Variable Products — The Complete Guide

Variable products are products with options — like a t-shirt in Small, Medium, Large and Red, Blue, Green. Each specific combo is a variation.

Getting variable products right is the #1 source of confusion. This page walks you through it slowly.

Step 2 maps your CSV headers to WooCommerce fields. Variable products depend on getting Type, Parent, and each Attribute N column right.

What You Will Learn

• How variable products are structured in WooCommerce
• How to write a CSV with a parent and variations
• How attributes work
• How to auto-build variable products from simple rows
• Common mistakes and how to avoid them

The 3-Level Structure

Variable products have 3 levels:

Variable Product (parent)
├── Variation 1 (e.g., Red + Small)
├── Variation 2 (e.g., Red + Medium)
├── Variation 3 (e.g., Blue + Small)
└── ...

Parent — the product customers see in search. Holds the name, description, images.

Variations — the actual buyable items. Each has its own SKU, price, and stock.

Attributes — the options like Color and Size. Attributes have values like Red, Blue, Small, Large.

Two Ways to Import Variable Products

Method 1 — Separate Rows for Parent + Variations (Recommended)

One row for the parent, then one row per variation.

Method 2 — Auto-Create From Simple Rows (Advanced)

Upload only simple product rows. The plugin groups them by SKU pattern or a "Parent SKU" column.

Method 1 — Full CSV Example

Download ready templates:

• Variable products in Excel (simple + variable in one file)
• WC official CSV format (includes variations)

The Structure

Type,SKU,Parent,Name,Regular price,Stock,Attribute 1 name,Attribute 1 value(s),Attribute 1 visible,Attribute 1 global
variable,TSHIRT-001,,Cotton T-Shirt,,,Color,"Red, Blue, Green",1,1
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Red,,
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Red,,
variation,TSHIRT-001-BLU-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Blue,,
variation,TSHIRT-001-BLU-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Blue,,

Key Rules

The Two-Attribute Version (Color × Size)

Type,SKU,Parent,Name,Regular price,Stock,Attribute 1 name,Attribute 1 value(s),Attribute 2 name,Attribute 2 value(s)
variable,TSHIRT-001,,Cotton T-Shirt,,,Color,"Red, Blue",Size,"Small, Medium, Large"
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Red,Size,Small
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Red,Size,Medium
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-L,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Red,Size,Large
variation,TSHIRT-001-BLU-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Blue,Size,Small
variation,TSHIRT-001-BLU-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Blue,Size,Medium
variation,TSHIRT-001-BLU-L,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,Color,Blue,Size,Large

2 colors × 3 sizes = 6 variations. All 6 rows after the parent row.

Expand the target-field select to pick parent_sku, Attribute 1 name, Attribute 1 value(s), and the other variation-specific targets.

Attribute Flags Explained

Each attribute has 4 flags. You only need to set these on the PARENT row.

Global vs Local Attributes

Global (Attribute N global = 1)

• Stored as pa_color, pa_size taxonomy
• Reusable across products
• Shows in WooCommerce → Products → Attributes
• Needed for layered navigation / filters

Local (Attribute N global = 0)

• Stored as text on this product only
• Not reusable
• Faster to import
• Good for one-off custom attributes

For standard stores, use global (1).

Method 2 — Auto-Build From Simple Rows

If your supplier sends flat simple-product CSVs without variable structure, the plugin can group them.

Option A — By Parent SKU Column

Add a Parent SKU column (maps to parent_sku or custom meta) on every row:

SKU,Parent SKU,Name,Regular price,Attribute 1 name,Attribute 1 value(s)
TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt Red Small,29.99,Color,Red
TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt Red Medium,29.99,Color,Red
TSHIRT-001-BLU-S,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt Blue Small,29.99,Color,Blue
TSHIRT-001-BLU-M,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt Blue Medium,29.99,Color,Blue

All rows with the same "Parent SKU" group into one variable product.

Option B — By SKU Prefix

If your SKUs follow a pattern like TSHIRT-001-RED-S where the first part identifies the parent:

In Step 3 of the wizard → Advanced → Auto-Create Variable Parent:

• Method: SKU prefix
• Prefix length: 10 (for TSHIRT-001)

Plugin groups all rows whose first 10 characters match.

Option C — By Text Before a Delimiter

If SKUs look like TSHIRT-001::RED::S:

• Method: Text before delimiter
• Delimiter: ::

Plugin uses TSHIRT-001 as the parent.

Option D — By Shared Attribute Values

Auto-group products with the same name and similar attributes.

Example:

• Rows with Name = "Cotton T-Shirt" and different Color/Size → one variable product

Images for Variable Products

Parent Image

Use the Images column on the parent row:

Type,SKU,Name,Images
variable,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt,"https://example.com/tshirt-main.jpg"

Variation-Specific Images

Use the Images column on variation rows:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,,https://example.com/tshirt-red.jpg
variation,TSHIRT-001-BLU-S,,https://example.com/tshirt-blue.jpg

When customers click "Red" on the product page, the red image shows.

Default Variation

The attribute selection shown when a customer first lands on the page.

Type,SKU,Name,Attribute 1 name,Attribute 1 value(s),Attribute 1 default
variable,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt,Color,"Red, Blue, Green",Red

Attribute 1 default = Red → page loads with "Red" pre-selected.

Stock Management

Stock at Parent Level

Parent's Stock column is ignored (usually left empty) — WooCommerce sums variation stock.

Stock at Variation Level

Each variation has its own stock count.

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,50

Red Small has 100, Red Medium has 50.

"In stock" Display

WooCommerce marks the parent "In stock" if ANY variation has stock > 0.

Variation Prices

Same Price for All Variations

Set the same Regular price on every variation row.

Different Prices per Variation

Set different prices per row:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-L,TSHIRT-001,,34.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-XL,TSHIRT-001,,34.99,50

Large and XL cost more.

Sale Prices

Each variation can have its own sale price:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100,,,,,,,24.99,2026-04-01,2026-04-30

(Columns: ...Regular price, Stock, ..., Sale price, Sale from, Sale to)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1 — Parent Row After Variations

Wrong:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,100
variable,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt,,,

Plugin sees variations first, can't find parent. All variations fail.

Right: Parent row first. Variations after.

Mistake 2 — Missing Parent Column on Variations

Wrong:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,,29.99,100,Color,Red

Plugin doesn't know which parent this belongs to.

Right: Set Parent = TSHIRT-001 on every variation row.

Mistake 3 — Price on Parent, Not Variations

Wrong:

variable,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt,29.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,,

Price on parent is ignored. Variations have no price.

Right: Set prices on variation rows only.

Mistake 4 — Attribute Value on Parent Missing

Wrong:

variable,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt,,,,Color,
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,,Color,Red

Parent has no list of possible values. Variations pick from nothing.

Right: Parent row has all possible values comma-separated:

variable,TSHIRT-001,Cotton T-Shirt,,,,Color,"Red, Blue, Green"
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,,29.99,,Color,Red

Mistake 5 — Duplicate Variation SKUs

Two variations with the same SKU:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED,TSHIRT-001,Color,Red,Size,Small,29.99,100
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED,TSHIRT-001,Color,Red,Size,Medium,29.99,100

WooCommerce rejects duplicate SKUs.

Right: Each variation SKU must be unique:

variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-S,TSHIRT-001,...
variation,TSHIRT-001-RED-M,TSHIRT-001,...

Troubleshooting

Variation Count Math

How many variation rows you need:

Formula: N colors × M sizes = total variations

Examples:

Each variation gets its own row in the CSV.

Performance Tip

Variable products with many variations take longer to import. A product with 100 variations = 101 rows (1 parent + 100 children).

For stores with thousands of variations, import speed is still fast. Just expect big CSVs.

After the run, the results screen tells you how many parents and variations were created, updated, or skipped.

Related Pages

• Products Import — Full product field reference
• Sample Files — Download variable product template
• Column Mapping — Map variation columns
• Quick Import Wizard — How to run the import
• Troubleshooting — More fixes