Steps to Create a Matrix Product
A matrix product refers to an item that comes in different variants or matrix SKUs that can be displayed in a grid format. Matrix products are frequently used by fashion, footwear and apparel retailers to track products that come in different sizes, colors and styles. These retailers often manage their product variants by creating a multiple dimension grid aligning the colors of a line of stock against the sizes. or "Color-Size Matrix".
Step One - Create an Attribute List
MicroBiz allows you to create Attribute Lists which can be saved and reused when creating matrix products. This can save you time versus manually entering attribute ranges (XS, S, M, L, XL) each time that you create a matrix product. It's also helpful if you carry different types of matrix products (such as apparel and shoes) which have distinctly different size runs unique color catalogs.
To create an Attribute List, go to Catalog >> Attributes and press the 'Add New' button. To learn more about creating Attribute Lists, click here.
Step Two - Create Matrix Product Record
To create a Matrix Product record, follow the same initial steps that you took to create a Simple Product - navigating to Catalog >> Products and clicking the ' + Add New ' button.
In the new Product record, be sure to select 'Matrix Product' in the Product Type field on the Details tab. Once you do this, a new tab will appear at the top labeled 'Matrix SKUs'. Before you click on this, be sure to fill in all the required fields that are marked as red asterisk on the Details tab. Once you have done this, hit the 'Save and Continue' button and then navigate to the 'Matrix SKUs' tab.
Step Three - Define Matrix Axis's
MicroBiz supports Matrix Products with one, two and three attributes. Each of these attributes will be an axis on the matrix. A single attribute matrix can be used for products that come in a range or sizes OR a range of colors. A two attribute matrix can be used with products that come in a range of sizes AND colors, while a three factor matrix can be used for products that have three attributes - such as shoes that come in different sizes, colors and widths.
When you click on the 'Matrix SKUs' tab for the first time, MicroBiz will present an overlay screen labeled 'Matrix Products Set-Up. The first field allow you to select the number of attributes that will be used. After the Matrix Product has been saved, you can re-access the set-up screens by clicking the 'Matrix Setup' button at the top right of the Matrix SKUs tab in the Product Record.
Once you have chosen the number of matrix attributes to be used, the screen will expand allowing you to select the attribute role (size, color, and other).
Then for each attribute, select the Attribute Role (size, color or other). This will then allow you to select an existing Attribute List that was created in Step One above. Once you select an Attribute Set, you will have the ability to add all the attributes in the List to the matrix by selecting the 'Select All' checkbox. Or you can add attributes individually by typing in the short or full name of the attribute in the selection box. You can also create new attributes on the fly.
When you have added all the attributes (i.e. sizes and colors) that you would like to appear on the axis's, press the orange 'Next' button.
Step Four - Select Which Matrix SKUs to Include
After selecting the attributes, you will be presented with a matrix grid used to select which Matrix SKUs will be active. This provides you the ability to deactivate certain Matrix SKUs. For example, you may not want to carry a size/color combination of certain product - such as an L Red T-shirt. You can deactivate a Matrix SKU simply by clicking on a blue button to change the status to inactive.
Once you are done with setting up your matrix, press the orange 'Save' button at the bottom of the page.
Step Five - Enter Values for the Matrix SKUs
You are now ready to enter values into the matrix. The 'Show' dropdown menu allows you filter the matrix enabling you to enter many different types of data into the matrix - as shown below.
There are also filters to show and edit data at each store separately. For three factor matrices, you can filter by the values of the third attribute.
Next Step: Importing Simple Product Records via CSV>>