Hi everybody,
We are porting a large product dataset into a Magento 2 environment and we are trying to understand the better way to manage products in the back-end in the long run. We are not worried about the front-end customization, we assume that we will be able to adapt the front-end to the best back-end model.
We have some doubts about how to organize:
- Product
- Product Attributes
- Attribute Sets
Our aim is to create an easy-to-manage product model for an ecommerce manager in the long run.
The old product dataset has:
- 13’000 simple products mostly grouped into 3’000 grouped products.
From our analysis the old product dataset has:
- 250 Attributes combined into more than 700 Attributes Sets
We know we could consolidate half of these elements, but even so, these are huge numbers in terms of cardinality and the user ability to discern information without too much thinking.
Has anybody some experience with such a large number of attributes sets?
We don’t like to image an ecommerce manager using Magento while he/she search and selects a precise Attribute Set among more than 700 Attributes Sets.
So we don’t know if it’s better to set-up the new product dataset with a fixed or a with a variable attributes model
Let me try to explain...
This is what we call a fixed attribute model:
A fixed attribute model is where an attribute is strictly defined, by the way, this is Magento default behaviour to handle attributes:
- Attribute Power = 6 W
- Attribute Color = Warm white
The alternative is the variable attributes model.
A variable attributes model is where we limit the number of attributes set using a general attributes set where attributes input text field are split between attributes name, and attribute values, ex.:
- Attribute 1 Name = Power
- Attribute 1 Value = 6 W
- Attribute 2 Name = Color
- Attribute 2 Value = Warm white
This would limit the overall number of attributes to 20, and the number of attributes set to… one.
We know that customizing the front-end with this variable attributes model would be more challenging, but, in the long run, we are looking for the best experience for an eCommerce manager. I think that he/she would prefer the freedom and the agility to work at product information level, without worrying about the attribute set level.
What do you think?
Here's the link to the export of some products we inserted in Magento with both two models: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18SVLzRDzc2VWONnN-gqo4h9U0m2-sT3a/view?usp=sharing
Thanks,
Francesca
