Adding and Modifying "Apparel" Products
Adding and Modifying "Apparel" Products
The Apparel Add-On adds new settings to the Control Panel's pages used to add or edit products in your store. To turn a standard product into an Apparel Product, locate the product and click on the Apparel Product Settings [tab] in the left side-bar, and then change the Radio Button titled " This is an apparel product" to 'Yes'.
To add a new Apparel product, select Products > Add New Product. and make sure to specify it as an Apparel Product by clicking the Radio Button referenced above. When clicking 'Yes', then a new section of the page will be displayed.
Configure the following options:
Out of Stock Behavior
When a Sub-Product is out of stock, what should happen? You can control the way “out of stock” product variations (sub-products) are shown on the product details page ( pc/viewPrd.asp). You can either hide the option that is not in stock, or show a custom message next to it.
For example, assume you are selling a polo shirt, available in a few colors and sizes. Also assume that for the color “Blue”, the sizes “Medium” and “Large” are out of stock, whereas “Small” and “X-Large” are in stock. Depending on how you configure this option, ProductCart will behave as follows:
- If the option is hidden, when customers select “Blue” from the “Color” drop-down menu, the sizes “Medium” and “Large” are not shown. Only “Small” and “X-Large” are shown in the “Size” drop-down menu.
- If the option is shown, when customers select “Blue” from the “Color” drop-down menu, the sizes “Medium” and “Large” are shown, and the out of stock message entered here is displayed next to them (e.g. “Currently out of stock”). If customers select an out of stock option, an alert is shown indicating that the product is out of stock. The message should be as short as possible as it is shown next to the out of stock option inside the drop-down menu that displays such options (or next to the radio button label). A long message would stretch that drop-down menu horizontally and not look professional on the page.
The Disregard Inventory option that can be set on the Add/Modify product page does not apply to Apparel Products. This is because inventory is handled at the sub-product level when you are dealing with an Apparel Product. You can disregard stock at the sub-product level by enabling that feature on the Manage Sub-Products page. The same is true for the “Stock” count, as the inventory levels are set for each Sub-Product.
Also, since Apparel Parent Products themselves cannot be sold (only Sub Products)… the Inventory Field (Stock Level) for the Parent Product is only used to let the Store Admin know “at-a-glance” whether the Apparel Product has any Sub Products “in-stock”. If there are any Sub Products in stock, the Stock value of Parent Product will be 1… if not, it will be 0. The only inventory level that matters is the one on the Manage Sub Products page.