This page handles all of your product maintenance chores. Here you can add, update, delete, or archive products, as well as add, maintain, and delete SKUs.
A word about products and SKUs.
First, it's imperative to understand the product / SKU relationship. A product is a particular item within a brand or company; for example, "Levis 501 Blues" would be a product. The SKUs for this product would be the variations of 501 Blues, such as the sizes, which will be each entered as a separate SKU (Stock Keeping Unit). In the database it would appear like this:
Product
ID Name
Levis-501 Levis 501 Blues
Related Product SKUs (Stock Keeping Units)
ID Related Prod ID Description
Levis-501-3230 Levis-501 32X30
Levis-501-3430 Levis-501 34X30
Levis-501-3630 Levis-501 36X30
This is a rather simple example, but it effectively illustrates the relationship between a product and its SKUs. A product must have at least one SKU; if the product comes without any variations or options, you would create only one SKU for the product. A product can have as many SKUs as you need to accommodate all of the different combinations of options.
If your store ends up with only three products with fifty SKUs each, it may be a good idea to reconsider how you are defining your products. Going back to the previous example, "Blue Jeans" would be a category or a secondary category, not a product. A particular line item from a particular brand or vendor, such as Levis 501 Blues, would be the correct choice as a product.
Adding a Product
When you click the Add New Product link in the admin menu, you will be taken to a blank product admin page. Complete all of the fields for the Product Data section of the page. If you want to add a product but are not ready for it to appear on the web, set the "On Web" setting to No. This will hide the product and all its SKUs from the web until you are ready for it to be displayed online. After you complete the product data and click Add Product at the bottom of the page, the initial product data will be added to the database and the product admin page will reload with the newly added info. Now you will be able to add SKUs to the product.
Product Image Upload
This page allows you to select and upload product images of all types. Default image types are Expanded, Full, Small, and Thumbnail. You need only upload one image, and Cartweaver 4 will automatically duplicate and resize it for you. The image upload will only allow web-compatible image files to be uploaded (image files ending in .gif, .jpg, .jpeg or .png). Once the image is selected and uploaded, the appropriate image name field will be updated with the name of the file that was uploaded.
**Points to remember: Although Cartweaver will resize your image for you, it's best to avoid uploading an image larger than 1000 pixels in any direction. Uploading very large high-resolution images could result in server time-out or image file corruption, which may lead to problems. Remember to reduce your initial image to a reasonable size before uploading.
Once the product has been created, the Add SKUs form will be visible. You can add as many SKUs as you would like. Once you are done adding SKUs, you can hide the Add SKU form by clicking the "Hide Add SKU Form" link. If you wish to add more SKUs, simply click the "Add SKU" link to show the Add SKU form again.
When adding SKUs, be sure to fill in all fields. If weight is unimportant for your product line, just enter 0; all other fields must be complete.
Options are what differentiates a Product's various SKUs. Let's take as an example a clothing Product that is available in various sizes and colors.
You would create two option groups - Color and Size - then in each group you will add the various choices that you will offer, say for Color you could add: red, green, blue, grey... Then for Size you could add Small, Medium, Large, XLarge
Now say you add a Product like Sweaters. When you select the options for this Product you would select both the "Size" and Color" Option groups. Once you have done this, all the various options in these Option groups will be available to you when you begin to add your SKUs.
Now you can create your SKUs for example an XLarge, Green Sweater, and a Small, Red, Sweater and so forth.
Some will say, but with this or that product, this will mean adding many SKUs because there are many possible combinations, and that is true. So, why is it done this way? This is the same way a bricks and mortar store adds inventory and it is the right way to do it. This allows each SKU to have its own SKU ID, for reordering, as well as its own weight price and stock count.
Entering SKUs into your online store database just as you would in a physical store inventory allows you to manage and monitor your sales and stock on hand as it should be.
**Points to remember:
At least one SKU: All products must have at least one SKU. The SKU is where the price, inventory and weight are stored. A product isn't done and won't show on the web until you have added at least one SKU.
Deleting a SKU: You cannot delete products or SKUs that have orders associated with them. See below.
**Points to remember:
The digital download features will only be visible here if this functionality is enabled. To activate the downloadable feature, in the admin go to: Site Setup > Download Settings and check the Downloads Enabled box. You you do this, make sure to double check the other settings while you are at it.
Any SKU can be designated ad a digital downloadable product by uploading and associating a file with the SKU. In the "File Management" portion of the SKU form you can upload your "SKU file" - default supported file types are: application/zip, application/pdf, audio/mpeg3, application/x-zip-compressed - This and other download settings can be found in the admin at: Site Setup > Download Settings. You can also set a limit to how many timed a customer can download the SKU file. You can also enter a version number to keep track of what the currently available download version number is - this is particularly helpful with software.
Once you have uploaded your file and set the downloads and version, be sure to Save your changes.
Deleting a Product:
You can only delete a product that has no SKUs or orders related to it. In order to delete a product, you will need to delete all the associated SKUs first. If you cannot delete all the SKUs because of related orders but still want to eliminate the product, you can choose to archive the product instead. This will remove it from the web and from the Active Products list.
Deleting SKUs:
You delete SKUs by clicking the trash can next to the SKU's ID. You may not delete SKUs that have orders associated with them. If you cannot delete the SKU and wish to make it unavailable for sale you can set the "On Web" setting to No.
**Points to remember: You cannot delete products that have orders associated with them. You must archive them instead.
Up-sell products are related products that a customer may find of interest. If "Show Cross Sell" is set to Yes on the Other Settings page, links to the Up-sell products will appear on the Details page in a customer's cart. You can add as many of these as you wish, though it is usually better to limit the number to a few to ensure a better "impact".