Product options and choices

Add optional items to your products, let customers create custom products such as computers from components  or provide incentives by bundling other products as options at reduced prices to get more sales.

What are Options

Options and Choices are usually optional items to be sold with a product, such as add-ons like gift wrapping or writing on a T-Shirt.

They can also be used to build custom products such as computers from different components, such as selecting different CPUs, monitors, disks and software packages.

You can also bundle existing products as options with any product at a lower price to get customers to buy more products.

Customers will be presented with the options and choices on the more details product page in your store.

Options or attributes?

Product Attributes and Variations describe a product property. They are only supported by Physical products.

Options and choices are usually optional items, such as product add-ons, such as air-conditioning in a car. They can also be used to build custom products such as custom computers from different components. They are supported by all product types

Each have their own strengths.

However in some cases it can be easier to use Options as a replacement for Attributes. This is especially true if you use multiple attributes and all possible variations are always available.

For example if you’re a T-shirt manufacturer, you probably have access to T-shirts in all colors and in all sizes all the time. In that case options are more useful, as they don’t require you to define all the different combinations of colors and sizes you have available.

That’s because you have all variations available at all times.

However if you only have limited variations available and only in limited quantities then attributes are the better choice.

Example: You sell RED and GREEN T-shirt’s. RED T-shirts are available in sizes S and M. GREEN T-shirt are available in sizes M and L. If you use attributes then customers will not be able to select a RED T-shirt size L in your store, as it is not be available.

If you use Option and Choices, the customer can select Red and L, as options are not linked to each other.

Add an Option to your product

To add an Option go to the Overview page of the product and select Options and choices on the left side.

Now click on the Add Option button to get started.

Create Option

The Add option window opens.

Display name: the name of the option that will be shown in the store, such as Extras.

Internal name: the name of the option you will use to manage your options. For example you may want to create different options for different products using the same display name.

Share options between products: this allows you to use the same option for multiple products, so you don’t have to create a new option for every product. When you tick this box the option will be listed in Add existing option.

This option is required: if you tick this box customers must select a value from this option to purchase the product

Allow users to select multiple choices: users can pick more than one choice from the option

This option is a product bundle: allows you to bundle existing products with the product you are creating

Images: an image which will be shown with the option until the customer selects a value with a different image

Display style

Drop-down menu: values are displayed in a drop-down menu

Radio buttons: values are displayed with radio buttons next to them

Image selector: the images assigned to the values will be shown for the customer to select from

Checkbox: values are displayed with the checkbox next to them

One line/multi-line text: customers will be able to enter text. You can assign a price to each letter added by the customer, for example for engraving characters on a watch. The display name of the option will be used for the text field value, and only a single value is supported.

Click on the Next button to go to the next page.

Description: a short description of the option which will be shown together with the option in your store.

More information: here you can enter more information about the option. To see this information a customer will have to click on a link displayed with the option.

Adding values

Click on the next button to go to the values page. Here you enter the different values of the option. The values for the option Size for example could be S, M, L and XL.

To add a value click on the Enter name field.

Each value can have multiple properties assigned to it.

Price: this price will be added to the product price, when a customer selects this value. If your option is a text field, then you can also assign the price to each letter entered by the customer.

Weight: this weight will be added to the product weight, when a customer selects this value

Images: this image will replace the option image displayed in your store when a customer selects this value.

Description: this description will replace the option description when a customer selects this value.

Click on the save button to add the option to your product.

The Option table

Each option you add to your product appears on its own table. Each row in the table represents a different value which the customer can select. You can hide and delete values from the table. This will only affect the option as displayed with this product without affecting any other products which may use the same option.

Adding extra values

To add extra values to an option simply add them to the last row in the table.

Overriding price and weight

The two columns in which the prices and the weights for the different values are displayed allow you to override the price and weight of the option value on a product basis.

If you enter a value here it will become the price of the option when purchased only with this product when a customer selects it.

Add existing option

If you have created options which can be shared between products, they will be listed in the existing options list.

To add them to your product click on the Add existing option button.

Adding multiple options

Each option you insert appears in its own table. Customers can select values independently in each table.

Sorting options

To sort options click on the grab handle (cross) to the right of top the table and drag the option into the new position.

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