A product group connects separate products, such as one product for each color, so shoppers see them all as swatches and can switch between them. Each product keeps its own page, web address, images and price.
This article covers every way to create a group, every setting inside a group, and how to manage many groups at once.
Five ways to create groups
Method | Best for |
1. Manually in the dashboard | Your first group, or a few groups |
2. AI suggested | Large catalogs. The app finds products that belong together and suggests groups for you to check |
3. Shopify Sidekick | Asking in plain words from anywhere in your Shopify admin, based on specific patterns in products like metafields |
4. CSV import | Creating or changing many groups at once in a spreadsheet, or moving groups from another store |
5. Product tags (Pro) | Stores that add new products often and already manage them with tags |
If you have split a product, it automatically connect the child products using a group. See [SA Variants] Split products.
1. Create a group manually in the dashboard
Go to Product groups and click Add group. A Setup guide on the right ticks off each step as you go.
Group name. A name for your own reference, such as "Classic Tee colors". Shoppers never see it.
Option name. The label shoppers see above the swatches, such as Color or Style.
Products. Click Add product and choose the products to connect.
Values. Type a value for each product, such as Navy. This is the name shoppers see for that swatch.
Style. Choose a Product page style and a Collection page style, and a Swatch image source for each.
Save. New groups are Active, so they show on your store as soon as you save.
2. AI suggested groups
How it finds groups. After you install, the app reads your product titles and looks for products that are the same item in different colors, sizes or styles. It compares products from the same vendor and product type. Each set of two or more matching products becomes a suggested group. The app checks again every day for new products.
While it works, the Product groups page shows "We are analyzing your products to suggest smart groups" with its progress. When it finishes, it tells you how many groups it found. If it finds none, you see "Our AI has analyzed your store but couldn't find any product groups to suggest."
Publish a suggestion:
Open the AI suggested tab. If you have no other groups yet, it opens by itself.
Each card shows the group name, how many products it has, and their images. Click Publish as group.
The group opens in the editor, set to Active. Check the products, add an Option name and a value for each product.
Save. The group is now live on your store.
Suggestions are never live on their own. Nothing changes on your store until you publish one.
Do not want a suggestion? Click the delete icon on its card. That suggestion will not come back.
Prefer to group everything yourself? Click Decline AI suggestions. All suggestions are removed. Click Resume to bring the AI back, or Confirm to turn it off for good.
At your group limit, Publish as group is disabled until you archive a group or upgrade.
AI that keeps your groups tidy (Pro)
On Pro, the AI keeps watching your groups after you publish them. Inside a group you may see:
AI suggestions — products that look like they belong in this group but are missing. Accept them one by one or with Accept all, or reject them.
May not fit this group — a flag on a product that looks different from the rest of the group.
In other groups — a product that is also in other groups, with an option to remove it from them. A banner warns you when two groups overlap, so you can merge or tidy them.
Suggested option name and values — accept or reject each one.
The AI alerts column on the group list counts the suggestions waiting in each group. On Standard, a blurred banner shows that suggestions exist, with Upgrade now.
3. Create a group with Shopify Sidekick
Sidekick is the AI assistant built into your Shopify admin. You can ask it to work with SA Variants in plain words, on any plan.
Open Sidekick in your Shopify admin.
Ask for what you want. For example: "Group my Classic Tee products by color in SA Variants."
Sidekick opens SA Variants with the group filled in: the name, the option name, the products and, if you asked, their values.
Check everything and click Save.
Nothing is saved until you click Save. If you leave the page, nothing changes.
You can also ask Sidekick to:
Add products to an existing group, or remove them
Set a value for each product in a group
Change a group's style on product or collection pages
Set a different style for mobile, or add categories (Pro)
Answer questions, such as which groups a product is in, how many splits you have left, or which styles you use
For an existing group, Sidekick opens that group's editor with the change ready for you to save. If you name a group that does not exist, it tells you nothing was changed.
Just added a product in Shopify? Give the app a moment to see it before asking Sidekick to group it.
4. Create or update groups with a CSV file
Use a CSV file to create many groups at once, change many groups at once, or copy groups from another store.
Import groups:
On Product groups, click Bulk update groups → Import file.
Click Download sample CSV for a file with the right columns. To change groups you already have, start from an export instead (see below).
Fill in one row for each product in each group.
Upload the file. The app checks it and shows how many groups will be created and how many updated.
Add the email addresses that should get the import report, and click Import.
You can close the window while the import runs. You get an email with a report when it finishes. It lists any rows that were not imported and why.
Importing a group replaces its products. For every group in your file, the app keeps only the products listed in the file. Products in that group that are not in the file are removed from it. Every group in the file is also set to Active. Export first, then edit, so you do not lose anything.
The columns
Column | What to put in it |
Group Name (required) | The group's name. A name that already exists updates that group. A new name creates a group. |
Product Handle (required) | The product's handle, the last part of its web address. The product must be active or draft. |
Option Name | The label shoppers see, such as Color. Fill it in on the first row of each group. |
Option Value | This product's value, such as Navy. |
Product Page Style Name - Desktop, Collection Page Style Name - Desktop | The name of a style in Your styles. For collection pages, Do not show hides the swatches. Leave blank to keep the current or default style. |
Product Page Swatch Source - Desktop, Collection Page Swatch Source - Desktop | First Product Image, Second Product Image, Last Product Image or Custom Swatch. |
The four - Mobile style and swatch source columns (Pro) | The same, for phones. Same as desktop reuses the desktop style. Optional. |
Swatch Color Code / Image URL | A color code such as #1A2B3C, or an image web address starting with https. Needed when the swatch source is Custom Swatch. |
Category Name (Pro) | The category for this product inside the group. Up to five categories per group, 25 characters each. Optional. |
Keep every column header, in the same order as the sample file. Cells can be blank.
Use commas to separate values.
The order of rows sets the order of products in each group.
Files can be up to 2 MB. One import runs at a time.
Leave out the Category column if you are on Standard, or the import will stop.
If the app finds a problem in your file, it lists each one with its row number before importing, such as a missing Product Handle or the same product twice in one group. Fix the rows and upload again. If an import would take you over your group limit, or put a product in more groups than allowed, it is cancelled and nothing changes.
Export groups: click Bulk update groups → Export file. Choose all groups, the groups you have ticked, or the groups matching your search, and add the email addresses for the file. Only Active groups are exported. The file uses the same columns, so you can edit it and import it back.
Update swatches in bulk
To add or change swatch colors and images without touching your groups, click Bulk update swatches → Import file. This file has three columns:
Group Name — the group to update. Leave it blank to update that value in every group. A name carries down to the rows below it until you give a new one.
Option Value — the value to update, such as Navy. It must match the value in the group exactly.
Swatch Color Code / Image URL — a color code such as #1A2B3C, or an https image address. Images can be up to 512 KB, and animated GIFs are not supported.
This file only updates swatches for values that already exist. It never creates groups or adds products. You get a report by email.
5. Create groups with product tags (Pro)
Add a tag to a product in your Shopify admin, and the app puts it in a group. New products join their group the moment you save them with the tag, so you never have to open the app.
The tag format
Tag | What it does |
SAPG::floral-dress::Red | Puts the product in the group "floral-dress", with the value Red. Use this form. |
SAPG::floral-dress | Puts the product in the group with no value. You then add the value in the app. |
SAPG::floral-dress__Pattern::Red | Also sets the option name to Pattern when the group is first created. Without it, a new group's option name is "Selected option", which you can change in the app. |
Step by step:
In your Shopify admin, open a product and add the tag, such as SAPG::floral-dress::Red. Save.
Add the same group name, with its own value, to each product that belongs in the group.
The group appears on the Product groups page as Active, using your default styles. Products are added in the order you tag them.
Open the group in the app to change its option name, styles or order, like any other group.
Rules to know
SAPG can be upper or lower case. The group name must match exactly, including capitals. "Floral-Dress" and "floral-dress" are two different groups.
If a group with that name already exists, the product joins it, even if you created the group manually in the dashboard.
Remove the tag and the product leaves the group. Change the group name in the tag and the product moves to the new group.
Change the value in the tag and the value updates in the app.
If you rename the group in the app, or change a tagged product's value in the app, the app removes that product's tag. The product stays in the group, but its tag no longer controls it.
Removing a tagged product from a group in the app, or deleting the group, also removes the tag from the product.
Tags you added before upgrading to Pro are picked up when you upgrade.
Always include the value in the tag. If a product is already in a group with a value, and you tag it without one, such as SAPG::floral-dress, its value is cleared.
Tag-based grouping is turned on in App settings under Groups with product tags. On Standard, that section is locked. Some stores qualify for free access: click Contact us to activate, or ask us in chat.
Every setting in a group
Setting | What it does |
Group name | For your reference only. Also the name used in CSV files and tags. |
Option name | The label shoppers see above the swatches. |
Products and their values | The products in the group, each with the value shoppers see. Filter them with Product status and Option values. Use Move products to change their order or category, and the delete icon to remove one. |
Status | Active shows the group on your store. Draft and Archived hide it. |
Swatch image source | What each swatch shows: the product's First product image, second or last image, or Color/Custom image for a color or image you upload. |
Product page style, Collection page style | How the swatches look in each place. Click Select style to choose one from Customize styles. |
Show different display style for mobile (Pro) | Use one style on desktop and another on phones. |
Upload swatch | Add a color or image for each value when the swatch image source is Color/Custom image. Save the group first. Use Add file or Add from URL. Images can be up to 512 KB. |
Category (Pro) | Sort the swatches inside one group under headings. See below. |
Delete group | At the bottom of a saved group. Removes the group after you confirm. Your products stay in Shopify. |
Swatches showing as empty circles? If Swatch image source is set to Color/Custom image, each swatch needs a color or image. Open Upload swatch and add one for each value, or switch to First product image. [CONFIRM]
Categories (Pro)
Categories split the swatches in one group into smaller sets, such as Regular colors and Exclusive colors, so shoppers find the right one faster.
In the group, click Add a category, type a name of up to 25 characters and click Create category.
Add up to five categories with Add another category.
Move products into each category. Products you have not placed are listed as uncategorized.
Choose a Style for the category tabs, and whether to show "All products" as a category.
On Standard, the Category card shows a lock and Upgrade to unlock. Here is a detailed guide on Creating categories in product groups
Managing many groups
Tabs sort groups into AI suggested, All, Active, Draft and Archived.
Search, filters and sort find groups by name, status, option name, style or swatch image. Swatch status shows groups with swatches still to upload.
Bulk actions. Tick several groups to set them all to Active, Draft or Archived, change their product page or collection page style or swatch source, or delete them.
Upload on a row adds swatches for that group.
Bulk update groups and Bulk update swatches import and export CSV files, as described above.
Limits
| Standard | Pro |
Groups per store | 5,000 | 25,000 |
Products per group | 100 | 100 |
Categories per group | — | 5 |
Archived groups do not count toward your group limit. A banner tells you when you are close to it. Need more than 100 products in one group? Contact us in chat.
Good to know
Do not delete the products in a group. A group connects your existing products. If you delete one in Shopify, it is gone from the group too.
Swatches show below the variant picker by default. To move them, drag the Product groups position block in your theme editor.
Related
[SA Variants] Customize styles — change how the swatches look
[SA Variants] Split products — turn one product's variants into a new group
[SA Variants] App settings — turn on grouping by tags
[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.