What is a configurable product in Magento?
Magento allows you to create many different types of products. One type of product is a ‘configurable product’. What is a configurable product in Magento? A configurable product in Magento is a product that utilizes ‘attributes’ in order to create it. ‘Attributes’ could be any group of options like the size of a shirt, to the color of a shoe, to the weight of a bag of apples.
The complexity of a configurable product is because it is actually multiple products each with their own sku. The reason each variation is it’s own sku is so you can track inventory for each variation of the product. Configurable products are setup so the store owner can track the attributes of the product and see which variations sell the best. For example, a store owner selling a rug might want to know which are the most popular colors for the rug and most popular sizes for the rug. Setting up a product as a configurable product allows the store owner to track all of these details. And a configurable product sets things up as if each unique combination is it’s own individual product.
To create a configurable product start by creating the attributes you know you will use.
To create an attribute, first navigate to Catalog->Attributes->Manage Attributes. From there click on the ‘Add New Attribute’ button in the top right.
Fill out the form to create the attribute. The form is pretty straight-forward. Once you have filled out the form click ‘save and continue edit’. Then fill out the second part of the form which is to choose labels for your options. Once you choose labels you can click ‘save attribute’ and you are finished.
If you have attributes that are usually used together you can create ‘attribute sets’. An example of an attribute set would be for the product of a shirt. Your shirt would be a configurable product and the attributes would be color and size. Thus you could create an ‘attribute set’ for shirts that have the color option and the size option. This ‘attribute set’ could then be used over and over again,
If you need expert help with learning what is a configurable product in Magento or you need help setting up attributes or configurable products in your Magento store contact the experts at Cybersolutions, LLC for fast and reliable help.
