Variation relationships
This article reviews product variation and classification elements.
Variations (also known as parent-child relationships) are sets of products that are related to one another by certain identifiers, such as size, colour or flavour. Good variation relationship listings allow buyers to compare and choose products based on size, colour, or other characteristics from the available options on a single product detail page.
For example, a customer searching for a short-sleeved T-shirt might click a product detail page for a T-shirt that comes in three sizes (small, medium and large) and three colours (blue, red and black). Rather than having to browse separate pages for each colour and size, the customer can select the preferred size and choose the colour from the three available colour variations on the same page.
Examples of good variation families are:
- Items of clothing that come in different sizes (small, medium, large).
- Items that come in different colours (blue, red, black).
Elements of a variation relationship:
1. Parent listing: The parent listing is a non-buyable product used to relate child products
The Amazon catalogue uses the parent listing to establish relationships between the child products. For example, if two shirts have the same parent, then they are related and are considered child products.
2. Child products: The products that are related to each parent listing
The child product is a variation of the parent product, with one parent product usually having multiple child products. Each child product has a characteristic that is different from other child products, e.g. size or colour. A child product can only have one parent product. The parent product and child products make up a "variation family".
3. Variation theme: The relationship between the children
The variation theme is the characteristic that is different from one child product to another child product. Child products can have more than one variation theme. For example, T-shirts could have the variation themes of colour and size. Different product categories may have different variation themes that you can use to list your products. For example, in the clothing, accessories and luggage category, the variation themes of the child products could be size and colour. In the pet supplies category, the variation themes of the child products could be flavour, scent and quantity.
4. Grouping attributes: Products that can be grouped together that are part of the same family
Grouping attributes define how the products can be variated together. All products in a variation must share the same grouping attribute to be part of the same family. For example, "brand" (e.g. Amazon Essentials) is a grouping attribute for clothing. This means that a variation family in clothing will only include products that have the same "brand" (Amazon Essentials). Grouping attributes are required and must be identical across a variation family. Any two products with the same product type that share the same grouping attribute values can be grouped together in the same variation family.
Note: The difference between "variation theme" and "grouping attribute" in a variation family is that the "grouping attribute" of all child ASINs must be the same, whilst the "variation theme" value varies among child ASINs. For example, when the grouping attribute of a variation family is "men's shirt" and the variation theme of the family is colour, all child ASINs must be a "men's shirt", whilst child ASIN 1 can be the colour red and child ASIN 2 can be the colour white.
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