Splitting product with variations into multiple products

[jbculpep]

Has anyone figured out how to split a product that has multiple variations into multiple products? When our retail setup was converted from another POS, the Square agent recommended the heavy use of variations. Now, wanting to launch Square Online, this structure is unworkable. There are many reason for this, both in terms of interface and practicality. For example, you cannot archive a variation without archiving the whole item.

Square help has said to manually copy the item and now that I have two items, delete variations from each. That's fine for 1 or 2 items. I have hundreds, some with over 100 variations.

Import/Export doesn't seem to work to achieve this.

I could use help if anyone knows how to pull it off.

[RobynR]

Hey @jbculpep,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community. I will tag some of our Square Champions to see if they offer any tips or workarounds.

@ryanwanner @vinesandrushes @TCSlaguna @JTPets 

[jbculpep]

Thanks. Hopefully somebody will have insight. Seems like a core feature that should have been designed into the product.

[TCSlaguna]

Great question @jbculpep. This has actually been one of my feature requests as well. 

We have an item with 100 variations. It's great bundled in the Retail app as it makes checkout faster, but I would love to have it split into different items on my online store. 

I have done this by creating online versions of the item. However, the stock counts obviously don't sync between the two versions of the item. 

I feel like @Candlestore may know how to unbundle the item via import/export

[jbculpep]

Yea, I feel your pain. Our store migrated to Square because (a) it was cheaper on the POS side and (b) the old ecommerce website didn't sync inventory. Now the inventory sync should be fixed but the data structure has been wildly simplified. So you exchange one set of warts for another. That happens with data migrations.

[Candlestore · Accepted solution]

@jbculpep ;

Download your Catalog ( filtered for Item you want to remove Variations from).  When you open it Save it imediatley to Changes Made or something so you have 2 differently Named Catalogs but one to edit.  

I am not sure what or how your Items and variations were created, examples are best for me.

So here is an example of what I had to do:

Item : 28oz Candle   (This was / Is a default ) if Barcode is ruined.

        Variation     Apple Pie  (Scent)

         Variation    Balsam Fir  (Scent)

Since you just downloaded and filtered your catalog open the File you just named Changes Made.  You make all the changes to this file.

When You export your Catalog  Delete the Token Field in the CSV File. Delete the Refrence Handle column and Token Columns if using the xlsx file types for items your want from Variation to Item Name.  Copy the Variation Name to the Item Name column.  Save the csv, and import it.  Doing these steps will have 2 different sales histories as now they will not be considered the Same sellable item but one was a variation and the new one is now an Item.  So Square will treat them differently in reports.

You will now have Item 28oz Candle with Variations Apple Pie and Balsam fir.  You will need to delete these in Square Items Dashboard or through an App.   You should also now have 2 new items Named Apple Pie and Balsam Fir Check this before deleteing your two (100s) of unwanted Variations.

To do this Quickly you can Select all the Refrence handles and all the Token numbers you no longer will need and delete them.  Then Copy the Variation names into the Item Names column.  

So in my Example I want to keep Item 28oz Candle so I do not edit anything in the Row with that Item in it as a Regular Variation.

My Apple Pie and Balsam Fir Variations will show Item 28oz Candle and Variation of Apple Pie.  I want to copy Apple Pie to the column showing 28oz Candle.  Then delete the Scents in the Variation column.   Save and Import to Square.  Then search in items for Apple Pie..... I should have 1 as an Item and 1 as a Variation.   Just make sure all your Newly imported Items are in Square.  Then you can delete the Variations for item 28oz candle in my example.

I hope this all makes sense but if not tag me here like @TCSlaguna  did and I will try and explain it better or help you where your stuck.

[jbculpep]

Keith, thanks for your detailed description. On first pass, it seems your methodology is to essentially create copies of the products but by stripping out the reference handle and token, and creating new products. Once created, the old products need to be manually deleted.

I tried a similar method but left the token, hoping that the modification on import/export would do the split. I'm trying to avoid the copy/change/delete pathway but will go down that if necessary. Certainly the import/export steps will save a bit of time but making new Items will also corrupt sales history, as you mentioned.

It would be much easier if by deleting the reference handle, leaving the token (to identify the exact items), and changing the Item name and Variation name (or removing the variation name altogether), this simple data nesting could be modified. Alas.

[Candlestore]

@jbculpep ;

On first pass, it seems your methodology is to essentially create copies of the products but by stripping out the reference handle and token, and creating new products. Once created, the old products need to be manually deleted.

Correct

I tried a similar method but left the token, hoping that the modification on import/export would do the split. I'm trying to avoid the copy/change/delete pathway but will go down that if necessary. 

The problem here is the Token and or Refrence handle Identifies the Item and the Sales history. Think of these as a Key in a Database.  So by leaving those the new item is not created just the old item variation is changed however you edited the other fields.

It would be much easier if by deleting the reference handle, leaving the token (to identify the exact items), and changing the Item name and Variation name (or removing the variation name altogether), this simple data nesting could be modified. Alas.   I agree there should be better ways to do this, but I am mearly a business owner and am not a computer programmer, just good at making edits to get things to work for the future but at the risk of loosing past data. Maybe if Square was setup as a Data base instead of these csv files it might be better, but again it might make it more complex and cost more or be harder to setup for most small businesses.

Token Field and the Refrence Handle are created by Square and I am not sure how they connect or are intertwinded with Square's Items fields and that is why I used my method above.

I wonder if you Do my steps above and the Archive the old Item and its variation, that way they are not deleted and you can still see reports ???? maybe for the Old variation and the New Item?   I have not Hiden or Archieved an Item I just delete it and let my accounting software sort this out using the SKU field as the key between Square and my accounting software.  My accounting software then shows all current and past sales data.  Plus is better with the Inventory at a specific date since square does not track inventory by date and you can not look up date May 5th, 2024 for your inventory dollar total or quantity.... at least that I know of.   Square is more for helping people sell and use a Credit Card for payment, and not all the accounting that is also required in business.  This is why when using Square or other Credit Card processors you still need to have a connection to an accounting package.