Variations are product options that you allow your customers to choose from when they purchase your product.  They give you a range of customization and flexibility without forcing you to enter several products of the same type in order to keep track of each individual item's inventory.

How do variations work?
Product variations are organized into variation groups and variation options.  A variation group is a collection of options while the option is what your customer selects to modify the original product.

For Example:
If your product is a shirt you might have a variation group called size.  This group might then have the variation options of small, medium, large, and so on.  To create your variation group and variation options:

• Go to the Inventory tab of the Control Panel
• Select a product that you want to have variation options and click the Edit button.  This will open the product edit page.
• Click on the Variations tab.  This will open the variation manager page.

NOTE:  If you are creating a new product, you must fill out the required fields in the General Tab and save the product before the Variations tab becomes available.

• Enter the name of you new variation group and click Create Group.  For our example, you would name the group Size.

NOTE: You can also create a variation template that you can apply across multiple products.  variation Templates are different from variation groups and are discussed here.

• Create your options for your group by entering the option name and clicking the Create Option button.  For our example, you would create a small option, a medium option, and so on.
• Click the Edit button for your variation options.  This will open the Edit Variation Options page.  Here you can determine the specific qualities of your variation option such as price, weight, manufacturer and item part number, price, etc.
• Once you have finished, click the Save Selected button to save your variation options and groups.
• Don't forget to enable the variation options and groups you want your customers to use!

NOTE: Once your product has variations enabled, you will notice that many of the product options in the General tab are grayed out.  This is because these particular options are now handled by the Variations tab.

For a detailed walk-through on creating product variations, please click here.