This guide covers the older Option Sets workflow. There are two different ways to build BigCommerce variations in SureDone, and they behave differently. Check which one applies to you before following these steps.
Variation Fields — current workflow Used when no Option Set is assigned. Variations are built from the fields you nominate in Settings, and BigCommerce creates the options for you. This is the recommended workflow for new setups, and the only one that works with BigCommerce's V3 catalog and Shared Options. → How Variations Work on Bigcommerce with Suredone | Option Sets — older workflow (this guide) Used when an Option Set is assigned, either on the product itself or as the default in Channels > BigCommerce > Settings. Option Sets are BigCommerce's older variation model. Keep using this if your store and your existing listings are already built on Option Sets. |
How to tell which one you are on: open Channels > BigCommerce > Settings and look at the Option Sets dropdown. If it has a value selected, every variation family on that channel lists through the Option Sets workflow below — even if you have Variation Fields configured. If it is blank, and no individual product sets its own Option Set, you are on the Variation Fields workflow and should use the guides above instead.
Before you begin
- Create the Option Set in BigCommerce. SureDone cannot create Option Sets — it can only use ones that already exist in your store.
- Refresh it into SureDone. Go to Channels > BigCommerce > Settings and refresh the Option Sets list. Do this every time you create or edit an Option Set in BigCommerce, otherwise the new options and values will not be available to your listings. (Some error messages still refer to this as "Plugin Settings" — it is the same screen.)
- Check your Variation Fields. Go to Settings > Products & Inventory > Variation Fields and make sure every field you use as an option is listed there. SureDone only looks at these fields when matching your product data to BigCommerce options.
How options are matched to SureDone fields
SureDone links a BigCommerce option to a SureDone field by name, after removing spaces, punctuation and capitalisation. A BigCommerce option called "Spice Level" matches the SureDone field spicelevel. The field can be a built-in field such as color or a custom user field.
- Spelling must match. Spacing and capitalisation do not.
- Option values are also matched without regard to capitalisation — "Orange", "orange" and "ORaNGe" are all treated as the same value.
- Names are matched on the first 50 characters.
Creating a variation listing
Start by creating the parent listing using the procedure in Creating new products for Bigcommerce listing, with these changes:
- Select an Option Set on the parent.
- Fill out the SureDone fields that correspond to the options in that Option Set.
- Click Create Draft at the bottom of the page once the parent is complete.
- Open Select Action at the bottom of the screen and choose Create Variation.
- Change the GUID and the option field values for the child. Each child needs its own unique GUID — this is the value that becomes the SKU in BigCommerce.
- Repeat until every child exists in SureDone.
- Return to the parent and click Relist.
Only the parent needs to be relisted to create the listing with all of its children the first time.
What SureDone sends for each child
These fields are sent per child, as part of the SKU record:
- Stock
- UPC
- Cost
- BIN Picking Number
Price, weight and image are sent per child only when Manage Product Rules is turned on in Channels > BigCommerce > Settings (it is off by default, under the advanced settings). With it on, SureDone creates a BigCommerce Product Rule for each child carrying that child's price, weight and first image. With it off, every child inherits the parent's price, weight and images, and you would need to set up Option Rules directly in BigCommerce after listing.
Things to know
- An invalid option value does not stop the child from listing. If a value does not exist in BigCommerce, SureDone still creates the SKU — it just leaves that option blank on it, and returns a warning naming the value, the field and the GUID. If the value does exist in your store, refresh your Option Sets and relist.
- A mix of valid and invalid values is fine. The children with valid values list normally.
- Images: without Product Rules, only the parent's images are sent; images on the children are ignored.
- The child's GUID becomes the BigCommerce SKU. The SureDone SKU field is shared by the whole family and identifies the parent product, so it cannot also be used for the children.
Moving to the Variation Fields workflow
New products list through the current workflow as soon as no Option Set is assigned to them — clear the Option Sets default in Channels > BigCommerce > Settings, and leave the Option Set field empty on the product.
Existing listings cannot simply be switched over. Once a product has been created on BigCommerce with a given set of options, those options are fixed — changing them means deleting the product on BigCommerce and listing it again. Contact support before doing this on a live catalogue.
Next steps
You are now ready for Editing Listings and Variations on Big Commerce. Note that to update a child you must run the edit or relist on that child, not on the parent — and to add a new variation after the initial listing, relist the new child itself.