Shopify Product ID vs. Variant ID: What's the Difference?
Published July 3, 2024.
As a Shopify merchant, you may have come across the terms "product ID" and "variant ID" while managing your store's inventory. At first glance, these may seem interchangeable, but there are important distinctions between them that can affect how you manage your e-commerce store's products.
» Find out what Shopify's variant inventory policy is
What Is a Product ID?
A product ID is a unique identifier that's automatically assigned to each product that you add to your Shopify store. This number is used to track and manage the product across your store's inventory, orders, and reports. Think of the product ID as the "parent" of all the product's variations.
Example:
Let's say you sell custom hats and shoes in your Shopify store. Each of these products would have its own product ID, which would allow you to track the collective stock and sales of all the hats and shoes in your store.
What Is a Variant ID?
A Shopify variant ID is a unique identifier assigned to each variation of a product in your store. This identifier is used to track and manage the specific attributes of each variation, such as color, style, size, or material.
If you wanted to track the sales and stock levels of a particular product variation in a specific period, like a day or a week, you'd be able to get an accurate count by looking at the product variant ID.
Example:
Imagine your store sells hoodies in five different colors: white, blue, black, yellow, and green. Each color variation would have a unique variant ID assigned to it, allowing you to track the inventory and sales of a specific color variation.
» Dealing with out-of-stock product variants? Here's how to hide them
Use Product and Variant IDs to Your Advantage
Knowing the key differences between product ID and variant ID can help you better manage your store's inventory and make better decisions about your products. Being able to differentiate between these ID types can help you better navigate your stock, allowing you to identify a product variant in Shopify's database more easily or use it in the Shopify API to reference a product variant.
With this level of familiarization with your inventory, you can make sure your stock is well organized, which can ultimately lead to improved user experience and a more profitable Shopify online store.
