Tips for Using Options

Options in Quick Shopping Cart® let you specify product variations such as size, weight, and color. First, create the options, and then add them to your products. There are two different types of options you can use: Standalone and Configurable Variation.

Although there are two different types of options, there are three different ways to use them. Using the correct options gives your customers a better shopping experience and can reduce returns by preventing customers from selecting an option that doesn't work with the product they are purchasing.

Standalone Options

You can use Standalone Options for a build-to-order product variation that does not change inventory. An example of a build-to-order product variation is a T-shirt with monogramming, or a gift-wrapping option.

Standalone Options are not recommended if you are tracking inventory.

TIP: When you use the Configurable Variations product type, you can specify both Standalone and Configurable Variation Options. That way, you can still include a monogram option on a T-shirt while tracking the inventory on the sizes and colors you have available.

Configurable Variation Options for Inventory Tracking

If you use Configurable Variation Options, Quick Shopping Cart creates your product's variations for you. Using the T-shirt example, you would specify two options: size and color. Quick Shopping Cart determines the different variations such as small/red, large/blue, and medium/yellow, for example.

Configurable Variation Options save you time because Quick Shopping Cart creates the different product variations for you. The product variations display in the Product Variations Grid, where you can manage inventory, modify your SKUs, and select which product variations you want to sell. See Using the Product Variations Grid for more information.

Configurable Variation Options for Configurable Products

If you are not concerned with tracking inventory, you can use Configurable Variation Options to design products or create product relations, such as washcloths and a matching bath towel. Conversely, you can prevent certain configurations from selling.

If you sold portraits, for example, you might configure your product using this type of option: Your base product is the portrait. Your options consist of the portrait size, the frame size, and frame color. If someone buys the 8x10 portrait, you can use the Product Variations Grid to ensure that they cannot select the 4x6 frame. Just click Not Available next to product variations that don't make sense. That prevents customers from placing an incorrect order.

You will not be able to track inventory of options that represent "piece-parts." In the frame example, the 4x6 frame inventory would not be tracked.

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