What Is a Variant and Why It Matters?

Before diving into product creation, one needs to understand what a variant is. A variant is a different version of the same product. Most real-world products come in options that customers expect to choose from. For example, ready-made clothing is sold in multiple sizes (S, M, L, XL) and often in different colors. Even though the product is the same, each size and color combination needs to be tracked separately.

Why variants are important

1. Independent stock management

Every size and color has its own stock level. You might have 10 pieces of “Large / Black” but only 2 pieces of “Medium / Blue.” Variants let you manage this correctly.

2. Better customer experience

Shoppers want to pick their exact size, color, or style directly on the product page. Variants help them make the right choice without confusion.

3. Accurate pricing and SKU tracking

Each variant must have its own SKU, barcode, price, cost, and inventory. This keeps your records clean and prevents order mistakes.

4. Avoid mixing actual design differences

Variants work best for same product, different options.

But if the design itself changes (like a different print, different pattern, or a totally different look), you should create a new product, not a variant.

Variants are for:

• Size
• Color
• Capacity
• Weight
• Material option

New products are for:

• Completely different designs
• Different patterns or artwork
• Any item customers would treat as a separate listing

Keeping design-based products separate improves catalogue clarity and helps customers find exactly what they want without confusion.

Creating a Product in Sellmitra

When you click Create Product, Sellmitra takes you through eight tabs. Each tab captures a different part of your product data so your listing is accurate, optimized, and ready for sales.

1. General

This section defines the core identity of your product. The information you enter here controls how your product appears across your store, how customers find it, and how it behaves during checkout.

Fields included

1. Product name

The main title of your product. This is shown in listings, product pages, and search results.

2. Subtitle (optional)

A short supporting line used to highlight a key feature, benefit, or use case.

3. Description

A detailed explanation of the product. This helps customers understand what they’re buying and improves search visibility.

4. Category

The primary grouping for your product. Categories help organize your catalog and drive navigation.

5. Sub-category

Sub-category plays a crucial role in Sellmitra. Specifications and variant options are automatically loaded based on the selected sub-category, reducing manual setup and ensuring consistency.

6. Brand

Associates the product with a brand and makes it visible on the brand’s dedicated page. This improves trust and brand-based discovery.

7. Product status
• Active: Visible to customers
• Draft: Saved but not visible
• Inactive: Hidden without deleting
8. Product URL

An SEO-friendly link for your product page. Clean URLs improve search rankings and user trust.

When you create a product, Sellmitra generates a unique product page using this structure:hostname/product_id/product_url

e.g. www.lb5n.sellmitra.com/product/68675bbd73f45af4bf09ef19/iphone-14-pro-aa

9. Cover image

The primary image shown in product listings and search results. This image strongly influences click-through rates.

10. Media gallery

Additional images that show the product from different angles or in real-world use. More visuals reduce uncertainty and improve conversions.

11. Chart (size chart or similar)

Used to display sizing or reference information relevant to the product, such as apparel sizes or measurement guides. Adding a size chart helps customers choose the right size with confidence. Whenever possible, include a size chart for all applicable products so buyers know exactly what to order.

Industry studies and retailer pilot programs have shown that clear measurements and sizing guidance significantly reduce size-related returns and improve overall customer satisfaction.

12. Tax rule

Assigning a tax rule ensures GST is calculated automatically during checkout and invoice generation, based on customer location.

2. Variant

Variants let you offer different versions of the same product. These are usually based on attributes like size, color, material, capacity, or weight. Variants are essential whenever each option needs separate pricing, stock tracking, and SKU details.

1. Has Variant (Toggle)
• Off: The product has only one version.
• On: The product has multiple variations.

When you enable variants, Sellmitra automatically loads the relevant specifications from the Specifications section that are mapped to the selected sub-category. Only those specifications where “Use this specification to create variants” is enabled will appear here.

You can then select the values (such as size or color) from this list to generate product variants. This keeps variant creation controlled, consistent, and aligned with how your specifications are defined.

Fields for Each Variant

Each variant is treated like an independent item under the same product. You control pricing, stock, and identification separately.

1. Selling price (required)

The price customers pay. This is the primary selling value shown on the product page.

2. Original price / MRP (required)

Shown as the strike-through price if lower than the selling price. Helps highlight discounts or offers.

3. Cost per item

Your internal cost for that variant. This helps with profit and margin calculations.

4. Current stock (required)

How many units of this exact variant you have available.

5. SKU (required)

A unique internal code used for stock management, tracking, and integrations.

6. Barcode

Any barcode or scannable product identifier. Useful for physical inventory and POS operations.

7. Allow selling out of stock (yes/no)

This controls whether customers can place orders even when stock is zero.

• Yes: Orders can be placed despite zero stock. Useful for pre-orders, made-to-order items, or temporarily out-of-stock items.
• No: The variant becomes unavailable when stock reaches zero.

You can set this globally from Company Settings, but the variant-level value overrides the company setting.

8. Unit cost / Profit / Margin

Depending on your configuration, the system may auto-calculate profit and margin from your selling price and cost per item. These fields help you track performance per variant.

9. Variant status

Controls whether the variant is active, draft, or inactive.

10. Media (variant-specific image)

Optional image for that variant.

Example: If a product has color variants, you can show a different image for each color.

11. Stock and committed quantity

Stock: Available quantity

Committed: Items already tied to pending orders.

Orders: Total units sold historically

These help with inventory planning.

12. Point

If you use a reward or loyalty point system, you can assign points per variant.

3. SEO

Use this tab to improve visibility in search engines.

1. Meta title
2. Meta description
3. Meta keywords

Good SEO increases organic traffic and helps products appear in search results with better snippets.

4. Specifications

Specifications describe the product itself, not the variants.

How it works
1. Click Select Specifications.
2. The system shows a recommended list based on the sub-category you chose.
3. Pick the specifications you want to display.
4. Enter the value for each specifications.

Examples:

• Material
• Pattern
• Fit
• Capacity
• Dimensions
• Fabric type

These help customers understand what they’re buying and reduce returns.

5. Shipping

This tab controls basic delivery and return settings for the product. These options directly influence customer trust and conversion rates.

1. Free Shipping

Enable this if the product qualifies for free delivery. Customers often prefer items with no shipping cost, so enabling this can improve click-through and purchase rates.

2. Enable Return

Return policy details and return period are managed from Company Settings, where you define how returns work across your entire store.

At the product level, you only need to decide whether this specific product is eligible for return or not.

If returns are enabled here, the product will follow the global return rules you set in your company settings.

6. Miscellaneous

These are optional promotional controls that help highlight the product and increase engagement.

1. Featured

Adds a “Featured” tag on the product image in listings. Useful for highlighting important or high-demand products.

2. Trending

Shows a “Trending” tag, signaling that the product is popular and getting attention.

3. On Sale

Displays a “Sale” tag on the listing to emphasize discounts.

4. Encouraged Order

When enabled, shoppers may see small notifications like “Someone ordered this recently.” These subtle signals create social proof and increase interest.

5. Encouraged View

Shows small prompts such as “X people viewed this today,” which can create curiosity and a mild sense of urgency.

7. Cross Sell

Use cross-sell to recommend products that are commonly purchased together. You can select up to three related products to display on the product page.

Examples:

• A shirt paired with matching jeans
• A phone paired with a protective case
• A laptop paired with a bag or accessories

Cross-sell suggestions encourage customers to add more items to their cart, increasing average order value without additional marketing effort. They also improve the shopping experience by offering relevant recommendations at the right time.

8. FAQ

In this section, you can attach FAQs that were already created in the FAQ section. This avoids rewriting the same questions and ensures consistent answers across products.

FAQs appear directly on the product page and help resolve common customer concerns.

Common examples

• Shipping timeline
• Washing and care instructions
• Material behavior under heat or regular use
• Color bleeding or fading in the first wash
• Box contents (for example, whether a charger or accessories are included)
• Warranty and support details

Clear and relevant FAQ answers reduce confusion, lower support requests, and help customers make confident purchase decisions.