This feature allows items that are essentially the same item but come in different variations to be grouped together.  An ideal example is stock that comes different colours, sizes and styles like clothing, shoes and manchester. 

Once items are grouped using variants you will benefit from easier stock ordering, stock arrivals, searching and you will have the ability to export your variants to a website to facilitate easier purchasing by your online customers.   

The Variants module is an additional paid module to the software. To purchase click HERE
If you are renting Retailer, the module is included. Contact Tower Support if you aren't sure

Video Guide

Setting up Variants

1. From the main screen of Retailer, click on Stock -> Suppliers & Departments -> Variants.
2. Under Variant Types click on the ‘+’ button down the bottom left, type in the Description and a Short Description (This will be displayed on the stock items name).
   Note: The Variant Type only needs to be added once. E.g. Size can be used for shoe sizing and clothing sizes.
   
3. Click on the Variant Group tab, and add a Group Name. You can then add the variants you wish to be under that particular group. E.g. Group Name: Linen and the Variants might be: Colour, Size, Thread Count.

The priority field is the order in which they are displayed in the description. 

Adding Variants to a Stock Item via the Stock Screen

1. From the stock screen, find the item you wish to add variants to, then click on the Variants tab. Select the variant group for the item, once the variants are displayed you can enter the value for each one. This can be selected via the drop down or by simply typing.
   Note: You don’t have to enter a value for all variants in the group.
2. Once the variant has been added once there is no need to add it again. (E.g. Once you have entered in Red in any variant group it will save this information as an option to select for the next time a red item comes in)
   
3. The description will be updated once the Variants are saved.

For the descriptions to display and update properly no square brackets should be used in the description. If you delete the variants out, they will automatically be added back into the description upon saving/cancelling changes in the stock screen.

Adding Other Variants of the Same Item

Additional stock items can be added via the Stock Variants button under the Variants Tab. This screen allows you to create stock items easily for the variants. E.g. you can add each colour or size shoe without having to manually go through and add each item individually.

1. In the Variants tab click on Stock Variants.
2. The Grid up the top will display the current item, this item is the ‘Main’ item.
3. Scan or enter the barcode of the variant item ([Alt]+[G] to generate a barcode). If the item does not already exist in the system it will add this item for you, based off the details on the Main item.
4. Once you have scanned / added the item you will be prompted to enter the variants of the item.
   
5. You can update this group of items in bulk (Supplier, Supplier Stock Code, Description, Cost Prices, Sell Prices) by clicking on the Update All Variant Items button.
   

Changing/updating the Variant values

You can also click HERE to check out this quick video on some ways to change Variant Values.

Using Stock screen

1. In the Stock screen, bring up one of the items in the same variant group that needs updating/changing.
   
2. Click the Stock Variants button on the right.
   
3. Select the Variant from the list by clicking once on it, then click Edit Variants at the bottom.
   
4. In the pop-up screen, change the variant values as needed, and click OK.
   
5. The Update All Variant Items button at the bottom, allows you to update all variants in this group, and you can update the Supplier, Supplier Stock Code, Description, Cost Price, and Sell Price.
   You will need to click and select the variant with the correct details first, then click Update All Variant Items, and it will copy the selected information.
   

   Note that this updates all the variants to the same Supplier, Supplier Stock Code, Description, Cost Price or Sell Price, depending on which is selected.
   For example, clicking Variant Bike A and then clicking Update All Variant Items, and Update Description, will rename all variant descriptions here to Variant Bike A

Using Stock Manager

1. From the main screen of Retailer, click on Stock Maintenance -> Stock Manager in the top menu.
   
2. Click Remove -> Remove All after entering the screen, to clear out any remaining items there from a previous session.
   
3. Click on Search at the top to bring up all the variants that will be worked on. The Advanced search can be used to find items with the same keyword, and under specific Departments/Categories/Suppliers.
   
   

   You can also search up all variants with a particular Variant Value, like the word 'Red', and load these items into the Stock Manager. This can be very powerful if you are updating all those items to have a new Variant Value, such as 'Crimson'.
   To do this, in the Advanced Search, click on the Variant tab in the middle, next to the Class tab. Then, tick the Include box for the Variant Type to change, and select the Variant Value to search for on the right.
4. When the items have loaded on the screen, click Select -> Select None to untick all the boxes on the left (unless you wish to edit all the variants at the same time).
   
5. Now tick the items that need to be updated/changed on their left.
   
6. Click Edit Selected on the top, and the changing items should be highlighted in red.
   
7. Click the right arrows in the panel on the right, next to the tabs at the top, until you can see the Variants tab, and click that.
   
8. In the variant box below, next to the Variant type, type in or select the new Variant Value. Click the Update box on the right, and click Apply Variants to Stock at the bottom.
   
9. Click the left arrow above, and next to the tabs, until you see the Details tab, and click that.
   
10. Click Save in the Details tab.

Changing the Order that Variants are Listed In

By default, the variants of a Variant Type are listed in alphabetical order. For example, if you have a variant type called Size, the variants might be listed in the order L, M, S, XL, XS. This order can be customised to a preferred order - eg. XS, S, M, L, XL. Once you have set a custom sorting order for a variant type, that order will apply to all variants using that variant type. It is also the order that these options will appear in on your website, if you have one linked with Retailer.

To customise the sorting order of variants in a variant type.

1. From the main screen of Retailer, click on Stock -> Suppliers & Departments -> Variants.
2. In the list of Variant Types, click the '...' icon for the variant type you want to change the sort ordering for.
   
3. Click and drag the list around until it is in the order you want, then click 'OK'
   

This can also be done from the Variant tab of the stock screen.

Adding Variants via Stock Manager

Click HERE for our advice sheet on using Stock Manager.

Remember, all selected items in the stock manager will be altered. It is best to perform a backup before making large changes.

1. In the Stock Manager, search for and select the stock items you wish to edit (see the stock manager guide linked above for how to do this).
   
2. Click Edit Selected, then click the Variants tab.
   
3. Click Link Selected Items and select the Main variant you wish to link these items to.
   
4. Click End Edit.
   

1. In the Stock Manager, search for and select the stock items you wish to edit (see the stock manager guide linked above for how to do this).
   
2. Click Edit Selected, then click the Variants tab.
   
3. For each variant value you wish to change, type in the new value or select it from the drop-down box, then tick the update box.
   
4. Click Apply Variants to Stock.
5. Click End Edit.

Arriving Stock Items with Variants via Invoice Arrivals

Click HERE for our advice sheet on using Invoice Arrivals

1. When you arrive stock that has Variants you will be presented with a prompt asking if you wish to arrive other Variants of that stock item.
   
2. You can then enter the quantity for each variant and change the Cost and Sell prices if you wish.
   

Re-Ordering Stock via Orders Maintenance

Click HERE for our advice sheet on Creating and Sending Orders 

1. Create an order through Orders Maintenance (Stock Maintenance -> Orders -> Orders Maintenance)
2. When you add a stock item that contains Variants, you will be prompt with a message asking if you would like to add other Variants to the order (Like the one in Invoice Arrivals). If you select Yes a grid will appear with the option to set the quantity for each of the variants.

Filtering Variants

Introduced in Retailer 3.2.2 is the ability to filter variants to quickly find the one that you are looking for. This can be done in any screen that lists variants - stock screen, POS screen etc. To filter variants, click the little funnel symbol in the column heading that you wish to filter by.

Click HERE for more help with filtering.