Product variants

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Introduction

In today’s competitive marketplace, businesses must provide customers with options to personalize their purchases. Whether it’s choosing the right size, color, or material, offering product variations is key to customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. In Odoo, this flexibility is managed through a powerful feature known as Product Variants.

Step-by-Step Instructions

 

What Are Product Variants?

Product variants are multiple versions of a single product that differ in one or more attributes, such as size, color, or style. Rather than creating a separate product for every variation, Odoo allows you to manage them all under a single product template.

For example, a clothing company may sell a Unisex Classic Tee that comes in four colors (Blue, Red, White, Black) and five sizes (S, M, L, XL, XXL). Although there’s only one product (the T-shirt), the company effectively sells 20 different product variants (4 colors × 5 sizes). Each of these variants can be tracked independently for inventory, pricing, and sales data.

Configuring Product Variants in Odoo

To begin using product variants, you must enable the feature in the Odoo Sales application:

  1. Go to Sales App → Configuration → Settings.
  2. In the Product Catalog section, enable the Variants
  3. Click Save.

 

Once enabled, you can begin creating attributes and variants.

 

Setting Up Attributes

Before you can create product variants, you need to define attributes—the characteristics that distinguish one variant from another.

To manage attributes:

  • Navigate to Sales App → Configuration → Attributes.
  • Click New to create a new attribute like Color or Size.

 

Display Types

Each attribute can be displayed in different formats depending on how you want users to interact with them:

  • Pills – Selectable buttons.
  • Color – Colored squares using HTML color codes.
  • Radio – Bullet-style options.
  • Select – Dropdown list.
  • Multi-checkbox – Selectable checkboxes (used for custom options).

Note: For multi-checkbox to function correctly, the Variant Creation Mode must be set to Never.

 

Understanding Variant Creation Mode

This setting determines how and when Odoo generates product variants:

  • Instantly: All combinations are created as soon as attributes are added.
  • Dynamically: Variants are created only when a matching order is placed.
  • Never: Variants must be manually created.

Important: Once a variant creation mode is selected for an attribute, it cannot be changed later.

Managing eCommerce Display Options

You can control whether attribute values appear to customers in your online store:

  • Visible – Shown to users.
  • Hidden – Not displayed on the front-end.

Attributes can also be grouped into eCommerce Categories for better organization.

Tip: You can create new attribute categories directly from this field by typing a new name and selecting “Create” or “Create and Edit.”

Adding Attribute Values

Once attributes are created, values must be added:

  • Go to the Attribute Values tab and click Add a line.
  • Enter the value name (e.g., Red, Medium).
  • Mark as Custom Value if customers are allowed to provide unique input.

 

For color attributes, you can select a color via an HTML color picker or even upload a pattern image to represent the variant visually on the product page.

 

Creating Product Variants

With attributes in place, you can now apply them to products:

  1. Go to Sales App → Products → Products.
  2. Select an existing product or click Create.
  3. Navigate to the Attributes & Variants
  4. Click Add a line, select the attribute, and choose the corresponding values.

 

Tip: You can create attributes directly from this tab using the “Create” or “Create and Edit” options.

 

Configuring Variants in Detail

Each attribute line includes a Configure button that opens the Product Variant Values page. Here, you can:

  • Set Value Price Extra (e.g., add $3 for red color).
  • Assign HTML Color Index.

Exclude certain values from specific products using the Exclude for field.

 

Example: If the red variant adds $3 to the base price of a $20 shirt, the total price for that variant becomes $23.

 

Using the Variants Smart Button

After variants are configured, a Variants smart button appears at the top of the product form. Clicking it displays a list of all variant combinations, helping you track them efficiently.

 

Operational Impact of Product Variants

Product variants affect multiple areas of your Odoo system:

  • Barcodes/SKUs: Each variant can have a unique identifier.
  • Pricing: Public prices include both base product price and any value-specific surcharges.
  • Inventory: Stock levels are tracked per variant.
  • Images: Each variant can have a distinct product image.

Conclusion

Product variants are a powerful feature in Odoo that allow businesses to manage a wide range of product options efficiently and professionally. By properly configuring attributes and values, and leveraging variant-specific features, you can streamline inventory, enhance the shopping experience, and gain more granular control over your sales data.

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