How to Add Variant Selectors in Shopify on Collection Pages

Variant selectors are a pivotal and important function of managing and operating a successful Shopify store. They allow customers to easily choose from the different product options available, such as size, color, and style. This helps them quickly find the product they are looking for without having to scroll through a long list of products. In this guide, I’ll be walking you through the How, Why, and, When of adding variant Selectors on collection pages and how best to utilize this core function on your Shopify website.

How To Add Variant Selector In Shopify On Collection Pages?

It’s currently not possible to add variants to your collections on Shopify, but you can add Shopify product variations. Chances are, if you are wanting to add variations to your collections, you will be better served to add variations directly to your products instead. But what if you really need to add a variation to your collections and don’t want to have to manually code in the variations yourself? Below are some options we have explored to teach you how to implement variations of different collections.

Alternatives to Shopify Collection Variations

• Customizing multiple collections and organizing them in your theme
• Manually or Automatically Sorting Products
• Create a Custom Collection Using Metaobjects and Metafields (Advanced)

If you still need to organize products or collections in different variations, read on as we have listed out the best way to create and manage different variable products that can be applied to different collections down below.

Can You Add a Variant Selectors to Collections In Shopify?

Shopify does not have a built-in option that would allow you to add variant selectors on collection pages. Although it’s not possible to change or add variant selectors in Shopify, there are alternative solutions that may help you better implement your goal through Shopify collections.

How Variants Work on Shopify

Variant Selectors – or Variants, are options you can configure within your product page in your Shopify backend. Any store using Shopify OS 2.0 will be able to make and adjust product variants natively in their backend without any additional apps.

Shopify encourages you to add variations of your products here. For example, you may sell multiple sizes, colors, and materials of your products that don’t make sense to sell as separate products.

How Variants are Organized on Shopify

Each product variant is organized inside the product page by default when you publish your product page. Each product variant is treated like its own product with a completely unique sku so you can still edit the image, inventory, and price but it will share the same product description and the same default details as the main product.

Shopify Variants In the Backend

With these adjustments configured on your Shopify products page, you can configure your Shopify products to show different variations and if they are currently available all in the same product page. Check out how this looks on the website below:

Adding product variants is a key part of making sure your website accurately shows what versions of one type of product are available, if there are price differences for each product variation and any other kind of variation you need to support in your Shopify store.

Customizable Collections Using Metaobjects, and Metafields

Maybe the best alternative to trying to code your own custom collection with variations is to create meta fields and metaobjects you can dynamically reference in your theme. Metafields and Metaobjects are a new data structure technique that adds a deeper layer of structuring, organizing and managing your collections in shopify.

Still a bit lost and need some help? Submit your shopify URL and a brief description of what you are trying to do on your Shopify Variant Collection and I’ll see if I can offer any assistance!

Best, Metaverse Marketer

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