Should product metafields be converted into variant metafield values?

Technical Q&A
1

I have a question that I hope more experienced individuals can offer an opinion on.

Our data contains primarily product metafields. During the migration to Shopify, it was suggested that we avoid variants due to some complications with ERP.

Recently, we have begun to create product variants. The issue is with metafields.

It would seem logical to make all metafield values into “variant metafield” values for consistency. Keeping only very generic metafield data as “product metafields”.

The question is, can anyone foresee if this will cause issues in the future?

I need to decide on this fairly quickly as we would have to redo our search filters, marketplace assignments etc prior to making a switch to a new listing solution.

Just in case anyone is curious, this involves a little over 100 different potential metafieds for each item.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Fred

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2

Nobody on these forums can tell you whether variant metafields are going to cause you issues in the future based on your post.

In general, a metafield is simply for adding custom data to a specific object in Shopify. If that information is specific to a variant, it should be stored on said variant. If its general information about the product and doesn’t relate to any specific variant, it should be stored on the product. Those are the general rules you should go by.

But if your business has specific logic needs or your back end systems need data stored in a specific way, that’s something you’ll need to work through with your internal team and your partners.

I will say though that 100 metafields on every variant will probably become a nightmare to manage if you plan to grow your catalog over time.

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