Create a Product
How to Create a Product in Spree Commerce open-source eCommerce platform
In this article, you will learn how to create a new product, categorize it, and make it active on the storefront running on Spree Commerce open-source eCommerce platform.
If you have hundreds or thousands of products to upload, then it may be more convenient to do it in bulk by using our CSV importer. To learn more about product imports, please refer to a separate support article.
Add a New Product
To add a new product, navigate to the Products tab of the admin dashboard and click “+ New Product”.
This will open the product editor where you can begin creating a new product.
Add a Name & Description
First of all, enter a name for the product and preferably a description to help customers learn more about the product.
Name
Here you can set the product title. This name will be displayed on product listing pages, product detail pages, checkout, and in search engine listings and social sharing links if a meta title has not been set.
Description
Here is where you can add the product description. This description will be displayed on product detail pages, and in search engine listings and social sharing links if a meta description has not been set.
The editor allows you to format the description with standard formatting options like bold, italic, lists, headings, images, etc.
Media
This is where you can add visual media to the product.
Simply click on the + icon and select the file(s) you’d like to upload.
Once added, you can rearrange the images by clicking on the 6 dots in the top right corner of an image and dragging and dropping, with the left-most image being the main image that’s displayed on PLPs, and the order of the remaining images affecting the order in which they are presented on the PDP.
If you’d like to remove an image, then you can either check the box in the upper left corner and click Delete Selected, or click on the image itself, click Delete, and then click Save.
The alternative text for an image can be modified by clicking on the image, adding the text, and then clicking Save.
Status
Here you can manage the availability of the product.
Statuses
This indicates whether or not the product is available for purchase on the storefront. You can set the status by selecting it from the dropdown. The statuses are as follows:
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Active - the product is live and discoverable on the storefront
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Draft - the product is only visible to the admin
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Archived
Make Active At
This allows you to set a date on which the product will automatically become Active.
Simply set the date and time in the calendar or enter it manually.
If the product is already set to Active, this option will be hidden.
Available On
This allows you to set the date on which the product will be released. For example, you can set a future date to indicate that the product is on pre-order.
Simply set the date and time in the calendar or enter it manually.
Discontinue On
This allows you to set a date on which the product will automatically be removed from you site, meaning that it will be set to Draft.
Simply set the date and time in the calendar or enter it manually.
Categorization
Product catalog categorization is a vital part of running any ecommerce business, unless you only have a few products. The larger your catalog, the more important it is to thoroughly categorize as it makes product discovery much easier for the end user.
Taxonomies
This is where you can assign categories, collections, brands, or any other taxons to the product.
By adding the product to a taxon, it will be discoverable wherever that taxon is presented, e.g., a featured taxon section on the homepage or that taxon’s PLP.
Clicking on the dropdown will display a list of all created taxons to select from or you can narrow the results by typing the name partially or fully.
In the dropdown, taxons are displayed with reference to their position in the taxonomy to avoid confusion with similarly named taxons, e.g., ‘Fashion -> Women -> Shoes’, ‘Fashion -> Men -> Shoes’.
Simply select which taxons you’d like to assign to the product - there’s no limit to the number of the taxons that can be assigned.
To learn how to assign or remove taxons in bulk, please refer to a separate support article.
To learn more about creating taxonomies, please refer to a separate support article.
Tags
Product tags are useful for slicing your products into, for example, eco-friendly, vegan, womenswear. Later, you may filter products by tag during merchandising, use it for displaying related products on the storefront, or automatically creating Collections (in the Enterprise Edition).
Searching Engine Listing
Here you can modify the SEO elements of the product. Simply click Edit to open the user interface and modify the fields as necessary.
Meta Title
Changing this affects how the name of the product page will be displayed in search engine listings and social sharing previews. If not set, the product name will be used.
Meta Description
Changing this affects how the excerpt will be displayed in search engine listings and social sharing previews. If not set, the product description will be used.
Slug
Changing this affects the URL of the product page. If not set, the product name will be used, e.g., a product named Black Hoodie will have the slug /black-hoodie by default.
Pricing
This is where you add the price to the new product.
Currency
If your store supports multiple currencies, you’ll be able to set the price for each currency separately.
To learn more about multi-currency, please refer to this support article:
Amount
Set the price of the product here. This is the amount that will be displayed on the storefront, and the amount a customer must pay to purchase the product (unless they have a discount applied).
Compare At Amount
If an item is marked down, you can enter it’s old price in here to show customers how it compares to the new price. This will add a crossed out Compare At Amount and a Sale icon to the product wherever it appears on the storefront.
Inventory
This where you can set the stock quantity and other important inventory settings.
If you have multiple stock locations, you’ll be able to set the inventory level for each location separately.
Track Quantity
Checking this box enables the tracking of stock levels for this particular product, meaning you’ll need to add a positive non-zero quantity if you want customers to be able to purchase it (unless it’s backorderable).
Leaving this box unchecked means that stock levels will not be tracked, and you will not be required to enter a stock quantity. For example, you might not track quantity if your selling digital or made-to-order products.
Quantity
The value you set here indicates the amount of stock you have for this particular product, or at least how much you wish to assign to the online store. This can be updated later to reflect actual stock levels if necessary.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
An SKU is an alphanumeric code used to keep track of stock levels internally and for general inventory management purposes. It’s not mandatory to add SKUs, but if you do, each product and variant should have a unique SKU.
It’s up to you to decide which convention to follow for defining SKUs, but you could use them to convey information about the products, e.g., SKUs containing SS24 are from the Summer/Spring ‘24 collection.
Barcode (ISBN, UPC, GTIN, etc.)
A barcode is a unique code used to identify and track products. They’re useful for inventory management, ensuring accuracy in order fulfillment, and simplifying the scanning process during shipping or in physical stores.
You might want to use a barcode if you sell products through multiple channels, need to integrate with third-party logistics providers, or want to streamline warehouse operations.
Variants
Here is where you can define the different options available for a new product, such as size and color.
To add variants to a new products:
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Click “Add options like size or color”
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Select the Option Name, e.g., Size
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Set the Option Values, e.g., Black, Blue, Small, M, Xtra Large
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Click Done once you’ve added all the options
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Repeat steps 1., 2., 3., and 4., if you like to add another Option Type
When clicking Done, you’ll notice the UI changes to combine Pricing and Inventory for each variant, allowing you to set the price and quantity for each separately.
If you’d like to learn how to add more Option Types, refer to a separate support article.
Pro Tip: Make sure that the Option Values are consistent across all products. For example, don’t set sizes as Small, Medium, Large for one product, and S, M, L for another.
Shipping
Dimensions & Weight
If you’re planning on using shipping methods that take size and weight of a package into account, then it’s important to set the dimensions and weight of each product to accurately calculate the shipping cost.
You can select the unit you’d like to use for each field, e.g., Inch or Foot, lbs or oz.
If you’d like to change the system of measurement to metric, you can do so in Settings > Store Details > Standards & Formats. See this a separate support article for more information.
Shipping Category
Here you can select the shipping category that should be assigned to the product. For example, if it’s a digital product, then it should have the Digital category.
To learn more about shipping categories, please refer to a separate support article.
Properties
Product properties are displayed on the product details page and can convey additional information about the products, such as the material, care instructions, allergens, eco-friendly, etc.
Simply fill in the fields with the correct values.
To add more Properties, please refer to a separate support article.
Create Product
Now that you’ve added all the necessary product information, make sure to click the blue Create button at the bottom of the product editor, otherwise you may lose all of your progress.
3rd Party Products
If you’re running a marketplace with Spree Enterprise Edition, then you don’t need to worry about creating products because your vendors will be adding them when they onboard.
However, you can still edit some of the product information as outlined in a separate support article.
Real-life Examples: How to improve Discovery, Conversions and SEO
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