Product Set Up: "Add-ons"

There are a few different options when setting up products and product variants within Shopify, and countless third-party applications that extend functionality. Most product customizations include additional upcharges based on choices made by the user. Some simple examples might involve adding a component or printing an image on a product would be an additional charge. To do this, we recommend adding additional customizations (“add-ons”) as product themselves.

Instead of creating multiple product variants with upcharges, you create separate "add-on" products that customers can add to their cart along with the base product.

Example Scenario: Customizable Coffee Mug

• Main product: Standard Coffee Mug – $30

• Add-ons (Separate Products):

  • Engraving Text – +$5

  • Engraving Image – +$10

Spectrum can handle bundling these additional user choices so that they are added to the cart based on customization choices.

The main advantage of this technique is that the additional add-on products can be tracked via inventory, turned on or off at any time, and offer discounts on the customization itself. While Spectrum’s reporting interface gives a more in-depth view into types of customizations and trends, the add-on products also give financial reporting along with stock products.

It should be noted that this is just one of many ways to set up products in Shopify. Our recommendation is to evaluate this method first and look for alternatives if there is a core business need or a current process that should be followed.