Split products takes one product with many variants and turns each variant into its own product. Each new product gets its own page, web address, title and images, and the app connects them as swatches so shoppers can still move between them.
Stores use it so each color can be found on its own in search, in collections and on Google.
Before you split
Your original product will be archived when you publish. It is not deleted, and its inventory is not changed.
The new products get new web addresses. Links to the original product will stop working once it is archived. See Keep the original web address below.
Avoid editing the original product's variants until the split is published. If they change, the app has to recreate the new products before you can publish.
Step 1: Choose what to split
Go to Split products and click Split Products. If you have split before, click Create split job.
In Select option, choose the option to split by, such as Color. The list shows how many products use each option.
Tick the products you want to split and click Add.
Each value of that option becomes its own product. A tee in Navy, Olive and Maroon becomes three products.
Step 2: Set up the new products
On Configure child products, you decide what the new products look like. The app calls them child products.
Setting | What it does |
Product title | How each new title is built. The default is {product_title} {option_value}, so "Classic Tee" becomes "Classic Tee Navy". You can also use {option_name}. |
Product option | Tick Keep original option to keep the option, such as Color, on each new product with its single value. This can help your store's filters. |
Variant images | Only variant images gives each new product the images of its own color. All images copies every image to every new product. |
Inventory | Nothing to set here. The new products are created as drafts without inventory. You copy the inventory in Step 3. |
Save. The split appears in the Ready to publish tab with the status Splitting while the new products are created. Nothing is live yet.
Step 3: Review and publish
When the split is ready, click Publish as group next to it. On Review & publish:
Tick Copy inventory from original product to give the new products the same stock. The original product's inventory is not changed.
Check Publishing. The new products are published to the same sales channels as the original, in all markets, and connected as a product group.
Look at the Child products list. Edit any title, description or image in Shopify if you want to.
Publish. The app makes the new products active, archives the original and sets the new group to Active, so the swatches show on your store straight away. The split moves to the Published tab, where View group opens it.
Selling in more than one market or language? A Limitations card appears on this screen. The new products are published to every market, so unpublish them from any market you do not sell in. Translations and market-specific prices from the original product are not copied, so add them again on the new products.
After you split
Want to keep selling the original product? Set it back to Active in Shopify. The app will not archive it again or add it to the group. If you copied its inventory, lower the original's stock so you do not sell the same item twice. Both will then show in your collections and search.
Keep the original web address. To keep the traffic and search ranking of the original product, add a URL redirect in Shopify from the original product's address to one of the new products. You can also give one new product the original's handle, once the original's handle has been changed.
Do not want the color in the title? Change the title of each new product in Shopify, or change the Product title pattern before your next split.
Using a search or filter app? The new products are normal Shopify products, so search and filter apps pick them up like any other product.
New products, new images to describe. Every new product brings its own images, and each one needs alt text to help with search and accessibility. Our free app AltKing: AI Alt Text SEO & ADA writes it for you.
How many products you can split
Plan | Products you can split |
Standard | 20 a month |
Pro | 500 a month |
Each original product counts once, however many new products it creates.
Your limit renews every 30 days. The card at the top of the page shows how many you have left and when it renews.
During your free trial, the whole 30 days count as one period.
Need more on Standard? Upgrade for 500 splits/mo on the same card takes you to Pro.
If something goes wrong
"Variants on the original product were updated in Shopify after this split was created." The original product's variants changed after you started the split. Tick the box below the message and save. The app recreates the new products to match. Any changes you made directly to the new products are reset. Then publish as usual.
"Publishing has failed due to modifications made to the parent product." Open the split from the Ready to publish tab. If the message above appears, recreate the new products and publish again.
If you still see either message after recreating, send us the product link in chat and we will fix it with you.
The original product still shows on my store after it was archived. SA Variants does not show archived products. If it still appears in search, your search or filter app may be showing an older copy. Check that app's settings, or contact its support.
Related
[SA Variants] Product groups — change the group your split created
[SA Variants] Dashboard Walkthrough — a tour of every page
Need help? Our support team is always here. Hit the chat button and we will get you sorted.