Working with Variation Groups in the PIM Enterprise
An item detail page contains information about a single SKU from your system. But in some cases, the user has a better experience when they can see several variations of an item in one place. In the PIM, you can achieve this using Variation Groups.
The Variation Group view is also available in SKU views, like Search Results and Categories.
Variation Groups are category-based. That's how you can define which Attributes will be available to a Variation Group.
TIP: Variation Groups should include only items that can essentially share a singular description and which have a particular difference. For example, safety glasses with lenses of different shades would be good candidates for a Variation Group. Safety glasses, hard hats, ear protection, and respirators might be items that go together, but they're not good candidates to combine in a single Variation Group. Including those items in a Variation Group would make for a bad user experience on your website.
How to Create a Variation Group
Variation groups can be created by selecting a category and navigating to the Variation Group tab at the top of the screen. From here you can select "Add Variation Group".
Make the Variation Group Name and Description indicative of the items in the Variation Group, as it can appear on the website's SKU listings, in Search Results and Category listings.
Set the Default Sort option, and up to 4 Attributes to be shown on the SKU Detail Variation Group display. Be sure to set the Default Sort as one of your selected Attributes.
TIP - Use attributes here that are marked as "Both" or "Specification" so that the data is available on the item listing online. "Filter" attributes don't display on the item listing directly, so the data won't make sense to your website users.
How to add Items to a Variation Group
You can add an item to a Variation group by right clicking the item and select Add to Variation Group. A popup will appear that allows you to either choose an existing group to add the item to, or create a new group.
Items that exist in multiple categories are generally not good candidates to exist in a Variation Group in any category. The website will display item data from only a single category on the SKU Detail page (which is where you'll see these Variation Groups), and there's no way to guarantee which category's Variation Group will be displayed.
How to View Variation Group Information for an Item
To view which Variation Group an item is in, simply select the item and view the Variation Groups tab from the right-hand side of the screen.
How to Remove an Item from a Variation Group
Select the item(s) you want to remove from a Variation Group. Right-click and select "Remove From Variation".
NOTE: The expected size of a Variation Group is no more than 12 items. It's possible to include more if the situation requires it, but a good user experience involves being able to visually scan the list on the website.
Adding special characters to Variation Group names can cause issues with group functionality. Use only alphanumeric characters when naming Variation Groups.