Managing Variations in Bulk

Product variations allow you to group related items that differ by attributes like size, color, or style under a single parent product to be combined into a single listing on the sales channel. This guide covers two methods for creating variations in bulk: creating new variations and converting existing products into variations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Method 1: Creating New Variations in Bulk
• Method 2: Converting Existing Products into Variations
• Important Notes
• Troubleshooting
• Next Steps

Method 1: Creating New Variations in Bulk

This method is used when you want to create a completely new set of product variations from scratch.

Steps for Creating New Variations

1. Prepare your variation data in a spreadsheet with the following required columns:
   • action (set to "add")
   • sku (same SKU for all items in the variation family)
   • guid (unique identifier for each variation)
   • Additional product attributes (title, price, color, size, etc.)
2. Structure your data so that:
   • All variations in the same family share the same SKU
   • Each variation has a unique GUID
   • The variation with matching SKU and GUID becomes the parent
   • All other variations become children
3. Upload the file using SureDone's bulk upload feature
   • Ensure all required fields are populated
   • Review the upload preview before confirming
4. Verify the results in your product catalog to ensure variations are properly grouped
   
   
   
   

Method 2: Converting Existing Products into Variations

This method allows you to take existing individual products in your SureDone account and group them together as variations of a single product family.

Prerequisites

Before starting, identify all the existing products that should be grouped together as variations. These products should be related items that differ by attributes like size, color, or style.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Export Existing Product Data

1. Navigate to your product list in SureDone
2. Export the following columns for all items that should be in the variation family:
   1. id
   2. guid
   3. sku
      
      

2. Designate the Parent Product

1. Open the exported file in a spreadsheet application
2. Choose one product to serve as the parent for the variation family
3. Update the SKU field for all items in the variation family:
   • Change the SKU value to match the SKU of your chosen parent product
   • Apply this same SKU to all items that should be in the variation group
4. Important: The item where the guid and sku values match will automatically become the parent product. All other items (where guid and sku values differ) will become child variations.
   
   

3. Upload the Modified Data

1. Prepare your upload file with the following minimum required columns:
   1. action (set to "edit")
   2. id
   3. sku (updated values from Step 2)
2. Enable the "Force" checkbox when uploading the file
3. Upload the file through SureDone's bulk upload feature
   
   

4. Verify the Variation Setup

After the upload completes, confirm the changes have been applied correctly:

1. Check the All Products page:
   • Variation children will display both the SKU and GUID values
   • All items should be searchable using the shared SKU value
2. Verify the Product Details pages:
   • Each item in the variation relationship will show a "Variations" hyperlink at the top of the Product Details page
   • Clicking this link opens a modal displaying information about all variations in the family
3. Test functionality:
   • Search for products using the shared SKU
   • Navigate through the variation options
   • Confirm that parent-child relationships are working correctly
     
     
     
     
     

Important Notes

• Use caution when changing variation relationships for items with existing channel listings. Communication with channel listings can be changed when an item is a variation relationship and should ideally be done 
• SKU consistency is critical - all variations in a family must share the exact same SKU.
• The Force checkbox is required when converting existing products to allow the system to change the SKU.
• GUID values must remain unique across all products, even within variation families.
• Backup your data before making bulk changes to existing products.
• Test with a small subset of products first to ensure the process works as expected.
  
  
  
  

Troubleshooting

If variations are not displaying correctly after upload:

1. Verify that all items in the family have the exact same SKU
2. Confirm that the Force checkbox was enabled during upload
3. Check that the parent product has matching GUID and SKU values
4. Ensure all required columns were included in the upload file

For additional support, contact SureDone customer service with specific details about your variation setup process.

Next Steps

Once the variation relationship is established, the correct dimensions should be configured and the listing can be prepared to be listed on the channel. Each channel will vary in how the dimensions need to be set up to properly communicate with the channel. More information on this subject can be found here.