Creating and Applying Option Sets in BigCommerce

Having variables and options on your product page allows customers to easily customize your product based on the colors, sizes, and other options you have available. If you have a product that you need to add variables to, you will need to create options and option sets.

Creating Options and Option Sets

Follow these steps to create options and put them into option sets:

1. (After you login to your BigCommerce store,) Click on “Products” and then “Product Options” (located in the control panel bar on the left).

2. Click “Create an Option” and select the type of options you would like to create (“Size”, “Color, or “Create your own”). For “Size” and “Color”, the option you choose will determine the display name that the customer will see. For example, if you create a size option, it will show up as “Size” on your website. The option name you enter when creating editing the options is the internal name – the name only you will see.

If you are creating options that are not size or color, or you just want your option to have a different external name, select “Create your own”. You will not only be able to enter the internal name for your option, but also its display name.

Another reason you might choose to “Create your own” is if you want to change the display type from the default (which is where the options are displayed in rectangle boxes all showing at the same time to the right of the product). If you decide to “Create your own”, you can change the display type to a drop-down list (multiple choice), checkboxes, a date field, a file upload, etc.

3. Edit the options. For example, if you choose to create a size set, you may edit the options already in the set, delete size options by clicking on the minus (-) sign, and/or add options by clicking on the plus (+) sign. Click “Next”.

4. Add the options to one or more options set(s). You have to apply options for products through option sets. If you don’t already have an option set or you want to make a new one, click on “create a new one” and name the new option set. If you already have an option set that you want to add the options to, check the box by that option set.

5. Make sure to check the box by “The option is required to complete checkout” if your customer needs to select an option before checking out.

6. Click “Save”.

If you need to edit your option set for any reason, go to the “Option Sets” tab (still under “Products”, “Product Options”) and you can access and change it from there.

Now it’s time to apply that option set to your product!

Adding Option Set to a Single Product

Follow these steps if you are only applying your option set to one product:

1. Click on “Products” (on the left sidebar) and then go to the “View” section.

2. Click on the product you want to add your option set to.

3. Go to the “Options & SKUs” tab.

4. Select your option set from the dropdown that says “(None)”.

5. Click “Save”.

Adding Option Set to Multiple Products

You cannot add option sets in bulk if your company is multi-channel (which means that you are setup to sell through other channels such as Amazon or eBay), but a multi-channel company can import option sets.

If you are not a multi-channel store and you want to add your option set to multiple products, follow these steps:

1. Click on “Products” (on the left sidebar) and then go to the “View” section.

2. Check the box to the left of all the products you want to add the option set to. You can use your search bar to filter through the products so you can check their boxes all on the same page and add the option set to all of them a at time. For example, if you are trying to add the same option set to all of your t-shirts, you would search “t-shirt”.

3. Select “Apply Option Set” under the “Choose an Action” dropdown list. Then click “Confirm”.

4. A pop-up will appear. Click on the option set that you want to apply to all the products that you selected.

Sources

1. https://support.bigcommerce.com/s/article/Options-SKUs-Rules#sets
2. https://support.bigcommerce.com/s/article/Product-Options-Video
3. https://support.bigcommerce.com/s/article/Product-List-Multi-Channel