Linking separate products to appear as a single product (Pursuit 2.0+)
Note: This functionality only works in Pursuit versions 2.0 and later.
Sometimes you may have a product that comes in different colors or styles. You could, of course, setup this product using variants for the color options. In some cases though, it may be desirable to setup different products altogether for these different color variations or styles. Perhaps you only have a few products in your store and you want to display each color of a product separately on your collection pages to show all options to your customers at once. The problem with doing this is that your customers can't easily see the other colors or styles your product comes in without leaving the product page and clicking over to a different product. This new feature of Pursuit solves that. It allows you to link separate products together using metafields so users can easily navigate to different styles from each of the product pages. The video tutorial below will teach you how to set it up.
With this feature, you can create different versions of a product page. Each variation will still be treated as a separate product internally. This means that each variation will show up as an individual product on the collection and search pages. Unfortunately, displaying swatches on collection pages won't be an option.
How Pursuit Solves This:
Pursuit offers a metafield-based solution that lets you create unique product pages for each variation while keeping them linked for smooth navigation. Unlike traditional variants, each linked product is treated as an individual product in the backend, meaning it will show up independently on collection and search pages. Note that color swatches cannot be displayed on collection pages in this setup.
Steps to Set Up Linked Products in Pursuit:
1. Create Separate Products for Each Variant: In Shopify’s admin, create individual products for each variation (e.g., one product for each color or style).
2. Add Metafields for Variants:
- Option Value Metafield: Create a metafield to store the option value, such as “Red” or “Blue.”
- Linked Products Metafield: Create a metafield to link the related products for easy navigation.
To create these metafields, go to Metafields in Shopify admin, select Products, and:
- Click Add definition, name it (e.g., “Variation Value”), select Single-line text, and make sure “One value” is chosen.
- Add another metafield (e.g., “Variation Products”), select Product reference, and choose “List of products.”
3. Connect Metafields in the Pursuit Theme Editor:
- Option Name: Controls what’s displayed on the product page for the variant (e.g., “Color”).
- Set Option Value to the metafield “custom.variation_value” (or the custom name created).
- Set Products to the “Variation Products” metafield created earlier.
4. Populate Product Information: For each product, navigate to the Metafields section in Shopify admin and:
- Set the Option Value for each product (e.g., “Red” or “Blue”).
- In the Variation Products metafield, add all related products for that variant group, including the product itself.
FAQ:
Can product variations use native color swatches?
Linked products using metafields cannot use native swatches, which are only available for standard Shopify variants. Instead, use a config-based approach for color swatches in the Theme Editor > General Settings > Color Swatches section, and manually configure each swatch.
This setup in Pursuit allows for a user-friendly and cohesive experience by linking product variations while preserving their separate identities on collection and search pages.