How can I manage uniform product URLs for different size variations on Shopify?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Goal: replicate a product URL pattern where size changes keep one URL (no variant ID shown), but switching color loads a different product URL/handle.

Key points:

  • Theme behavior varies. Some themes (e.g., Dawn) update the browser URL with a ?variant=[ID] when a variant is selected; others do not update the URL and only pass the variant to the cart, so the visible product URL stays the same for size changes.
  • Showing a custom, readable URL/handle per variant (e.g., separate handles for each color) is not supported on Shopify’s standard storefront. Product handles are at the product level, not the variant level.
  • To customize URLs beyond the default (e.g., per-variant custom descriptors without variant IDs), you would need a headless storefront—Shopify backend with an externally hosted frontend where you control routing/URLs.

Status/outcome: Clarified platform limits. Size-without-URL-change depends on theme; different URLs per color variant requires a headless setup. No built-in setting in Shopify to achieve both on a standard theme.

Summarized with AI on January 12. AI used: gpt-5.
1

Hello there,

Refrence URL:- https://athflex.com/products/limitless-joggers-deep-blue

  1. This Shopify store have a single url for the product url (if we choose any sizes such as small, medium, large, x-large then the slug(url) remains same as https://athflex.com/products/limitless-joggers-deep-blue

How? Why there is no variation id?

I also want to do this on my Shopify store.

  1. If we go on the refrence URL then there is also a variation of color that is brown and when we click on it then the url will change to https://athflex.com/products/limitless-joggers-brown. There is 2 different urls for colour variation.

I want to apply these on my Shopify store. Please help me to do the same. I am not able to find these options.

1 Like
2

Hi @Samgarg

Depending on the theme you are using, theme like Dawn does update the url to show the variant IDs with the variant selection. Some themes only have it work on the back end and change the url with the cart submission.

3

Hi @Samgarg

If you are wanting to make your URL show as the custom product descriptor instead of the variant ID number, this can only be done on a headless storefront. Shopify’s storefront does not support that URL structure change. A headless store uses Shopify’s backend, but an external host for the website.