Variants, SKUs and stock

A T-shirt in three colors and five sizes is one product with fifteen variants. Getting variants right is what keeps stock accurate and keeps customers from ordering something you do not have.

Options and values#

Start by defining options. An option is a dimension such as Color or Size. Each option has values: Color has Red, Black and White; Size has S, M and L.

Kambloo builds the variants from the combinations. Two colors and three sizes give six variants. Remove the combinations you do not sell, so customers never see a dead end.

Option names and values are translatable. If your store runs in Turkish and English, "Renk" and "Color" are the same option with two labels.

What each variant carries#

Every variant has its own:

• SKU. Required and unique across the store. A good scheme encodes the product and the options: TSHIRT-BLK-M. Order lines record the SKU at the time of purchase, so a later change does not alter old orders.
• Barcode. The EAN or GTIN for that exact variant. Shopping feeds send each variant as a separate item, grouped under the product, and use this code.
• Price. Leave it empty to inherit the product price. Set it when a size or material costs more.
• Compare-at price and cost. Same rules as at the product level.
• Weight. Set it if variants differ in weight, since shipping is calculated from it.
• Image. Choose the gallery image that shows this variant. When a customer picks "Red", the gallery jumps to the red photo.
• Position. The order in which variants appear.

One variant is the default. It is what the product page shows before the customer picks anything.

Stock per variant#

Stock is always tracked per variant, never per product. If you have several warehouses, stock is tracked per variant and per warehouse, and you set which warehouse ships first. Most new stores have one warehouse, which Kambloo creates for you.

Two numbers matter:

• Quantity. Units physically available.
• Reserved. Units in orders that are placed but not paid yet.

Saleable stock is quantity minus reserved. When a customer starts paying by card, Kambloo reserves the units for 30 minutes. For bank transfer the reservation lasts 24 hours by default, because the customer needs time to send the money. If payment does not arrive, the reservation is released and the units become saleable again. When payment succeeds, the quantity is reduced. When an order is cancelled, stock returns.

This is why you should never edit stock to "fix" a pending order. Let the order flow handle it.

Low stock and sold out#

Set a low stock threshold on variants that sell fast. When stock reaches it, you get a notification in your admin. Leave it empty if you do not want alerts.

For sold-out variants you have a choice. By default the variant shows as out of stock and cannot be added to the cart. You can also switch on automatic unpublishing when the whole product sells out. Customers can subscribe to a back-in-stock notification, which Kambloo sends automatically when you restock, in order of subscription and limited to the units you added.

Badges and honesty#

Kambloo can show a "last few units" badge on a product. The badge reads real stock. It cannot be set by hand, and it disappears when stock rises. The same rule applies to countdowns and discount timers across the platform: urgency is shown only when it is true. This protects you from unfair commercial practice claims and keeps customer trust.

Bulk edits and imports#

For many variants, use the Excel or CSV import with the variant template. Each row is one variant with its options, SKU, barcode, price and stock. For quick fixes across a list, the product list supports inline editing of price, stock and status.

Common mistakes#

• Creating separate products for each color. Use one product with a Color option, so reviews, links and search authority stay together.
• Reusing an SKU. SKUs must be unique; the form rejects duplicates.
• Generating all combinations and leaving unsold ones visible.
• Correcting stock by hand while orders are pending, which double-counts reservations.
• Forgetting a variant image, so the gallery does not change when the customer picks a color.

Apply this in your store: turn one of your products into a variant product, give every variant an SKU and stock, and test picking each option on the storefront.