configurable product

In the eCommerce engines you have the option to select the type of the product when adding new products. For example, in Magento store the most basic option is simple product. That’s just a single item with no specific attributes/options that can be changed by the buyer.

A configurable product is a single product with drop-down lists of options for each variation. Each option is actually a separate simple product with a unique SKU, which makes it possible to track inventory for each product variation. The drop-down list values are based on attributes that must be set up in advance with required settings. The drop-down attributes must be included in an attribute set, which is then used as a template for the configurable product.

With the configurable product type you can offer an item with some options that can be configured by the customers themselves. For example, you can sell the same model of shoes that are offered in different colors, sizes, etc. Instead of creating several simple products for each size of the same shoe model that will be displayed individually on the frontend, for instance, you can create a configurable product which will allow the customer to select the size before ordering the product.

You could achieve a similar effect by using a simple product with custom options, but without the ability to track inventory for each variation. Although a configurable product uses more SKUs, and may initially take a little longer to set up, it can save you time in the long run. If you plan to grow your business, the configurable product type might be a better choice for a product with multiple options: