Grouped products

Group articles differ from configurable articles in that they combine several articles into a so-called group article. Instead of the individual variants, the customer sees the group article. This applies to overview pages, search results and product recommendations. In this way, each product variant has all the properties of a normal article, including

• its own images
• its own description
• its own stock

Display of an article group

TYRIOS summarises the articles in an article group in all overviews. A group name defined by you is used as the name (see below). The display of the article image or the article price depends on the current sorting and any product filters that may have been stored. TYRIOS decides independently which display is currently most suitable for the customer. If the articles are sorted by relevance, for example, TYRIOS automatically displays the most relevant article in the group. If the price is filtered, only the articles that match the price filter are automatically taken into account.

In the item detail view, you will find all variants prominently displayed next to the item image. Variants are grouped into dimensions (e.g. size and colour). You can store as many dimensions and variants as you like.

Creating an article group

In the following, we assume that the individual variants already exist as independent items. If this is not the case, the created article group can be edited at any time later and the missing variants can be added.

To create an article group, go to the user area under "Product management" -> "Group articles" -> "Create group articles"

You will receive a dialogue with three tabs:

Basic data

In the basic data, you define the name of the group article in overviews (1). Instead of a single article name, the group name you specify here is displayed.

You can also use (2) to specify whether product ratings should apply to all items in the group or to each item individually.

Dimensions

Use the dimensions to specify the type of variant you want to use. Examples of this would be

• Size
• Colour
• Equipment

You can define any number of dimensions and their order for the group item in a tabular form (1). Please note, however, that a value for the dimension must be stored for each item (see Item assignment). The fewer dimensions you offer, the easier it is to maintain your group item.

To add a new dimension, first click on (4). A new row is inserted at the end of the table. You must now specify the name of your dimension (2) and the type of dimension (3).

There are 3 types available to you:

1. Selection field: The variants are offered as a drop-down menu
2. Text: The variants are displayed as independent text buttons
3. Image: The variants are displayed using an image (ATTENTION: this function is not yet finalised and is not always available)

Item assignment

Once you have defined the dimensions, you can store the individual variants. As each variant is an independent item, this is done with the item assignment. A tabular overview (1) of all items already assigned is available to you. The order of the variants can be conveniently changed as usual using drag & drop.

To define a new variant, click on (4). A new row is added to your table. Now define the desired variant for each dimension (2). You can then assign a specific item (3). You can use the auto-suggest function for this: as soon as you have entered part of the item name or item number, you will see a selection field with possible products.

Always keep the customer in mind when assigning articles. TYRIOS allows you to store any number of dimensions for an article group. However, you should then also be able to store a corresponding article for all combinations. Otherwise, the system must acknowledge the customer's selection with the message that the desired combination is not available.

For example, if you have an article with two colours and two sizes, you should assign 4 articles (for each colour/size combination). If you also specify the material dimension, you would already have 8 articles (for each colour-size-material combination).

TYRIOS can deal with the fact that you don't have a suitable article for every combination. However, this may put customers off.

Manage group articles

To edit group articles or to get an overview of all groups already created, click on "Product management" -> "Group articles" -> "Manage group articles" in the user administration.

You will receive a tabular list of all available groups. Here you can search by group name as well as by article number and name and export and print the entire stock.