Guide
Letting shoppers search Shopify variants.
On Shopify, each size or color of a product is a variant with its own SKU and barcode. Shoppers who know exactly what they want, often B2B buyers and repeat customers, type that SKU into the search box. Whether they find it depends on how your search indexes variants.
What shoppers type
A good search handles all three and lands the shopper on the product page with the right variant selected.
- A variant SKU, with or without dashes: "RUN-193-42", "run19342"
- A barcode or GTIN
- An option value with the product: "trail runner 42", "hoodie navy xl"
Check your store
Pick a product with several variants, copy one variant's SKU, and search for it in your store. Then try it without the dashes, and try part of it. If any of those miss, shoppers searching that way don't find the product.
Ways to fix it
Whatever you choose, make sure identifiers are matched exactly first, so a full SKU always puts its product at the top.
- Put SKUs in product titles or tags: works, but clutters your catalog
- Use a search app that indexes variant SKUs, barcodes and option values
- Add product metafields to search if your identifiers live there
Variant search in Gazelle
Gazelle syncs every variant's SKU with its product, matches codes whatever way they're typed, and ranks an exact SKU first. Metafields you mark as identifiers are searched the same way.
Questions
- Is variant SKU search on Gazelle's free plan?
- Product SKU search is on every plan. Variant SKUs and custom fields are on Pro and Business.
Related
Free to start