The Inventory Variants feature in Miva helps you manage and track product variations, such as different sizes, colors, or styles, by creating individual inventory records for each combination. This supports accurate order fulfillment, real-time stock tracking, and seamless integration with back-office systems that rely on detailed product-level data.
What This Guide Covers
This guide will show you how to manage Inventory Variants in Miva from start to finish, including:
Getting Started with Variants
In this article, we’ll walk through how to create two dropdown Attributes for a T-shirt product, Size and Color, and turn the resulting combinations into inventory-managed Variants.
The T-shirt will serve as the Master Product. Each attribute will have two options:
Size: Medium, Large
Color: Yellow, Blue
Each combination, such as Medium Yellow or Large Blue, represents a distinct version of the T-shirt. These are managed individually in the background, with their own inventory levels and availability.
Step 1: Create the Master Product
The Master Product is the main item you're selling, in this example, a T-shirt. Start by creating the product just like you would any other in Miva:
Enter a Product Code, SKU, and Name
Set the Price and any other relevant product details
Once complete, click Add to save the product.
Step 2: Add Attributes to the Master Product
Path: Catalog > Products > [click on product name] > Attributes tab
1. In the product list, locate and click on the name of your Master Product (e.g., the T-shirt).
2. Go to the Attributes tab.
3. Click Add Attribute.
4. Enter an Attribute Code and a Prompt. The prompt appears above the dropdown on the product page (e.g., "Select Size").
5. Select the Type. For this example, use Drop-down List. You select any Type here.
Creating Swatch Attributes
Select Attribute Type select Swatch - Drop-down.
Check the Require and Track Inventory boxes
See instructions for creating Options: Create Options for the Swatch Attributes, i.e. blue, red, gold.
Click the ( + ) button to add the image column shown below. Upload the your swatch image here.
Click Generate Variants
Attribute Types
Miva supports multiple input types for attributes, which determine how customers interact with the options. The best choice depends on your use case. For example, use a checkbox for gift wrap, or a swatch for color selection.
- Drop-down List (most common)
- Radio Buttons
- Checkbox
- Text Field / Text Area
- Swatch Drop-down (links an image to the option)
6. You must check the Track Inventory box. This is required to create inventory-managed variants in Miva.
7. Required vs. Optional Attributes: If an attribute is marked as required, the customer must select a value before adding the product to the cart. Required attributes are typically used for essential product variations like size or color. Optional attributes, like gift wrapping, do not require customer input.
Click Save Changes to create the attribute. A new line will appear where you can begin adding Options (e.g., Medium, Large). We’ll cover this in the next step.
Tip: Each time you click Save Changes, a new option line will appear. When you're done adding options, click Cancel to exit the input mode and return to the Attributes list.
Repeat this process for each Attribute (e.g., Size, Color).
For large catalogs, you can also import Attributes and Options in bulk.
Path: Settings > Data Management > Import/Export > Add/Update Product Variants from CSV
See the end of this guide for a walkthrough on how to format the CSV file.
Step 3: Add Options to Your Attributes
Once your Attributes (like Size and Color) are created, if you have not already done so, you’ll add Options to define the specific choices customers can select (e.g., Medium, Large; Yellow, Blue).
To begin:
On the Attributes tab, check the box next to the attribute you want to edit.
The Add Attribute button will change to Add Option. Click it.
Enter a Code (internal reference) and a Prompt (what the customer sees), then click Save Changes.
Each time you click Save Changes, a new line appears for adding another option. When you’re finished, click Cancel to return to the Attributes list.
You can add as many Attributes and Options as needed for your product.
At this point, the options will appear on the product page as drop-downs, but they won’t function as true variants until you Generate Variants or manually Add Variants to inventory-managed products. We’ll cover this in the next step.
Step 4: Generate Variants or Add Them Manually
Once you've added all necessary Attributes and Options, it's time to create the actual Variants.
Before you begin creating variants, decide whether to generate them automatically or add them manually. Miva gives you flexibility depending on your store's needs.
To learn about Importing CVS and XML file continue to the bottom of this Document.
Option 1: Generate Variants (Fast & Automatic)
Use the Generate Variants button to quickly create all possible combinations from your defined Attributes and Options. This is the most efficient method if you're building full variant coverage and plan to edit or delete individual variants later.
Option 2: Add Variant(s) (Manual & Controlled)
Use the Add Variant(s) button when:
You need to assign custom product codes to each variant
To Generate Variants:
Click the Generate Variants button to automatically create all valid combinations of the Attributes and Options you’ve defined (e.g., Medium Yellow, Large Blue).
Generate Variants button is located between the search bar and the ellipsis menu on the Attributes tab. Refer to the image above for reference.
When clicked, a dialog box will appear prompting you to choose a pricing method:
Variant Price is set by the Master Product and its Attributes
The variant's price is calculated by combining the master product price with any attribute price modifiers.
On the storefront, only the master product price is shown until the customer adds the variant to their cart.
Variant Price is set by the Variant Product itself
The price is pulled directly from the individual variant product, ignoring any pricing from the master or its attributes.
This gives you more control over variant-specific pricing, especially if prices differ significantly between combinations.
Once you’ve selected your pricing method, click Generate. Miva will create a separate variant record for each valid combination of attributes and options (e.g., Medium Yellow, Large Blue).
Your inventory variants are now configured and ready to be managed, edited, or displayed on the storefront.
To Add Variant(s):
In some cases, you may want to manually create product variants instead of generating them automatically.
Go to the Inventory Variants tab (located next to the Inventory Kit Builder tab).
1. Click the ellipsis menu (⋯), then choose Add Variant(s). This opens the Add Variant(s) dialog.
3. Under Price, Cost, and Weight, choose how pricing is set for the variant:
Controlled by Master Product – Inherits values from the master product.
Specific Values – Enter custom price, cost, and weight for this variant.
Sum of Parts – Miva calculates the total based on the master product and selected attributes.
4. Select the combination of Attributes and Options for the variant (e.g., Medium Yellow).
5. Under Variant Parts, type the product code manually or use the Look Up button to find and select it.
6. Set the Quantity for each part. This determines how many of each component is included in the variant.
Difference Between Add / Add+ in Add Variant Dialog:
- Add: Adds the variant and closes the form.
- Add+: Adds the variant and clears the form, allowing you to quickly add another.
Edit Inventory
The Edit Inventory button is available only when product variants have been generated/ created. It allows you to make bulk updates to multiple variant records from a single interface.
Location: On the Inventory Variants tab, the Edit Inventory button appears above the tabs menu, between the search bar and the ellipsis menu (⋯).
To edit variants:
Navigate to the product's Inventory Variants tab.
Click the Edit Inventory button to open the variant editor.
Customize what fields are visible on the Edit Inventory screen by clicking the plus (+) button located in the top-right corner of the variant table (see screenshot above). This opens the Show/Hide Columns menu, where you can choose which columns to display.
Repricing Variants
If you need to update pricing across multiple variants, use the Reprice Variant(s) tool. This option is found in the Inventory Variants tab under the ellipsis menu (⋯), next to the Edit Inventory button after checking the boxes next to the Variants you want to change.
You can choose one of the following pricing methods:
- Controlled by Master Product – Uses pricing from the master product and its attributes.
- Specific Values – Enter unique prices manually for each variant.
- Sum of Parts – Totals the price from the variant's parts and attributes.
Using the Reprice tool ensures that Miva has the correct pricing structure for each variant.
Deleting Product Variants
Path: Catalog > Products > [click product name] > Inventory Variants tab
Locate the product in the catalog and click on its name.
Go to the Inventory Variants tab.
Select the variant(s) you want to delete by checking the box next to each one.
When variants are selected, the ellipsis menu (⋯) appears at the top of the variant list.
Click the ellipsis button, then select Delete Record(s).
Deleting a variant cannot be undone. Make sure the variant is no longer needed or in use before removing it.
Importing Bulk Attributes and Options
You can create Products, Attributes, and Options in bulk using either a CSV or XML file.
Path: Settings > Data Management > Add/Update Product Variants from CSV/ or Import Data and Settings in XML Provisioning Format.
To learn more, see the Miva Data Import/Export Data Management Documentation
CSV Import: Add/Update Product Variants from CSV
When importing using CSV, you will need to include specific column headers depending on whether you're importing Attributes and Options. If you import the full product variant CSV file, you do not need to generate variants manually afterward. The CSV handles it.
Fill out your CVS spreadsheet then import it by going to PATH: Settings > Data Management > Import the file under Add/Update Product Variants
Here is an example spreadsheet of the Attribute and Option columns:
Here is an example of the whole CVS File.
XML Import: Import Data and Settings in XML Provisioning Format
XML is used for structured data transfer and can also be used to import attributes and variants, this tool is generally used by Developers.
The example XML file will create a Master Product, Attributes, Options, and add Variants. You can view more XML tag used in Miva in this Github Repo XML Provisioning Reference Guide from the Miva Developer Docs.
Section 1: Creates main, master product though Lines 1 - 10. We Create the Product using the the <Product_Add> tag the create the Product code, Sku, Name, define the Price, Description, and identify it as a Taxable product, and mark it Active.
Note: On line 5 "CDADTA", allows you to add spaces and other characters without breaking the XML.
2. Section 2, defines Attributes for the Master Product through lines 11 - 20 using, the <ProductAttribute_Add> tag. Just like in step 2 of manually creating the Attribute we need a Code, Type, Prompt, and to tell Miva that the Inventory is tracked.
Using the product_code tag we link the Attribute using the Code we created on line 3. In this example this Attribute is for color selection, we set the <Code> to color and the <Prompt> to Choose Color. For type we are using a drop-down so I have identified the <Type> as select.
Remember to include <Inventory>Yes</Inventory> to tell Miva to tract this inventory, you can not generate Variants without tracking inventory.
3. Add Options to Each Attribute, the Attribute I created in lines 11 - 20 are for selecting colors for the master product, now we need to create those color options using the tag <ProductAttributeOption_Add> like with the Attributes we are using the master product code to link Attributes and Options to the Master Product (see line 22). On this line we add the Attribute Code that we created on line 13.
In this example we are creating 3 options: Red (lines 22 - 27), Blue (lines 28 - 33), Brown (lines 34 - 39).
4. Create Variant Products, use <Product_Add> to add the product variants.
We need to create a unique code for each product variant, i.e. <Code>RED_PRODUCT>, <Code>BLUE_PRODUCT>, <Code>BROWN_PRODUCT>.
5. Add Generate Variants
To add the Variants we use the tag <ProductVariant_Add>, on lines 67, 69, 72 you see the inclusion of the codes we created in the previous sections.
This automatically creates all valid combinations from your defined attributes and options.