Managing Products
A product is an item in your catalog — something you stock and sell, a service you provide, a bundle of other products, or a non-physical item. Every product belongs to a family that determines its attributes and data structure.
Creating a Product
- Go to Products and click Create Product.
- Fill in the core fields:
- Name — the product’s display name (e.g., “Basic T-Shirt”, “Industrial Cleaning Solution 5L”).
- SKU — a Stock Keeping Unit code, unique within your organization. The SKU is the primary identifier used across inventory, purchasing, and sales. Choose something meaningful and consistent (e.g.,
TSH-BASIC-001,CLEAN-IND-5L). - Family — which product family this product belongs to. This determines the attributes you will be asked to fill in.
- Type — Simple, Configurable, Bundle, or Virtual (see Products overview for when to use each type).
- Base price — the default selling price before any price list overrides. This is the fallback price used when no price list applies.
- Fill in the attributes defined by the product’s family — for example, if the family has a “Material” attribute, you will see a field for it here.
- Save.
For configurable products, variants are automatically generated from the family’s variant attributes as soon as you save. You do not need to create variants manually.
The Product List
The main Products page shows all products in your organization in a searchable, sortable grid. You can:
- Search by name or SKU to quickly find a product.
- Filter by family, category, type, or status.
- Sort by any column (name, SKU, price, etc.).
- Export the list to CSV for use in spreadsheets or reporting.
- Adjust column visibility — show or hide columns to focus on the information you need.
Click any product to open its dedicated page, where you can edit its fields, manage variants, and view related records. A breadcrumb trail at the top lets you navigate back to the product list at any time.
Product Variants
For configurable products, variants are the actual items that get tracked in inventory and sold to customers. The parent product is a template; the variants are the real, stockable SKUs.
What a Variant Contains
Each variant has its own independent set of fields:
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| SKU | A unique identifier for this specific variant (e.g., TSH-RED-M for the red medium T-shirt). |
| GTIN / Barcode | An optional barcode value for scanning — EAN-13, UPC-A, or an internal barcode. |
| Price adjustment | An amount added to (or subtracted from) the product’s base price. For example, XL sizes might cost +200 DA, or a basic color might have no adjustment. |
| Weight and dimensions | Physical measurements used for shipping calculations and warehouse capacity planning. |
| Attribute values | The specific combination that defines this variant (e.g., Color: Red, Size: M). |
How Variants Are Generated
When you create a configurable product, Beelocity automatically generates one variant for every combination of the family’s variant attributes. See Product Attributes for the full explanation of how this works and how to control the number of variants.
Product Relationships
Products can be linked to each other to express commercial relationships. These links are informational and help drive cross-selling and product discovery:
| Relationship | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bundle component | This product is included as part of a bundle product. | A “Home Office Kit” bundle contains a keyboard, mouse, and webcam. |
| Cross-sell | A complementary product often bought together. | A phone case suggested when buying a phone. |
| Up-sell | A higher-value alternative the customer might prefer. | A premium version of the same product. |
| Accessory | A related accessory for the product. | A charger for a laptop, a strap for a watch. |
| Replacement | This product replaces a discontinued one. | New model replaces the previous generation. |
Duplicating Products
If you need to create a product similar to an existing one, use the Duplicate action instead of starting from scratch. This copies the product’s fields and attributes into a new record, which you can then modify. It saves time when adding products that share most of their characteristics with an existing one.
You will need to set a new unique SKU for the duplicate.
Deactivation
Products are never deleted from the system — instead, you deactivate them by toggling their active status. This is a deliberate design choice:
- Deactivated products no longer appear in active product lists, selection menus, or search results.
- Historical data is preserved — past orders, stock movements, and invoices that reference the product remain intact and accurate.
- Reactivation is possible — if you discontinue a product and later bring it back, you can reactivate it rather than creating it from scratch.
To mark a product as discontinued, simply deactivate it. Use product relationships to link it to its replacement, if one exists.
Tips
- Establish a SKU convention early — consistent SKU patterns (e.g.,
CAT-SUBCATEGORY-NUMBER) make products easy to identify and search for. Changing SKUs later is difficult once they are referenced in orders and inventory records. - Use base price as your standard retail price — set the base price to the most common selling price. Use price lists for wholesale, promotional, or market-specific pricing that differs from the standard.
- Fill in attributes completely — empty attributes reduce the value of your catalog. If a family has a “Weight” attribute, fill it in for every product so it is available for shipping calculations and reporting.
- Review variant counts before saving configurable products — with 3 variant attributes of 5, 4, and 3 options, you will get 60 variants. Make sure that is what you want before creating the product.