You sell T-shirts in three colours and four sizes. In Odoo that can be one product with twelve variants, or twelve separate products. Both work, both have consequences — for your webshop, your inventory reporting and your future self who will have to clean it up one day. This is how you choose.
When do you choose variants?
Choose variants when the products form one family: the same name, description, category and marketing. In the webshop, Odoo then shows one product page on which the customer chooses colour and size via a dropdown or colour swatches — exactly what visitors expect. Switch on variants via Sales → Configuration → Settings → Variants, define attributes (Colour, Size) and Odoo generates the combinations automatically. Small price differences are handled per attribute value with a surcharge: XL, for example, 2 euros extra.
Wanneer toch aparte producten?
- The prices differ considerably and don't follow the logic of one surcharge per attribute.
- Each version has its own supplier, lead time or purchase conditions.
- You want separate revenue and margin reporting per SKU, your own product descriptions or your own photos per version.
- The 'variants' are actually different products — a 10-inch and a 15-inch laptop share little more than the word laptop.
A workwear supplier from Tilburg did it like this: safety shoes as variants (sizes 39–47), but the matching insoles and socks as separate products, each with its own supplier.
Watch out with large numbers
Webshops with more than around 10,000 active variants run into slower pages and filters in Odoo. In that case, split into separate products per main group, or limit per website which variants are active, so that not every page has to load the full set of combinations. And be aware: every variant is its own record with its own stock — twelve variants means twelve counts at stocktaking.
Finally
Practical tip: start with variants where it feels logical and only split when practice calls for it — merging afterwards is far more work than splitting. Unsure about how to structure your range? Contact DAADit Group, we're happy to help you think through a structure that still holds up in three years' time.
You sell T-shirts in three colours and four sizes. In Odoo that can be one product with twelve variants, or twelve separate products. Both work, both have consequences — for your webshop, your stock reporting, and your future self who has to clean it up one day. Here is how to choose.
When to choose variants
Choose variants when the products form one family: the same name, description, category and marketing. The webshop then shows a single product page where the customer picks colour and size via a dropdown or colour swatches — exactly what visitors expect. Enable variants via Sales → Configuration → Settings → Variants, define attributes (Colour, Size) and Odoo generates the combinations automatically. Small price differences are handled per attribute value with a price extra: XL at 2 euros more, for example.
When separate products make more sense
- Prices differ substantially and do not follow a simple extra-per-attribute logic.
- Each version has its own supplier, lead time or purchase conditions.
- You need separate revenue and margin reporting per SKU, or distinct texts and photos per version.
- The 'variants' are really different products — a 10-inch and a 15-inch laptop share little beyond the word laptop.
A workwear supplier in Tilburg did it like this: safety shoes as variants (sizes 39–47), but the matching insoles and socks as separate products, each with its own supplier.
Watch out at scale
Webshops with more than roughly 10,000 active variants run into slower pages and filters in Odoo. In that case split into separate products per main group, or limit which variants are active per website so a page does not load the full combination set. And remember: every variant is its own record with its own stock — twelve variants means twelve counts at inventory time.
One last thing
Practical tip: start with variants where it feels natural and split only when practice demands it — merging afterwards is far more work than splitting. Unsure how to structure your catalogue? Get in touch with DAADit Group and we will help you design a structure that still makes sense in three years.