This is a brief guide on the various product types Magento supports along with some examples.
Simple Product
A simple product is a physical product (unique SKU) which contains no choosable options (colour/size etc). The user just sees the product details, price and a add to basket option.
Configurable Product
This is a product which could has various options, for example a t-shirt could come in multiple colours and sizes. The user will see the configurable product, then when looking at more details they will see options for the colour and size.
Each variant will hold its own stock level, images and prices.
Grouped Product
This is a group of simple products, for example it could be a keyboard and mouse, in which if bought together you could offer a discount.
This group’s simple products together for user convenience.
Bundled Product
This contains a bundle of simple/virtual products in which the user chooses options from the bundle product.
For example if a PC base unit was being sold as a bundled product, it might contain these options:
- CPU: Choose from Intel i3 (£100), intel i5 (3170) or intel i7 (£250)
- RAM: Choose from 4GB (£50), 8GB (£100) or 16GB (£150)
- Mobo: Choose from mobo 1 (£40), mobo 2 (£60) or mobo 3 (£100)
- GPU: choose from onboard (£0.00), Nvidia 960 (£100) orNivdia 970 (£200)
The final price will be worked out from the options the user chooses.
This is suitable for when a customer should be able to build a complex product that they want.
Virtual Product
This is used for a virtual item, such as insurance, extra guarantee or a service. This does not allow for any postage charge as nothing will be posted.
Downloadable Product
This is suitable for a downloadable product such as a mp3, ebook, pdf, software etc, in which the file is uploaded to a web server and when the customer buys this a secure, encrypted link will be created for each sale.