Variants (Products with Options / Attributes)

Brightpearl allows you to effectively manage products which have different attributes or options, such as size or colour. Here’s why you’ll love the Brightpearl Variant Management:

• Product groups
  All variants are linked, so changes copy across all variants
• New Variant Management Screen
  View all variants in the group, change details and create new ones
  The easy to use grid structure allows you to create new variants with a tick and a click, as well as easily see which are in stock and add them to orders
• Combined option setup and variant management
  Easily add new options and option values during the creation and management of variants

Jump straight to:

Product Types
Variant Management Screen
Adding variants to orders
Creating variants
Add more variants to a group
Removing options / option values
Separating / deleting products from product groups

Options, Option Values, Variants and Product Groups...???

An Option is the type of attribute a product has, for example, colour or size.

An Option Value is the actual attribute, for example, for the Option of "Colour" you may have Option Values of "red", "blue" or "white", for the Option of "Size" you may have Option Values of "small", "medium" or "large".

When Options and Option Values are assigned to a product it creates a new product record for each combination, i.e. small, red; medium, red; large, red; small, blue...etc. These product records are known as Variants.

Variants are managed in Product Groups. Brightpearl links items into Product Groups by identical names. This means that if a new product is created with exactly the same name as an existing product or product group, they will automatically be linked. Product Groups allow you to easily manage data which is common to all the variants such as name alterations, images, website descriptions and custom fields. If you change any of these details directly on the product record it'll instantly be copied across all variants in the group.

To create Variants you begin by creating a single product record as the skeleton to work from:

There's one more thing you need to know...

Product Type

Every product created in Brightpearl must be assigned a Product Type, and this controls which Options and therefore Option Values can be selected when you create variants. Imagine how many different Options you could create across a whole product range...

...Size, neck size, waist size, leg length, collar size, lens size, socket size, screw size, handle size, height, width, length, colour, material, fabric, pattern...

...and then how many of those might be used in combination...neck size and colour, colour and leg length and waist size, height and width and length, length and material...

...but how many will NEVER be used in combination...?

It can all become too much!

So by assigning your Options to Product Types you can restrict which Options and Values you can choose from for the products assigned to that Type. Maybe a diagram will help...

To create and edit Product Types:

1. Go to Setup > Products/Inventory > Product types.
2. Click the Add product type button.
3. Enter a product Type name.
4. Tick the checkbox next to each Option available to products of this Type.
   Note: If an Option is not selected you will not be able to create variants with that attribute if the product is assigned to this Type.
5. Click the Save button.

Variant Management Screen

The Variant Management Screen lets you manage SKUs, unit prices, barcodes, and warehouse stock levels and re-order quantities across all Variants in a Product Group. You also quickly add new Variants; say if you decided to stock a new Option Value or Option. In this example, a new Option Value would be extra size, colour or fabric; a new Option might be "Pattern" or "Fit".

When you are managing Variants with multiple Option Value combinations it becomes increasingly difficult to handle. That’s why Brightpearl uses a grid structure that is able to handle from 1 to 4 Options, for example, a shirt might be available in various (1) colours, (2) sizes, (3) materials and (4) patterns.

Here’s how a 4 Option Product Group would look in Brightpearl…

Each green tick indicates a Variant (a product record) exists...

“Use grid format when adding any item in this group to orders”

Tick this checkbox to use the grid format when creating orders or viewing product stock level details. This will allow you to quickly see which Variants are available and offer your customer another Variant should the one they want not be in stock.

• Adding Variants to Orders:
  The grid will be displayed on both sales and purchase orders when you use the batch add function. Simply type the number of each Variant required and click the Add items to order button.

• Product Stock Level Detail:
  View this modal by clicking on the stock level figure in your Product listing. Use the different tabs to view the item description, stock levels and related sales and purchase orders.

Combined Option Setup and Variant Management

When you’re creating Variants there’s bound to be an Option or Option Value you’ve not used before. But there’s no need to stop what you’re doing in order to go to the setup screens, you can create new Options and Values on the fly!

Setting up your different Options and Values is all done in the Variant Management Screen as you’re creating and managing your Variants.

Creating New Variants

1. Create a single product with a generic name. For example, if you are adding men’s trousers that come in red, black and blue, simply name the product “Men’s trousers”.
   Note: You will only be able to add options which are within the Product Type assigned. If you create any new options or option values during this process they will also be assigned to this product Type.
2. Once you have saved the item you will need to display it in your Product list.
3. Click the Create variants link just below the product name.
4. Your currently available Options will be displayed from which to choose. Tick the checkbox next to each Option for this product. If the one you need isn’t listed, click the Create new option link and type the name; hit the plus icon to add more.
5. Click the Next button to continue.
6. Select all the different Option Values of the product. If a Value is missing, click the Create new link and type the Value; click the plus icon to add more. 
7. Click the Next button to continue.

Any new Options or Option Values used will be saved into the system (within the Product Type set against the product record) and will be available to use again in the future; you can see a list of these values in Setup > Products/Inventory > Options and Option Values. Saving will also create a new product record (Variant) for every single combination of Option Values. If you do not need a Variant as you are not stocking the Option Value combination (in the diagram above for example, you may not be stocking small-blue-spotty-nylon shirts), you can delete the item from your Product list.

Add Variants to Existing Product Groups

You can expand your Product Groups and create new Variants in 2 ways:

• Add a new Option Value
  Such as an extra size (e.g. XLarge), or an extra colour (e.g. Green), or whatever is already in use on the group
• Add a new Option
  Such as patterns, fabric, fit, something that isn't already used in the group

Add a New Option Value

1. Search for an existing Variant (product record) within the group and click on the Edit variants link just below the item name to open the Variant Management Screen.
2. Click the link next to the relevant Option to add more Values.
3. Select an existing Value or create a new one.
4. The new Option Values are added to the grid. Tick which extra Variants you are stocking.
5. Click the Save products button.

Any new Variants are created as product records ready for you to begin buying and selling.

Adding a New Option

1. Search for an existing Variant (product record) within the group and click on the Edit variants link just below the item name to open the Variant Management Screen.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, tick the checkbox next to the new Option, or add a new one with the Create new option link.
3. Click the Add Option button.
   Note: You can only add a maximum of 4 Options per Product Group. If you need more you will have to enter it into the product name.
4. Select the Option Values and click Next.
5. When adding a whole new Option to a Product Group you will need to specify which Option Value belongs to your existing Variants. Brightpearl requires that you do this before you can finish adding new Variants. Your existing Variants will be listed out, you just need to select the correct Value for each one. You can use the batch update field at the bottom of the list to quickly apply the same Value to all the Variants.
6. Click the Assign options button.
7. Once you have assigned Option Values existing products you will be able to select any new ones you’ll be stocking. Tick checkboxes in the grid to create new Variants as required.
8. Click the Save products button to finish.

Removing / Swapping Options or Options Values from Product Groups

You can remove whole options or option values from a product group, but there are various restrictions where product records exist.

Removing or Swapping Options

There are various circumstances in which you may wish to remove or swap options on a product group:

• If you've created variants using the wrong options
• If you want to stop selling an option
• If you want to swap out an option for something else

To understand removing or swapping options within a product group it's best to begin with an example:

Take a T-shirt that is stocked in different sizes and colours (the options). The sizes are small, medium and large (option values) and the colours are red and blue (option values).

The variants are created in Brightpearl generating the following 6 product records:

• T-shirt - Red, Small
• T-shirt - Red, Medium
• T-shirt - Red, Large
• T-shirt - Blue, Small
• T-shirt - Blue, Medium
• T-shirt - Blue, Large

Removing an option in this example would mean removing either size OR colour, and ALL the option values beneath it, so small, medium and large OR red and blue. However, removing an option will not remove product records. The number of product records will remain at 6.

Let's say that the option of colour is removed from the product group, that would leave the following product combinations:

• T-shirt - Small
• T-shirt - Medium
• T-shirt - Large

However, there are the remaining 3 products left in the group that will need to be assigned option values too. They can't be assigned small, medium or large as they have already been used in the group; variants must have unique value combinations. They will need to be swapped to another (existing) option. This is fine if you want to use a different options instead of colour, but what if you don't want the products at all?

If the products are no longer wanted you can delete or separate them afterwards:

• If the products have never been used, i.e. there is no related accounting, or orders (PO or SO) they can be manually deleted from your product list afterwards; you will have to assign an option value for now 
• If they have been used they can't be deleted but they can be separated from the product group, see below; you will have to assign an option value for now

Read more about deleting and separating

How to remove / swap an option:

WARNING: Before removing any options make sure you have a record of the existing products. After removing an option you will have to reassign option values to ALL products in the group. If each one has a different SKU, product ID and potentially inventory quantity and value, you need to know which options to assign to which. Once you remove an option the only way you'll know which options to reassign is if you have kep the information or if you use coded SKUs. If you assign the options incorrectly you could end up thinking you have stock of something you don't; you'll have to do a stock take. We suggest you keep the following information before proceeding...just in case:

• Product name
• Product SKU or product ID
• Inventory quantity
• Option values

You can easily get this data by exporting the items from the product list, or simply keeping the product list open in another tab, but make sure you don't close it or refresh it! Here's an example:

You can now go ahead an remove the option. If you want to swap to a different option type you can add it afterwards.

1. Click the remove link next to the relevant option.
2. A warning message is displayed. If you go ahead with the removal of the option you will have to re-assign the option values to ALL the products in the group. Click OK to continue and remove the option from the product group.
   
3. The next screen you see will list all the existing products that need the option values reassigned. If you need to add a new option use the section at the bottom to select an existing option or create a new one.
   
4. If you add a new option you will then have to select the option values you want to use.
   
5. Click Next to continue. You will then be returned to the list of existing products to assign all the option values, including the new option. Use the drop-down menus to select the appropriate option values for each item. This is where you'll need to check your original product list that you exported earlier to ensure you assign the correct values to the correct product record.
   
6. Click the Assign Options button to save.

Your products will now be updated. You will have all the same SKUs and product IDs, the same product names and inventory levels; only the options have been changed. If you want to remove the products completely from the group see below.

Removing a single option value

This method can be used to remove option values from a product group, such as red or blue, small, medium or large (rather than the whole option - size or colour). An option value can only be removed if no product exists in the product group with that option value. Products that have no inventory quantity, accounting records and aren't saved on any sales or purchase orders can be deleted, which will allow you to then remove the option value. Go to the Variant Management screen and click the cross next to the option value to be removed. If Brightpearl cannot remove it a warning message will be displayed.

Separating Items from a Product Group

Products can be removed in 2 ways:

• Deleting - only products that have not been used, no accounting exists and the product is not saved on any sales or purchase order
• Separating - products that have been used which cannot be deleted

Deleting a product

To delete a product, or multiple products, find it on your product list. Tick the checkbox next to the item(s) and then click the Delete button at the top of the list. If you are not able to delete the item(s) a warning message will be displayed. If they are successfully deleted a confirmation message will be displayed.

Separating a product from a group

If you want to remove products from a product group as you no longer need them but they have been used you won't be able to simply delete them. These items can be detached from the product group so that they no longer display in the Variant Management screen or in the grid elsewhere in Brightpearl (when adding the items on sales orders for example).

1. Search for the product item to be separated.
2. When it is listed click on the product name to open the record.
3. Amend the product name, so that it is no longer the same as the product group.
4. Tick the checkbox just below the item name.
   
5. Click the Save changes button.

This product will now sit in a group of its own. It will no longer display with the other variants and it won't be updated when you make any changes to the original product group.