Items with variations

An item with variations is a grouping of items that have similar characteristics and are displayed as a single item in product search results. This grouping is useful when limiting the individual items that are returned during a product search.

For example, if you are searching a catalog for a polo-shirt, you usually receive a match that includes three styles (short-sleeve, long-sleeve, active) along with the colors and sizes in which each style is offered. However, for an item with variations, the initial search result returns only the styles available. Color and size selection are available after the style is selected, limiting the number of results returned by the initial search.

This can be accomplished by creating an item with variations and children items for each product. The following table shows an item with variations and probable child items it could have.

Table 1. Items with variations and probable child items
Item with variations	Children items
Short-sleeved Polo Shirt	Small, Red, short-sleeved polo shirt
	Medium, Red, short-sleeved polo shirt
	Large, Red, short-sleeved polo shirt
	Small, Blue, short-sleeved polo shirt
	Medium, Blue, short-sleeved polo shirt
	Large, Blue, short-sleeved polo shirt

Child items of an item with variations are automatically assigned to the same category or classification to which the parent item is assigned.