Products, Variants & Inventory: Complete Guide

Your product catalog is the core of your online store. Watsy gives you a powerful product system with support for variant options (size, color, material...), per-variant inventory tracking, and automatic stock protection at checkout so customers can never order something that's out of stock.

Simple Products vs. Variant Products

Watsy supports two types of products:

Simple Products

A product with no options. It has one price, one inventory count, and one SKU. Examples: a book, a phone case, a gift card.

Variant Products

A product with one or more options that create variants. Each variant has its own price, inventory, and SKU. Examples:

A t-shirt with Size (S, M, L, XL) and Color (Black, White, Red)
Shoes with Size (40, 41, 42) and Material (Leather, Synthetic)

Each combination becomes a separate variant. A t-shirt with 4 sizes and 3 colors = 12 variants, each with its own stock level.

Step 1: Create a Product

Log in to your Watsy dashboard.
Click on Products in the sidebar menu.
Click Add Product in the top right.
Fill in the basics:
- Name: The product name your customers will see.
- Description: A detailed description (supports rich text).
- Price: The base price in DZD.
- Images: Upload one or more product photos. The first image becomes the thumbnail.
Click Save.

Step 2: Add Variant Options

If your product comes in different sizes, colors, or other options:

In the product detail page, go to the Variants section.
Click Add Option (e.g., "Color").
Add the values for that option (e.g., "Black", "White", "Red").
Add more options if needed (e.g., "Size" with values "S", "M", "L").
Watsy automatically generates all the variant combinations.

Option Types

Watsy supports several option display types:

Dropdown: A standard select menu (good for sizes, materials).
Color Swatch: Visual color circles (perfect for colors).
Radio Buttons: Side-by-side buttons (good for 2-4 values). The option type controls how the selector looks on your checkout page.

Step 3: Set Variant Prices & Inventory

After creating your options, you'll see a table of all variants:

Price: Each variant can have its own price. The checkout automatically shows the correct price when the customer selects it.
Inventory: Set the stock count for each variant. This is the number of units available.
Active: Toggle variants on or off. Inactive variants won't appear at checkout.

Tip: Use the quick edit button to rapidly update inventory across all variants without opening each one individually.

Step 4: Simple Product Inventory

For products without variants, inventory is managed directly on the product:

Open the product detail page.
In the Overview tab, find the Inventory card.
Click the edit button to update your stock count.
You can set a specific number, add stock (e.g., +50 when new shipment arrives), or remove stock.

Step 5: Shipping Profiles for Products

Different products may have different shipping costs:

Go to Shipping in the sidebar to create profiles (see the Shipping Guide).
In your product detail page, find the Shipping section in the sidebar.
Select the shipping profile for this product.
If no profile is selected, the store's Default Profile is used automatically.

What Your Customers See

Variant Selection

When a customer visits your product page, they see separate selectors for each option:

A "Color" dropdown with all available colors
A "Size" dropdown with all available sizes
They pick one value from each option, and Watsy finds the matching variant

This is much better than a single dropdown with combined names like "Black / L" — each option is clear and easy to select.

Out of Stock Protection

Watsy protects you from overselling at every level:

In the dropdown: Values with zero inventory show "(Out of stock)" and are grayed out.
Out of stock badge: A red badge appears when the selected combination has zero stock.
Submit button disabled: The order button shows "Out of stock" and can't be clicked.
Quantity cap: The + button stops at available inventory. If you have 3 units, customers can't order more.
Server validation: The server checks inventory before creating the order and rejects it if stock is insufficient.
Automatic decrement: After a successful order, inventory is reduced by the ordered quantity.

Price Updates

When switching between variants, the price updates immediately in the checkout summary.

Customizing Labels in the Editor

The "Out of stock" label and other text can be customized through the page editor:

Open the page editor for your checkout form.
Select the checkout block.
In the sidebar under Text Labels, find:
- Out of Stock Label: Change to "Sold out", "Coming soon", etc.
- Free Shipping Label: Customize the "Free" text.
- All other form labels (quantity, variant, submit button, etc.).

Labels default to the correct language based on your store setting. Customize only if you want something different.

Common Questions

Q: I added variants but they don't show at checkout? Make sure the Variant Selector toggle is set to "Show" in the editor. Also verify variants have Active enabled.

Q: What happens when inventory reaches zero? The variant automatically shows as "Out of stock" at checkout. Customers can't order it. No manual action needed.

Q: Can I sell without tracking inventory? Yes. Disable inventory tracking for a product and customers can order any quantity.

Q: A variant shows out of stock but I have inventory? Check the specific variant's inventory. Each size/color combination has its own stock. "Black / L" might be out while "Black / M" has plenty.

Q: What is a shipping profile? A shipping profile defines shipping rates for a group of products. Use the Default Profile unless different products need different rates.

Conclusion

Watsy's product system is built for real Algerian e-commerce. Separate variant selectors make it easy for customers. Automatic inventory protection prevents overselling. The checkout works cleanly in Arabic, French, and English. Set up your products once and let Watsy handle the rest.