Every product in Osello is one of two kinds: a single product (Osello calls this standalone) or a product with variants like sizes and colors (Osello calls this configurable). Osello picks the right kind automatically when it imports from Shopify — you'll see the word "Standalone" or "Configurable" right under the product's name on its page.
Standalone: one buyable item
A standalone product is a single item with a single SKU — a tote bag that comes one way, for example. The product's page shows its SKU and barcode directly, and its price and inventory belong to the product itself.
Configurable: one product, many variants
A configurable product is a parent with a set of variants, where each variant is one specific buyable combination — "Small / Navy", "Medium / Navy", and so on. The two levels hold different data:
- The parent product holds everything the variants share: title, description, tags, and shared images.
- Each variant holds what makes it unique: its option values (size, color), its own SKU and barcode, its price, its images, and its inventory.
Products with variants get a Variants tab on their page listing every combination with its SKU, barcode, and stock. Single products don't need one.
When a variant is missing something — say it has no images of its own — Osello falls back to the parent product's data, so you don't have to duplicate shared photos onto every size.
Which kind you get from Shopify
Shopify decides this for you:
- A Shopify product with real options (size, color, material) imports as a product with variants.
- A Shopify product with no options — just Shopify's automatic default variant — imports as a single product.
If a product looks wrong in Osello (for example, variants you expected are missing), check its options in Shopify and fix them there; the correction flows in on the next sync.
How this shapes your listings
Listings mirror your product structure. When you list a product with variants on a marketplace, Osello creates a listing with a listing variant for each product variant, so shoppers see one product page with size and color choices — not ten separate products. Marketplaces differ in how they handle parent products behind the scenes, and Osello adapts your structure to what each one expects at submission time.
Products that don't come from Shopify
Most catalogs come from Shopify, but products can also be added from a file — choose Import Data from the actions menu on the Products page. Products added this way follow the same two structures: single products, and parents with variants.