Create Variant Groups

There are two ways you can create Variant Groups:

• For up to 49 existing standalone items, you can create a variant group via the Items dashboard in Seller Center.
• For 50+ items, you must use the Full Item Spec.

Items Dashboard Method

1. Go to the Catalog option in the left navigation pane in Seller Center.
2. Locate the items by searching for the SKU or Item Name in the search bar above the items grid.
3. Select the check box in the left-hand column for each item to be grouped together.

• The limit for this feature is set to 49 items. If you select more than the maximum number of items from the item grid, you will receive an error when you select Create Variant Group.

4. Next, select the More Actions dropdown menu that appears above the grid and choose Create Variant Group.

Enter Variant Group Details

5. Next, select the Product Category from the dropdown menu. If your items were set up using different categories, you will have more than one thing to choose from the dropdown menu. For example, some of the shirts in the variant group were set up under Clothing, while two of them were set up under Sports & Recreation Other.

• A Variant Group ID is a unique identifier that you create and use to find the items in a variant group.
• A Variant Group ID can be alphanumeric and up to 20 characters long. 
• Walmart tracks Variant Group IDs on the Items dashboard in Seller Center.
  

• Variant Attribute Names indicate what attributes vary within the group. For instance, if your item comes in sizes small, medium, and large, your Variant Attribute Name would be Size.

7. Choose the most appropriate Variant Attribute Names from the dropdown. If your items have multiple attributes (e.g., different colors and sizes), select up to three options from the list.

8. After you select the attributes, the columns will change to indicate the attribute details for each item. 

• Please note that Variant Attribute(s) that have the same variant detail (e.g., Size, Color, etc.) on multiple items, are flagged as an error. Review the items for accuracy and make the necessary changes to the item details and variants before submitting.
  
  

9. When you have all the items confirmed and Variant Attribute Names verified, select one of the items in the group to be the

• The Primary Variant is the item that appears when users search Walmart.com and is the default view on the Item Page.
• Only select one Primary Variant per variant group, if you select a second item as the Primary, the icon will be deselected on your previous choice.
• Marketplace sellers typically choose the top-selling item or the item with the most inventory as the Primary Variant.
  
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• If there are items in the current view that you do not want to include in the group, select the X in the Actions column to remove it.
• There is no confirmation screen for removing items using the Action column. Please ensure that you are removing the correct item, or you will have to start the process over.
• 10. Click Submit when all fields are complete, and there are no errors to address. 

Full Item Spec Method

For 50+ items, you can create a variant group using the Full Item Spec.

1. Go to the Catalog option in the left navigation pane in Seller Center.
2. Click on Add Items. 

3. Click on Download Walmart template and select the fulfillment type.  

4. Click the dropdown on the Create a full-setup template option and choose up to seven item categories from the Find a Category dropdown menu and download.

• Attributes vary by category, so you must choose the best option to ensure that the attributes in the spec sheet are relevant to your item. If you aren't sure which category to select, refer to the Item Content Guides. 
• Once an item is set up with the appropriate spec category, the system assigns a Product Type. The Product Type determines the Contract Category and referral fees for your item.

There are five required columns you must fill out to successfully set up a variant group. To easily find the columns mentioned in the examples below, enter the column name in the Excel search bar. 

1. Variant Group ID – This is a unique ID that you create and use to identify all of the items in a variant group.

• A Variant Group ID can be alphanumeric and up to 20 characters long.
• If items have different Variant Group IDs, they will be in different groups.
• Walmart keeps track of the Variant Group ID for your group in the Seller Center Items dashboard.
  
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• 3. Variant Attribute Name – Variant Attribute Name indicates what attributes vary within the group.
• For instance, if your item comes in sizes small, medium, and large, your Variant Attribute Name would be Size. 
• Choose the most appropriate Variant Attribute Name from the drop-down list. If your items vary for multiple attributes (e.g., different colors and different sizes), follow the instructions for adding Multi-select Attributes below to create more columns. Enter each relevant variant for your group.
• We do not allow custom attributes for variants. You must select an option from the dropdown. If none apply, then do not use that attribute as a variant for your variant group. 
  

4. Swatch Image - Swatch Variant Attribute – Visual variants can be set up to be displayed as swatches on the Item Page.

• For example, if you have a T-shirt that comes in different colors, Swatch Variant Attribute should be set to color, and you should provide Swatch Image URLs for the different colors.
  
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5. Swatch Image - Swatch Image URL – Provide the image URLs for each swatch color

• You need to include an image for each variation of that swatch, but not for every variation within the group. In the example below, the Seller needs two swatches - one for green and one for yellow.
• You can use the same Swatch Image URL for small, medium, and large sizes. Swatch Image URLs must follow the rules described in Item Image Guidelines. 
• Indicate what variant attribute name corresponds to the swatch provided.
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• Provide URLs for each swatch image in this column.
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• 6. Is Primary Variant – The Primary Variant is the item that appears when users search Walmart.com and is the default view on the Item Page.
• To set an item as the Primary Variant, select Yes from the drop-down menu in this column.
• Only select one Primary Variant per variant group. If you select Yes on more than one item in a single variant group, your feed may fail.
• Sellers usually make the top-selling item or the item with the most inventory as the Primary Variant. 
• If your item is in a merged variant group, the Primary Variant you select may not be the Primary Variant that appears on Walmart.ca. Refer to the screenshot below. 

API Method

For APIs users, please access the Developer Portal for APIs. 

Upload the Spec

1. Once you have completed the spec sheet with your variants, upload the sheet to Seller Center. Refer to Fill Out the Full Item Spec or more details if needed. 

Track Variant Group Feeds

1. Click on Copy Feed ID in the success message and navigate to the Activity Feed page to view the status of the request. If you did not copy the Feed ID, select Item Maintenance from the Feed Type dropdown to view the status of the most recent feed. For additional details, see Feed Status in Seller Center.

Multi-Select Attributes

You can choose to add more information for certain attributes. We call these Multi-select Attributes and they can be identified by a plus sign next to the attribute title.

While every category has different attributes, some of the most common multi-select attributes are:

• Key Features
• Additional Image
• Color
• Variant Attributes

These attributes can have as many entries as required by your item. The first three are included in the downloaded spec.

1. To add more, right-click the attribute title, or use the Excel Ribbon to add a new column to the sheet.

2. The new column will automatically be added to the left. If you want to add columns to the end of a section, select the nearest column on the right.

3. Copy the information from the attribute next to it (Highlight the entire column) and paste it into the corresponding new cells. If you would like to keep track of how many additions, you can choose to change the number in the newly created column, for example: Additional Image URL 4 (+) instead of Additional Image URL 3 (+) (optional).

Update Variant Groups

Add Items to Variant Groups

1. Assign the same Variant Group ID to the new item to add it to an existing variant group. 

• The new item(s) should have the same Variant Attribute Name as the existing group. If you cannot find a corresponding column in this category, you should check that you've selected the correct spec sheet. If this is the correct category, you should not set up this item using that Variant Attribute Name. 
• Make sure that you define item details like size, color, etc. in the relevant attribute columns. 
• The new item(s) should also have the same Swatch Variant Attribute (if applicable) as the existing group.
• If you include a swatch variant, include the swatch image URL in the Swatch Image-Swatch Image URL attribute column. 

2. Upload the item(s). The new item(s) will be added to the existing variant group.

Remove Items from a Variant Group

To remove items using the Walmart Template:

1. Go to the Catalog option in the left navigation pane in Seller Center.
2. Click on the Update Items dropdown menu on the top-right section of the dashboard.
3. Choose your preferred update method, then download the spec.
4. Add the Product Type and Product ID in the appropriate columns.
5. Find the Remove from Variant Group column and choose Yes from the dropdown menu. 
6. When ready, upload the spec back into Seller Center.   

To remove an item from a variant group using GTINs: 

1. Go to the Catalog option in the left navigation pane in Seller Center.
2. Click on the Update Items dropdown menu on the top-right section of the dashboard.
3. Click on Update with GTINs.
4. Enter your GTINs and select your fulfillment method. 
5. Click on Create file to download the template. 
6. Select the item or items you want to remove from the Variant Group.
7. Find the Remove from Variant Group column and choose Yes from the dropdown menu. 
8. When ready, upload the spec back into Seller Center.   

Combine Two Variant Groups into a Single Group

1. Set the same Variant Group ID for all the items. Ensure that all the variant group parameters (Variant Attribute Name, Swatch Variant Attribute, etc.) are the same.
2. Then, re-upload the items.

• The variant attributes must also match when merging groups and IDs. For example, if group 001 is divided by colors and group 002 by size, then the items in the combined group would need to include values in both color and size, to merge successfully.
• Please ensure that you provide Swatch image URLs for each line when you submit the spec sheet, or you may lose the images.  

Separate a Single Variant Group into Multiple Groups

1. Set a new Variant Group ID for the items you want to split from the group and configure all the variant group parameters.
2. Then re-upload the items. 

Add New Variant Attributes 

1. Update the variant attributes in the Item Maintenance Spec and upload the file. For example, if the previous criteria for your variant group use the variant's color and size and you want to add a variant for fit.

2. Add a Variant Attribute Names row using the Multi-select Attribute process in your spec sheet or XML. You have to fill out the item attribute column for the new Variant attribute option as well. In the example below, we filled out the Clothing Fit Attribute in the orange section to correspond with the new Variant Attribute clothingFit.

Merged Variant Groups

If you create a variant group that contains items sold by another Warehouse Supplier, DSV or Marketplace seller, your two groups will merge to appear on the same page on walmart.ca.

• You can group, modify, and delete your own variant groups, but any items in another variant group will continue to appear within that group. The system algorithmically selects the best content, so your content may not appear on the Item Page.
• Providing high-quality content will improve the likelihood that your content will appear on the Item Page. The Buy Box Winner will be the first listing to appear on the page, but customers can choose from any listing.  

Variant Limits 

• Having too many items in one variant group makes it challenging for customers to find the item they want. We recommend having fewer than 50 items for a variant group that varies by a single attribute (e.g., a towel with 50 different colors).
• We also recommend having fewer than 500 items for a variant group that varies by multiple attributes (e.g., pants with 25 different sizes and 20 different colors).
• If you do not see your update immediately, please allow the feed to process (some feeds can take up to 4 hours) and check again before submitting a ticket for Partner Support. 

Variant Group Errors

You may receive an error message when you upload a spec sheet with a new or updated variant group.

Selecting Invalid Variant Attributes

Sellers often select a variant attribute for a spec field that they have not actually filled out. If you want to add or update a variant for an attribute, you must provide a value in that attribute column.

Variant Group Limits

Variant groups cannot exceed 1,000+ variants. If you add more than 1,000 variants, you will receive an error message that reads: "Each variant group ID can only show up to 1,000 items on site. Please ensure your group has a maximum of 999 items."

Duplicate Variants

If you have multiple products in a variant group that has similar values, such as color, you may receive the following error: "Multiple items have the same values for their variant attributes. Please provide unique values or add more product variations to ensure your items are shown on site." To fix this error, please take one of the following actions:

• Make the Product Variation values unique: If two items currently vary by the same color (e.g., Blue), change one of them to a different color (e.g., Navy Blue).
• Select additional Product Variation(s) to make unique combinations of values: If two items currently vary by the same color (e.g., Blue), add the Product Variation for "Size" so the combination of values is different (e.g., item A will be Blue/Small, and item B will be Blue/Medium).