A product variant is a specific version of a parent product that differs in one or more attributes such as size, color, material, or style. In ecommerce platforms like Shopify, variants are organized under a single product listing, allowing customers to select their preferred options from a unified product page. Each variant can have its own price, SKU, inventory count, and image.
Variant management is crucial for ecommerce operations and inventory tracking. A single product like a t-shirt might have 20+ variants when accounting for multiple sizes (XS through XXL) and colors (black, white, navy, etc.). Each of these combinations requires separate inventory tracking, and different variants may have different pricing—for example, extended sizes sometimes carry a premium price.
From an analytics perspective, tracking variants provides granular insights into consumer preferences and demand patterns. By analyzing which color and size combinations sell best, which variants are frequently out of stock, and how variant-level pricing differs across competitors, brands can optimize their assortment, pricing, and inventory allocation strategies.