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Managing Multiple Seasons, Product Variations, and Pricing - FAQ
Managing Multiple Seasons, Product Variations, and Pricing - FAQ
Christopher Ike avatar
Written by Christopher Ike
Updated over 2 months ago

We've made it easy for you to add multiple seasons to a product. This means that when you create a product in Uphance, you can assign several seasons to it and carry stock across each season without setting a new SKU, UPC, or EAN number for the product.

How can this new update benefit your business? If nothing else, it saves you the trouble of creating or uploading products several times across seasons: you only have to create once and add the seasons you want to them.

The best part is that you can delete variations you don't want for each season or add a new one.

Other Benefits of Products in Multiple Seasons

  • As we mentioned earlier, you don't have to set SKU numbers, EANs, or UPCs for each new season.

  • Ensures you have a consolidated record for products spread across different seasons. This simplifies sales reporting and tracking for your products.

  • Makes it easy to carry stock across different seasons

  • You don't have to update a product on your eCommerce portal (Shopify or WooCommerce) or marketplace (JOOR) when you add a new season to it: the season information is updated automatically.

  • Allows you to forecast sales for upcoming seasons efficiently.

However, to enjoy a smooth experience using our multi-season feature, it's important that you understand the logic behind it. Specifically, you need to know what happens to a product's variations when you add multiple seasons, what happens when you try to delete it from a season, how to import multiple seasons from an Excel/CSV file, and many more.

We will cover all that in this article.

What Happens to a Product’s Variation When You Add a New Season to It?

When you add a new season to a product, the variations in the previous season will be copied into the second season you added.

So let's say you have a winter jacket product in your Winter Collection season with 3 variations - red, black, and white. If you add another season, say Core Collection, to the jacket, Uphance will copy those three variations into the new Core Collection season, meaning it will have red, black, and white jackets.

But let's say you deleted the white variation (with zero order on it) from the Core Collection, and then you add a new season, say Summer Collection, to the jacket. Will it have two variations (red and black) or three (red, black or white) in the new Summer Collection season?

Bear in mind that the Winter Collection still has three variants, while Core has two because we deleted the white variant. The answer to this question depends on your season hierarchy. By season hierarchy, we mean the sequence in which you arrange your seasons. We mean this:

Priority is given from top to bottom. This means the season at the top will take precedence over the one beneath. As you can see from the screenshot above, the Winter Season is above the Core collection season, and so it will be given a higher priority.

To this end, Uphance will copy the variations in Winter into the new Summer season you just created. This means the new Summer season will have three (3) variations of the jacket, not two. If the Core season was at the top, only two variants would exist in the new Summer collection.

Note: A season doesn't need to be at the topmost top to be given higher priority. Provided it's above the next season, Uphance will give it a higher priority; the position doesn't matter.

Below is an illustration to help you have a firmer grasp of this logic:

What Happens When You Try to Add an Existing Variation to a Season?

What would happen if you tried to add a variation you previously deleted from a season back to it again? For example, let's say you tried to add back the white variation deleted from the Core season in the example we used above.

When you try this, Uphance will throw up an error telling you the variation already exists.

But if you still desire to add variation to the season again, you'd have to contact support.

What Happens if You Try to Delete a Variation From a Season, While There Is an Order on It?

In the examples we've illustrated so far, we only deleted variations with zero order on them. But what happens if you try deleting a variation that has at least one order on it?

Two possible scenarios can play out here:

Scenario #1: There is an order on the variation but in another season:

For example, there is an order for a red jacket, but the order is coming from the Winter season. However, you want to delete the red jacket from the Core season. In such a scenario, you can easily delete the variation without issues.

Note: If you delete a cross-season variation (a variation available in other seasons) from a particular season, it will still be available in other seasons. For example, after deleting the red variation from the Core season, it will still be accessible in other seasons it was initially added.

Scenario #2: There is an order on the variation and it's coming from the same season:

In this scenario, there is an order on the black variation of the jacket and it's coming from the Core season. And you want to delete that variant from the same Core season.

Well, technically, you can't. If you try deleting it, Uphance will automatically deactivate the variant, which you can always reactivate later.

You also have the option of cancelling the order containing the variation. Nevertheless, you won't be able to delete it.

Can I Have Different Prices For The Same Product in Different Seasons?

Yes, you can.

For instance, let's say you have a jacket in two different seasons: Winter and Summer. For the Winter Season, the jacket can have a price of $55, while in Summer, you can price it at $35.

To add different prices based on season, open the product, click the Variation tab, open the seasons and input prices per variant.

How is Pricing Information Derived On The Product Page?

On the product search page, you much have noticed that product prices are displayed on a per-channel basis:

You might be wondering how the prices are derived, especially for products in different seasons with different prices.

First off, if you filter that page based on seasons, product prices will be derived from the season. So for example, if you have a product that sells for $35 in the Winter Season but $55 in the Summer Season and you filter the page for the Winter Season, the page will display $35.

But in a situation where no season filter is applied, the system will consider the season hierarchy to determine the product price to display. The season hierarchy can be set by navigating to Settings >> Seasons. The season at the top has a higher priority than the one below, and so prices will be derived from that season:

Can I Import Multiple Seasons From an Excel/CSV File?

Yes, you can. You just have to ensure that the seasons you want to add to a product are separated by a comma in the import file.

Do I Have to Update Products in My Shopify/Woocommerce Store When I Add Another Season to Them?

No, you don't. The system takes care of this automatically.

What Happens When You Create a Sales Order Manually and Select “All Seasons” During the Product Selection Process?

Firstly, you will see the season(s) for each product at the top-right corner. Select the products you want to add. This can be products that belong exclusively to the initial season you selected or a subset of it but also belong to other seasons.

By default, the Sales Order will have the original season you selected, even though you can change it.

Do You Need to Create a Unique Product Identifier Each Time You Add a Season to a Product?

No, you don't have to.

How Do I Create a Product Variation on Shopify if Other Variations Are Already Connected Under Different Seasons?

Go to Product eCommerce and click "Product Update". It will create the missing variations on Shopify.

I Have a Product With Multiple Duplicates Spread Across Several Seasons. What Happens When I Merge Them Into One Season?

  • First, you have to select which product season you want to retain. The duplicates will merge into it.

  • The merged duplicates will bear the EAN/UPC and image of the product you chose to retain.

  • The variants of those duplicates will also merge into the retained product

  • Your stock level will remain the same. For instance, if you have five duplicates and one original product (the one you retained) making six, stock levels will still stay at six even though you now have just one existing product.

Learn about merging a product here.

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