Shops and catalogs
If medium is not in the bin, it should not be in the dropdown.
Generated catalogs love variants. Operations hate them. Each color and size is a SKU you pack. Cipher does not know your bin. You have to cut the dropdown until it matches the shelf.
List only variants you will pack this week. Delete the rest. Photograph the ones that look different. Do not use a variant UI as decoration.
A variant is inventory
Blue and black are two things if they look different and stock differently. "One size" is allowed if it is true.
Made to order
If the variant is made after the order, say the days. That is not a warehouse variant; it is a lead time. See deposits for made-to-order.
Generated extras
First fill will invent a size run. Merchandising is deletion. Overnight jobs should not grow the run unless the brief asks.
Photos per variant
If you only photographed black, do not sell red as if you had the still. People buy the picture.
We do not have an inventory matrix
Empty cells stay empty. A Shopify-style variant warehouse is a different product.
Refunds
Selling unfulfillable variants is how you live in your processor's dispute inbox. Take the option down.
Limits and caveats
This is not anti-choice. It is anti-fiction. A small honest run beats a fashion-site size grid.
If a sentence would require a competitor SKU we have not verified, or a statistic we did not measure, it does not belong here.
What to do after you read this
If this page answered the query, open Create with the nouns from your own business, not a slogan. If it did not, you are probably in the wrong cluster: go back to the blog hub or Shops and catalogs. Do not spin a second URL for a synonym. One intent per page is the whole point of this library.
Tools that actually do this job
These are public pages. Use them when the job is this job. They are not a second product you have to buy.
Questions people actually ask
Can I say "more colors soon"?
On a page, yes. Not as a cart option that charges today.
Does Cipher know my stock?
No.
Should I start with one variant?
Often yes. See the one-product shop page.
Is a bundle a variant?
No. A bundle is a pack you actually assemble. Different page.