Variation theme
A variation theme tells Amazon what the products in a variation family differ by, such as size, colour or both, chosen from a list for each product type.
What it means
On Amazon, the versions of one product, such as its sizes and colours, are grouped into a variation family: a parent product that is not for sale, and children that are. The variation theme is the setting that names what changes from child to child. Amazon’s own definition is that it “Defines how related products differ from each other.”1
You cannot invent one. Amazon says you are “required to use Amazon’s standard themes available in the drop-down menu for your specific category”, and the list changes with the product type: its jewellery category has a Gemstone Type theme that its home category lacks.12 Where a template has no variation columns at all, Amazon says “you cannot create variations in that category”.3
In a product spreadsheet, the theme has a column of its own. The parent row and every child row carry the same value, and each child then fills in the columns the theme names: for a flavour and size theme, both the flavour and the size.3
Think of it like this
Buying a phone works the same way. For each model, the maker decides what you can choose, often storage and colour, and every phone sold is one storage size in one colour. Another model may come in one colour only, and none lets you choose something the maker never offered.
For example
A supplier lists a Lowmere linen shirt as one row: sizes S, M and L, colours White and Sage. In Amazon’s product spreadsheet it becomes seven rows. The parent row, SKU RV-SHIRT, has “parent” in its Parentage column and no price. Six child rows follow, such as RV-SHIRT-WHT-M, each with RV-SHIRT as its Parent SKU, its own size and colour, and the same theme as the parent: SizeColour, in Amazon’s own worked example.3
Why it matters
Once a variation exists, the theme is hard to change. Asked whether it can be, Amazon answers “No”.2 A theme that is wrong for the category can get the family split up, and a child missing a value the theme asks for, or carrying a different theme from its parent, is among the reasons Amazon gives for a rejected variation.42
Not to be confused with
A variation theme is not the list of things that stay the same. Amazon calls brand, model name and the like non-varying attributes, which “must be the same” on every child, while the theme’s values change from child to child.1
Sources
- Amazon Seller Central UK. Product variations overview.
- Amazon Seller Central UK. Variation relationship FAQ.
- Amazon Seller Central UK. Create and manage product variations.
- Amazon Seller Central UK. Troubleshoot product variations.