Amazon is one of the most customer-centric companies in the world. They try to implement and create features that drive better customer experience. Amazon is making online shopping extremely convenient for customers and ‘variations’ is one of the best features Amazon created for a delightful customer experience.
We often see the size, color, style, etc. options available when we open products on Amazon for sale under one listing. This is what variation means.
After I decided to buy a specific dress of course I would like to check the sizes and colors. With variations, it is possible to see all options on one product detail page. Otherwise, that would be time-consuming and hard to search, find, and decide.
These are the steps involved in creating variations on Amazon:
Below is the information needed on the variation sheet:
Each variation takes up to 48 hours to be live on the system. If it is not live, the selling partner should connect with Amazon Support to investigate the reason.
Amazon launched the Automatic Variation Services (AVS) program at the end of 2019 but this is not available or chosen by selling partners in many marketplaces. This program enables the automatic creation of variation (twister) product relationships.
For sellers only, there is a feature called ‘Variation Wizard’ on seller central but most selling partners choose to contact Amazon to create variations. This way, they would make sure that the variation is correct and that it will go live.
In order to create a variation, there are three words we need to be familiar with: Family, Parent & Child.
Let’s say iPhone 14 Pro Max is one product but when it comes to different colors, the product has different barcodes/ model numbers.
ASINS: A, B, C, and D have different barcodes & model numbers on Amazon. Since they are identical products but different in color, we may create a variation to show the customer different options for a better experience.
The ASINs: A, B, C, and D are child ASINs that eventually make up a family. So, they are the children of the family.
Now, what is the parent ASIN?
Selling partners often get confused about parent ASINs on variations. Parent ASIN is not visible till the variation is created. Amazon system generates an ASIN as parent ASIN for each variation family. It is important to note that a parent ASIN is not a sellable ASIN and this ASIN will not appear on the product detail page while we are seeing the 4 child ASINs.
These 4 child and automated parent ASINs gather together as one ‘Variation Family’.
Now this same product- iPhone 14 Pro Max- also has size differences and comes in 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB. The selling partner would like to create a size variation as a new family too.
But the good part is that the selling partner can create two different characteristics into one variation family. So they can combine color & size into one variation family.
Size & Color variations together as 1 family look like below:
Breaking a variation is sometimes necessary when selling partners want to create a new variation or want to do some changes to products that no longer belong to the variation.
This action is not possible manually. Selling partners need to contact Amazon by giving the child ASINs to Amazon Support to break the variation family.
We all need to be aware that 1 ASIN can only be a part of 1 variation family. Amazon does not allow a child ASIN to be a part of another family. If a selling partner wants to include an existing child ASIN to a different family, they need to remove that ASIN from the old family.
These are the questions we need to have as answers before we create variations:
As a simple rule, similar and almost identical products are not allowed for variations. For example, products that have:
Selling partners may combine 2 variation themes together as in the example above. They may create a limitless variation on their catalog as well. There is no limit to creating variations.
The only important rule is that a product cannot be added to a new variation family if it is already a part of another family. Selling partners need to contact Amazon support to remove the product from one family and add it to another. 1 ASIN can exist in only 1 one variation family.
Creating variation is very useful for a better buying experience. Having to see almost identical products together would help to increase visibility and sales. Below are some important benefits:
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