Product variation management is recommended on Amazon as it gives your products greater visibility and also makes it easier for web users to select the product (size, colour, etc.) they are looking for.
Manage your variations
- VariationData..Parentage (e.g Clothing..VariationData..Parentage) ["parent_child" in the Flat File version]: defines whether a given SKU (product ID) is a parent or a child.
- parent_sku: parent identifier (a common identifier for all the variations of a product).
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relationship_type: declare the type of variation linking the child to the parent. It may differentiate between several products from the same range (Value example :"Variation") or provide a direct link to the accessories of a product (Value exemple : "Accessory"). This field must be empty if the product is a parent.
- VariationData..VariationTheme (e.g Clothing..VariationData..VariationTheme): variation criteria. It can relate to colour, size or a combination of the two (e.g Size, Colour, SizeColour, etc.).
- Color, Size, Length, etc. attributes are used to indicate the colour, size, length, etc. of the child product depending on its Variation type.
On the attributes page of your variation category look for the term "Variation" to access the attributes concerned.
Parent products must be sent to Amazon if your products catalogue contains variations.
What information must be provided for parent products?
Amazon requires certain information for parent product pages:
- VariationData..Parentage ["parent_child" in the Flat File version] must be filled in with the value "parent"
- VariationData..VariationTheme must be filled in with one of the permitted values (e.g. Size, Colour, SizeColour, etc.)
- parent_sku should stay empty.
- relationship_type should stay empty.
- No EAN code ("external_product_id" and "external_product_id_type" attributes must be empty)
- No price ("standard_price", "sale_price", "sale_from_date" and "sale_end_date" attributes must be empty)
- No quantity ("quantity" must be empty
- No delivery time ("fulfillment_latency" must be empty)
- No currency ("standard_price_currency" and "sale_price_currency" must be empty - or "currency" in the Flat File version)
What information must be provided for child products?
Amazon requires certain information for the child product pages:
- VariationData..Parentage ["parent_child" in the Flat File version]: must be filled in with the value "child".
- VariationData..VariationTheme must be filled in with one of the valid values (e.g. Size, Color, etc.).
- "parent_sku" must contain the parent product reference shared by all of the product variations.
- "relationship_type" must contain the type of variation (Accessory or Variation).
- "external_product_id" must contain the product barcode (EAN, UPC, ASIN, etc. - Note that the barcode number must be registered by GS1).
- "external_product_id_type" must be filled in with one of the values (ASIN, EAN, UPC, etc.) according to the "external_product_id" indicated.
- A variation attribute – a color, a size, a length, etc. – must be provided in the corresponding Amazon field (e.g "Color", "Size", "Length"…).
Example of configuration (see image):
- First line is a "parent product"
- Below lines are "child products"
