E-commerce

Mastering Variants and Collections in Shopify Admin

Mastering Variants and Collections in Shopify Admin

Mastering Variants and Collections in Shopify Admin

December 23, 2025

December 23, 2025

Creating and managing product variants and collections is essential for any Shopify store owner looking to streamline their product offerings. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating variants and collections in the Shopify Admin, along with highlighting key features that will simplify your workflow.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Contents

  • Overview

  • Why Use Variants?

  • Creating Variants For Your Product

  • Collections

  • Create a New Collection

  • Schedule Your Collection Release Date

  • Now It’s Your Turn!

Overview

In the realm of e-commerce, your products may not always fit into a single category. They might come in various colors, sizes, or materials. Instead of creating a separate product listing for each variation, Shopify allows you to create a single product with multiple variants, simplifying your inventory management.

Why Use Variants?

Using variants can significantly enhance your store's efficiency. Consider a scenario where you sell a shirt that is available in four sizes and five colors. Without variants, you would have to manage 20 separate listings—one for each combination. If you add different prints or patterns, the number of products increases exponentially, making inventory management cumbersome.

Variants not only save you time but also keep your product catalog organized. Shopify's built-in variant feature eliminates the need for additional apps or integrations, making it a hassle-free solution.

Creating Variants For Your Product

To create variants, start by navigating to the product page. You can either add a new product or select an existing one to which you want to add variants. Always make these changes in a test store to avoid disrupting your live site.

Scroll down to the Variants section and click the + icon to add a new variant. You will be prompted to connect a metafield to the type of variant you are creating. For simplicity, select Create custom option.

Next, enter the variant name, which represents the broad category (e.g., Size, Color, Style). Then, specify the Option Values that will represent the different styles or variations (e.g., Red, Green, Blue, Yellow). Once you've added your options, click Done to save your changes.

Under the variants section, you will see a list of your newly created variants. The order in which you arrange these variants will dictate how they appear to customers. For instance, if Size is above Color, customers will select a size first, followed by the color. Conversely, if Color is prioritized, customers will choose a color first before selecting a size.

You can also manage stock levels and pricing for each variant. By default, the price of the highest-level variant will be the base price, but this can be adjusted for individual variants as needed.

Collections

Organizing your products into collections enhances the shopping experience for customers, making it easier for them to browse your store. Collections can be tailored to fit your business model and customer preferences.

For example, a clothing brand might create separate collections for men, women, and children, while a home decor brand might categorize products by rooms such as living room, kitchen, and outdoor.

Additionally, collections can be utilized to promote sales, seasonal items, or specific product lines, effectively driving sales and increasing visibility for featured products.

Create a New Collection

Shopify offers two types of collections:

  • Manual Collection: A collection where you manually select and manage specific products. This collection will not change unless you add or remove items.

  • Automated Collection: This collection automatically updates based on specified conditions. When new products meet the criteria, they will be included in the collection without manual intervention.

To create an automated collection, you can set conditions based on various criteria, such as product category, tags, metafield values, price, or inventory stock. You can use single or multiple conditions to ensure your collection aligns with your business strategy.

Keep in mind that manual collections will include all variants of the selected products. If you wish to include only specific variants, automated collections with conditions are the way to go.

Schedule Your Collection Release Date

If you are preparing for a promotion or product launch, Shopify allows you to schedule the release of your collection to go live on a specific date and time. This feature enables you to plan ahead and ensure a seamless launch for your new products or collections.

Now It’s Your Turn!

Ready to put your knowledge into practice? In a test store, navigate to your product page, create a new product, and add three variants, each with at least two sub-variants. Alternatively, create a manual and an automated collection based on any theme you choose.

By mastering variants and collections in Shopify, you’ll not only improve your store’s organization but also enhance the shopping experience for your customers. Happy selling!

Go further

Creating and managing product variants and collections is essential for any Shopify store owner looking to streamline their product offerings. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating variants and collections in the Shopify Admin, along with highlighting key features that will simplify your workflow.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Contents

  • Overview

  • Why Use Variants?

  • Creating Variants For Your Product

  • Collections

  • Create a New Collection

  • Schedule Your Collection Release Date

  • Now It’s Your Turn!

Overview

In the realm of e-commerce, your products may not always fit into a single category. They might come in various colors, sizes, or materials. Instead of creating a separate product listing for each variation, Shopify allows you to create a single product with multiple variants, simplifying your inventory management.

Why Use Variants?

Using variants can significantly enhance your store's efficiency. Consider a scenario where you sell a shirt that is available in four sizes and five colors. Without variants, you would have to manage 20 separate listings—one for each combination. If you add different prints or patterns, the number of products increases exponentially, making inventory management cumbersome.

Variants not only save you time but also keep your product catalog organized. Shopify's built-in variant feature eliminates the need for additional apps or integrations, making it a hassle-free solution.

Creating Variants For Your Product

To create variants, start by navigating to the product page. You can either add a new product or select an existing one to which you want to add variants. Always make these changes in a test store to avoid disrupting your live site.

Scroll down to the Variants section and click the + icon to add a new variant. You will be prompted to connect a metafield to the type of variant you are creating. For simplicity, select Create custom option.

Next, enter the variant name, which represents the broad category (e.g., Size, Color, Style). Then, specify the Option Values that will represent the different styles or variations (e.g., Red, Green, Blue, Yellow). Once you've added your options, click Done to save your changes.

Under the variants section, you will see a list of your newly created variants. The order in which you arrange these variants will dictate how they appear to customers. For instance, if Size is above Color, customers will select a size first, followed by the color. Conversely, if Color is prioritized, customers will choose a color first before selecting a size.

You can also manage stock levels and pricing for each variant. By default, the price of the highest-level variant will be the base price, but this can be adjusted for individual variants as needed.

Collections

Organizing your products into collections enhances the shopping experience for customers, making it easier for them to browse your store. Collections can be tailored to fit your business model and customer preferences.

For example, a clothing brand might create separate collections for men, women, and children, while a home decor brand might categorize products by rooms such as living room, kitchen, and outdoor.

Additionally, collections can be utilized to promote sales, seasonal items, or specific product lines, effectively driving sales and increasing visibility for featured products.

Create a New Collection

Shopify offers two types of collections:

  • Manual Collection: A collection where you manually select and manage specific products. This collection will not change unless you add or remove items.

  • Automated Collection: This collection automatically updates based on specified conditions. When new products meet the criteria, they will be included in the collection without manual intervention.

To create an automated collection, you can set conditions based on various criteria, such as product category, tags, metafield values, price, or inventory stock. You can use single or multiple conditions to ensure your collection aligns with your business strategy.

Keep in mind that manual collections will include all variants of the selected products. If you wish to include only specific variants, automated collections with conditions are the way to go.

Schedule Your Collection Release Date

If you are preparing for a promotion or product launch, Shopify allows you to schedule the release of your collection to go live on a specific date and time. This feature enables you to plan ahead and ensure a seamless launch for your new products or collections.

Now It’s Your Turn!

Ready to put your knowledge into practice? In a test store, navigate to your product page, create a new product, and add three variants, each with at least two sub-variants. Alternatively, create a manual and an automated collection based on any theme you choose.

By mastering variants and collections in Shopify, you’ll not only improve your store’s organization but also enhance the shopping experience for your customers. Happy selling!

Go further

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No-code solution, no technical knowledge required. AI trained on your e-shop and non-intrusive.

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