Setting up
Add a variant to a product
How to add one more thing to sell under a product you already have, and what each question in the "Add New Variant" form is really asking.
A product is the family name. A variant is the thing you really sell. "Coca-Cola" is the product. "Coca-Cola 300ml" and "Coca-Cola 1.5L" are two variants of it. Stock, prices, deposits and refills all sit on the variant. So a product with no variant sells nothing.
Add a variant when a new size, flavour or pack of something you already stock starts coming in. Do not make a whole new product for it. Open the product you have and add the variant under it. Then the two sit together in one place.
The form asks the same questions as the new product screen. It shows three of them, not four. The expiry question belongs to the whole product. It is asked once there and not again here.
Step by step
1. Open the product
In the sidebar go to "Inventory", then "Products". Click the product you want to add to. If it is not in the list, it is a new product, not a variant.
2. Go to the Variants tab
On the product page, open the "Variants" tab. It sits next to "Units" and "Batches". It shows what the product sells now, and the heading shows how many.
3. Press Add New Variant
The button is on the right of the "Variants" heading. It opens the "Add New Variant" form. Nothing is saved until you press the button at the bottom. So you can close it and start again.
4. Question 1. Name it and name one piece
"Item name" is the exact thing you sell, like "Coca-Cola 300ml" or "Shell Gas 6kg". "What is one piece called?" is the word your staff use for one of them. Bottle, cylinder, jerrycan. The rest of the form then uses your word, so stock reads "25 bottles" and not "25 units".
5. Question 1. Say how you keep track
Under "How will you keep track of this item’s stock?" pick one of three. Pick "Just count them" when you only want a total, like a soda shop. Pick "Each one has its own number" for gas cylinders, where every piece carries a number. Pick "Some have numbers, some I just count" when your store holds both kinds on the same shelf.
6. Question 1. Put in the two prices
"Selling price per bottle" is what one piece goes for at your counter. "Cost of one bottle" is what your supplier charges you. The labels use the word you typed for one piece, so a gas dealer sees "Selling price per cylinder".
7. Question 2. Say how they are packed
"Do your bottles come packed together?" Answer "Yes" when the same piece arrives inside a crate, box or bale, like 24 Coca-Cola 300ml bottles in one crate. Then fill the row. "Name" is the pack word, such as Crate. "Holds" is how many pieces go inside, and it must be at least 2. The two price boxes on that row are for one whole crate.
8. Last question. Say whether they come back
"Do the bottles come back?" Answer "Yes" for empties the customer brings back, like beer bottles, crates and water jerrycans. Then set "Deposit per bottle". If you added a pack, set the pack deposit too. It is named after your pack word, like "Deposit per Crate". Tick "Deposit required on every sale" when the cashier must always charge it. Leave it clear to let the cashier choose. Saying "Yes" here also switches on "Track filled / empty", so empties on your shelf do not count as stock you can sell. You can switch it off if you do not want it.
9. Set the refill price, then press Create Variant
"Do you charge to refill them?" Answer "Yes" only when the customer brings an empty and you fill it, like a 6kg gas cylinder or a 20L water jerrycan. Then type the "Selling price for a refill". This answer does not touch the "Track filled / empty" switch. That one follows the question above it. Press "Create Variant" to save the whole thing.
Worth knowing
The expiry question is not in this form
"Does it expire?" belongs to the product, not the variant. It is asked once when you first create the product. A variant you add now just follows what the product already says. To change it, press "Edit" on the product page and tick or untick "Does it expire?" there.
Numbered items skip the packing question
Pick "Each one has its own number" and the packing question goes away. The form then runs 1 and 2 only. Every piece is followed one by one, so a crate count would add nothing. Pick "Some have numbers, some I just count" if you really do sell the same thing both ways.
Saying yes to refill also sets the new price
When "Do you charge to refill them?" is "Yes", the selling price you typed in question 1 is saved as the price for a customer buying a full one for the first time. That is the number the variants list shows under "Per Unit New Price". The refill price stays on its own. It is for a customer who brings an empty.
Press Refresh if a tab is missing
The first variant you set to "Each one has its own number" gives the product a "Units" tab. A counted one gives it "Batches". The page does not notice right away. Press "Refresh" at the top of the product page and the tab shows up.
Questions
Where does the item code come from? I cannot type one.
The app makes it for you when you save. It takes three letters from the product name, three from the category and three from the variant name. Then it adds a short code made from the time. A "500ml" variant of "Cola" in "Beverages" comes out like "COL-BEV-500-M9KX". If the product has no category, the middle part is "GEN". If that code is already used in your business, the app adds a number on the end. Open the variant with "Edit" and you will see it, greyed out, with the words "SKU cannot be changed".
A 1.5L bottle is bigger than a 500ml. Is that the packing question?
No. A bigger bottle is a different thing on your shelf with its own price. So it is its own variant. The packing question is only for the same piece arriving inside something bigger, like the same 500ml bottles inside a crate of 24.
I filled two sizes and left a third row empty. Will it refuse to save?
No. A row you never touched is dropped when you save. A half filled row is the problem. A row with a name and no number, or a number and no name, stops the save with "Every size needs a name and how many it holds, at least 2. Leave a row blank to drop it." You can also press the bin icon on the row. It is labelled "Remove this size".
Outlyz does this
Outlyz tracks your stock, orders and deliveries, and every container you expect back. UGX 20,000 per person per month. The first month is free and no card is needed.
Or call 0780 784870 and we will set it up with you.