Base Products

A base product passes data from a parent product to a child product. Inheriting information from a base product saves you time because you won’t have to enter the same information repeatedly.

Base products give you a way to manage multiple products with similar characteristics. They minimize catalog maintenance and provide data consistency.

Base Product

Example

Shieldware, Inc., sells anti-virus software for personal and professional use. Their product Internet Security is sold in four versions:

  • Basic
  • Basic Extended
  • Professional
  • Enterprise

The four versions have similar characteristics and information, with slight variations. A base product called Internet Security is set up with the basic information that applies to all four versions of the product. The four child products inherit this information from the base product.

For information on how to configure a base product, go to Add a Product > Note.

Base Product Rules

The following rules apply to base products:

  • Base product information only populates empty fields in the child product. If you already have information in a field, it won't be overridden by the base product information.
  • Name information and pricing information can't be used with base products. This information must be unique in the child product.
  • Base product information can be overridden in a child product by selecting the checkbox to the left of the applicable field, and entering new information.
  • If a field in the child product has overridden base product information (the checkbox is checked), un-checking the checkbox returns the field to the current base product information.
  • Changes made to a base product are automatically inherited by its child products. This means you make a change once and that change also applies to all child products.
  • Changes made to a child product won't affect the base product itself or other child products that are also inheriting information from the base product.
  • An existing product can be converted to a child product by selecting a base product in the Base product field in the Product portal of the Commerce Assistant.

Select a Base Product

  1. In the Base product drop-down list, select a base product. A message displays asking whether or not you would like to inherit information from the base product.
  2. In the pop-up message, select whether or not to inherit base product information.
    1. Inherit from base product — Select to have the base product information automatically populate all applicable, empty fields.
    2. Remain empty — Select to keep the child product's empty fields empty.
  3. Click OK.

The product becomes a child product, and the fields that allow inheritance become gray. If a field has information from the base product, that information displays.

A checkbox displays to the left of the fields. If the checkbox is unchecked, the information is from the base product. If the checkbox is checked, the information has overridden the base product information.

product base product check boxes

Override Base Product Information

To override base product information and enter custom information, do the following:

  1. Select the checkbox to the left of the applicable field. The field becomes editable.
  2. Enter new information in the field.