” or “Delete” options to modify or remove newly added variations.
6. Click on “Generate Template” to obtain a pre-populated inventory file template. You can customize this template to incorporate new variations.
7. After making modifications to the inventory file, navigate to “Catalog”, select “Add Products via Upload”, choose “Upload your spreadsheet”, select your file, and then click “Submit products”.

Note: In the Excel template, ensure to remove quantity amounts for any FBA SKUs in your inventory. Adding the quantity for FBA inventory will convert them to FBM.

Steps to set up new variations of your stand-alone existing listing

You can set up a new variation family for existing listings in two ways. 

1. From Manage inventory or
2. Using inventory flat file

If you only have a few individual listings to add to a parent-child relationship, adding them manually is easy and quick.

Set Up New Variations Using Manual Method

• Go to Seller Central homepage.
• Under the Inventory tab, select “Manage Inventory”.
• Choose the listing you want to modify.
• Click the “Edit” option on the rightmost column. Next on the edit page, go to the ‘Variations’ tab.
• Select the variation type (e.g., color, size) from the dropdown menu.
• Fill in the variations of your listing then click “Add Variations”.
• For each variation, complete the “Required Fields”:
  1. Enter item condition, price, and quantity
  2. Specify variation details (color map or size chart) and seller SKU (automatic generation available).
  3. Add a product identifier (ASIN, GTIN, UPC, or EAN) or use the existing child listing ID.

• Update information in “Description”, “Images”, or “Compliance” as needed.
• Click the “Save and Finish” button.
• It may take up to 15 minutes for these changes to appear on your ‘Seller Central’ inventory.

Adding each listing separately to create variations takes time. However, if your catalog has many individual listings, using templates to create variations in bulk will save time.

Set Up New Variations Using inventory Flat File method

• Click on “Add Products via Upload” from the Catalog menu.
• Select the appropriate category for your product and click ‘Generate Template’ to download the spreadsheet.
• Use the Example tab from the downloaded flat file for reference on how to enter variation information.
• Go to the ‘Template’ tab in the downloaded flat file and fill in your product details:

1. 1. Child SKU (unique identifier for each variation)
   2. Product ID (ASIN or other relevant ID)
   3. Variation attributes (e.g., size, color, style)
   4. Quantity (for each FBM variation)
   5. Include image URLs for the product itself.

• Leave parent product details like weight, shipping time, and price blank.
• Enter details like size, price, and weight for each child ASIN separately.
• Upload the completed file via the ‘Add Products via Upload’ section.
• If there are any errors, address them and resubmit the file. Once processed, the variation will appear in your Seller Central inventory.

If you want to add variations while creating a new listing, you can handle it all in the same inventory flat file. Just download the template, fill in all the required columns, and upload the flat file, following the same steps mentioned above.

Points to remember

1. The child product will have all the attributes of the parent product, so there is no need to add them again for the parent.
2. Enter the attributes, including ASINs, separately for each child product.
3. Use “Partial Update” for existing items to avoid overwriting current back-end data, including product descriptions, key feature bullets, reviews, and more.
4. Use “Update” if creating a new parent
5. Always list the Parent SKU at the top, and place its child listings right below it, like a complete family.

Managing and creating variations involves navigating various availability, attribute match requirements, and third-party attribute/data submission complexities. At StaffCloud, we take proactive steps to implement and oversee your chosen variation structure. Our team specializes in optimizing listings and crafting compelling content to drive traffic and increase conversions. Connect with us at support@staffcloud.net or simply fill out our contact form or call us at +91-9326811779.