Product Types

This section covers all the different taxonomy or hierarchy using which the products can be browsed.

Simple Product

A simple product refers to a basic and standalone item that is sold individually without any variations or options. It doesn't have different choices like size, Color, or much of customizable features. Customers can purchase this product as it is, without needing to choose between different versions or configurations. It's a single version of a product for example a paperback book.

Variants

This is one product that comes in different choices, like a t-shirt in various sizes or colours. Each choice might have its own price and availability. For example a shirt would have colors (black, gray, blue) and then would have sizes (small, medium, large) within colors. Each color-size combination has its own price and quantity available. Customers can choose the specific variant they want to purchase based on their preferences.

The way hierarchy works in case of variants is as below:

├── [Level 1] Product (eg. Shirt) 
│   ├── [Level 2] Variant Groups  (eg. Blue Color) 
│   |   ├── [Level 3] Variants (eg. s/m/l)

Level	Name	Description
Level 1	Product	This would be the master level of the product and would be not sellable by itself but would contain all the master details of the product. The master product code is typically prefixed in all the subsequent levels for easier identification.
Level 2	Variant Group	This is the logical grouping by the second level of variant, typically Color. Majority of the times, this would also not be sellable, but provides a logical grouping of all child sellable products under it.
Level 3	Variant	This is the actual sellable product and the generally the most atomic level of item in product hierarchy of variants.

The PIM does not limits to have variants at 3 levels only, in certain business scenarios there may be need to have additional levels for eg. material, style etc. The platform is flexible enough to support upto 5 levels for variant configuration.

Content Updates

Typically, the master product would contain all the common details of the product like description, images, etc. The variant group and variant would contain the specific details like price, quantity, etc. The master product would also contain the custom attributes data as well for all attributes except the ones which are flagged for being used for variant identification (eg. color, size). Typically this would reduce the effort in maintaining the data at multiple level and reduces the duplicated effort. The PIM provides capability to flag certain custom attributes to be different at variant level in which case the data at Level 2 or Level 3 can override the attribute data populated at master level.
The changes work in a simple hierarchical way - Level 3 overrides the data at Level 2 and Level 2 overrides the data at Level 1.

Bundles

Bundle products are combinations of multiple items sold as a single package, with a fixed price or dynamic pricing based on the customer's product selection. The platform offers two bundle types:

BOM: A Bill of Materials (BOM) is list of componenets with their units requuired to shape up the final product. It lists all the things you need, like parts and materials, and shows how much of each you'll need.
Complementary: This bundle type offers a package deal with more than one product or service, all at a set price that might include a discount. For instance, if a laptop, a mouse, and a USB are each priced at £1000, £5, and £8 when purchased individually, combining them as a bundle might result in a total cost of £110. This approach benefits both the customer and the business: the customer receives a discounted rate, while the business promotes related products and encourages cross-sales by offering a bundled discount and presenting the items together.