Should you create separate products for each variant or group them into a single product?
A key consideration that many Shopify store owners overlook is how they should structure their products. Should each variation have its own product listing, or should similar items be grouped together as variants within a single product?
It's an important decision because your product structure affects the overall shopping experience, how easily customers discover products and even your visibility on Google. It's also best to adopt one approach consistently across your store to avoid creating confusion for your customers.
Over the years, I've experimented with both methods and have reached a clear conclusion on which approach generally works best.
Individual Products
This approach involves creating a separate product listing for each variation you sell. For example, if a wallet comes in four colours, you would create four individual products rather than one product with four colour variants.
Yes, this takes more time. As you will need to upload more images, write additional product descriptions and manage more listings. However, there are some significant advantages.
Benefits
•Every colour or style is immediately visible on collection pages.
•Customers can see your full product range without having to click into a product page first.
•Each product has its own URL, which can help with SEO and organic search visibility.
• Individual products often create a fuller, more visually appealing collection page.
•You can setup a collection page sorting option to filter by colour
Drawbacks of Individual Products
•More products to upload and maintain.
•More product photography may be required.
•Managing stock and descriptions can take longer.
•If a customer lands directly on one product page, they may never realise other colours or styles are available.
Grouped Products with Variants
This method uses a single product listing with multiple options, such as different colours. It allows you to upload products much more quickly, as you only need to enter the product details once and then simply add variants, each with its own image to represent the different options.
The biggest advantage is that customers can switch between variants directly on the product page without having to leave it. The experience feels seamless and keeps everything neatly organised in one place.
However, on collection pages, customers will only see a single product card displaying the first image. They would need to click into the product page to discover the other options.
One workaround is to add colour swatches to your collection pages, allowing customers to see that additional options are available. That said, setting up swatches can be more complex than expected, and they will not accurately represent your products colour, unless you upload custom swatch images.
Benefits of Grouped Products
•Easier and quicker to manage.
•Customers can switch between colours or sizes on the same page.
•Fewer products to maintain.
•Reviews and product information remain in one place.
Drawbacks of Grouped Products
•Variations are often hidden on collection pages.
• Customers browsing quickly may never realise alternative colours exist.
• Your product range can appear smaller than it actually is.
• Individual variations do not usually have their own optimised URLs for search engines.
Considering that many visitors spend only a matter of seconds browsing a website before deciding whether to continue. Making products highly visible from the start can make a real difference.
My Recommendation
After years of trying both approaches, I've found that creating separate product listings generally provides the best customer experience. There are still situations where product variants make sense, such as clothing that comes in different sizes. However, in most cases, I recommend creating separate listings for each colour or style variation.
Displaying products side by side on collection pages allows you to showcase your full product range and helps customers discover more of what you offer. It can also create additional opportunities for your products to be found through search engines.
The only drawback is when a customer lands directly on a product page, as they may not realise other colours or styles are available. Fortunately, Shopify now offers ways to combine the benefits of both approaches:
The Best of Both Worlds
The good news is that you can achieve the benefits of both approaches. Start by creating each variant as an individual product. You can then use a supported Shopify theme that includes the built in Linked Product variants feature. Available on : Impact, Prestige or Stretch themes.
I find it surprising that more themes haven't adopted this feature, as it significantly improves both product discovery and the overall customer experience. If you find another one on the Shopify theme store, please do let me know so I can update this blog.
If you've already chosen your theme, don't worry. Several apps on the Shopify App Store offer similar functionality for a monthly subscription. Most provide free trials, so it's worth testing a couple to find the one that best suits your store.
Need Help?
I'm a Shopify expert and have been building Shopify stores for many years. If you would like help setting up linked products or simply need some advice on the best way to structure your catalogue, I'd be more than happy to help.
Even if you're not entirely sure which approach is right for your business, feel free to get in touch for a chat. I always enjoy hearing about different businesses and the stories behind them.
I hope you found this article useful. If you have recently been considering how to structure your products, It would be great to hear which approach you ultimately chose and why. Feel free to leave a comment below.
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