Demystifying Amazon Product Variations – Webinar Q&A
Missed out latest webinar or still have questions? Check out this Q&A for detailed answers to your most pressing questions about Amazon Product Listing Variation. You can also rewatch the entire webinar on Amazon Product Listing Variation.

- Add a New Child Variation to an Existing Parent Created by Another Seller
- How do I reassign a child item to a new parent?
- How do I separate child ASINs into individual ASINs?
- How do I separate child ASINs into individual ASINs?
- What should I do if I think variations are being manipulated by a seller?
- Are there any disadvantages of using variation listings?
Add a New Child Variation to an Existing Parent Created by Another Seller
2. In your inventory file template (Inventory file templates and BTG), add the new child ASIN’s information and fill in fields exactly as if it were a child within a parent-child variation set. Note: Match the Variation Theme field to the existing parent.
3. Add a parent item and fill in the fields that create the parent-child relationship with the new child item and that mirrors the variation theme of the child item. For the Parent item row, consider the following points:In the SKU field for the parent row, you may leave the field blank (if you wish the system to auto-generate a SKU number) or you can choose any alphanumeric string of 40 characters or less, but must be unique to your listings. In other words, it must not duplicate any of your other SKUs.
4. Specify the parent ASIN in the Product ID field.In the Product ID Type field enter “ASIN”. This will associate your new child item with the ASIN of the existing parent item.In the Update/Delete column, enter the following: Update – for the parent SKU (since we are creating this parent in your inventory from scratch) PartialUpdate – for the child SKU(s), provided these child SKUs are already present in your inventory.Note: If the child ASIN is already present in your inventory, use “PartialUpdate”. Otherwise, use “Update”.
5. Validate and upload the completed inventory template. Make sure to enter all the mandatory (*) information in the inventory template.
How do I reassign a child item to a new parent?
How do I separate child ASINs into individual ASINs?
Delete the child item (removes its relationship to the parent). You may need to wait 24 hours before you can re-use your SKU. Re-add the SKU but do not include fill in any of the Variation fields. Validate and upload the completed inventory template.
How do I separate child ASINs into individual ASINs?
- Delete the child item (removes its relationship to the parent). You may need to wait 24 hours before you can re-use your SKU.
- Re-add the SKU but do not include fill in any of the Variation fields.
- Validate and upload the completed inventory template.
What should I do if I think variations are being manipulated by a seller?
Are there any disadvantages of using variation listings?
Which one? If the keyword doesn’t specify the variation, Amazon will show the most popular variation listing/image in the search results. If the search phrase contains keywords that describe your variation, Amazon most likely will feature that variation listing in the search results.
- If you sell something that comes in various sizes and Amazon allows variations for it, DO IT! You will greatly improve the customer’s shopping experience and your conversion rates. Any clothing items or similar products are perfect for this. The added benefit of this is that the main image that shows up in the search results is, in most cases, irrelevant to the sizing information, so your CTR from the search results shouldn’t suffer at all.
The biggest advantage here is that many customers may actually “upgrade” to a larger sized pack once they see the option for it in your listing.
- For buyers who search for generic keywords without specifying the colour, Amazon will show your bestselling variation, which should be the most popular one.
Now, of course, this will decrease the CTR for customers with a search intent different to your bestseller. If you feel that such searches account for a large portion of your overall traffic in your niche, you may consider listing items separately and not using variations.