Is it correct that I can’t define a product category for a variant?
We sell hoodies, we have the same design for adults and for children. So it would be great if the XL variant could be put into the category “clothing” and the variant size “128” into the category “baby and children clothing”.
This would allow us to only show 1 item, instead of 2, and our clients could select the item and then the size (adult or child).
I need the categories so that the taxation in shopify works correctly (17% for adults and 3% for children clothing).
No, Shopify categories are applied at the product level only, not at the variant level. So, you cannot assign different categories or tax classes to individual variants within the same product.
Simple reason really… normally that’s two different products. Because the products are different, the categories differ. There’s no gospel to it, but it likely goes all the way back to the factory creating the hoodie and what tooling they have available to them to create it. Could also be related to the amount of material usage to make them as well (smaller items, cheaper price). I would recommend you separate them out instead of trying to put them together.
But it is strange, and I can’t see any logic there: Because you can change the price per variant (small, less material, cheaper) and you can definitely the SKU (production machine could take SKU as reference for production), so why not also add category to the variant
I think honestly just because it’s not all that common of a need. You’re not wrong - your example is great for why you want it.
If it’s a display issue you’re trying to work around, maybe you could use a collection to do this? I don’t know, I’m spit-balling on a possible solution.
Shopify does not allow you to assign different product categories or product tax codes to individual variants of a single product. Product taxonomy and automated tax handling are strictly applied at the parent product level.
Because of this platform design, trying to combine adult and children’s hoodies into one product listing will break your required tax logic, resulting in incorrect 17% or 3% collections at checkout.
Hi @Gilo ,
No, Shopify product categories and tax settings are applied at the product level, not at the variant level.
In your example, if adult hoodies and children’s hoodies have different tax rates (17% vs. 3%), Shopify cannot automatically assign different product categories or tax categories to individual variants within the same product.
The usual approach is to create two separate products:
This allows Shopify to apply the correct tax treatment to each product.
If you need to keep them visually connected on the storefront, you can link the products together using product recommendations, combined listings (if available on your plan), or custom theme/app solutions. However, for tax purposes, they generally need to remain separate products.
Hello there @Gilo
The Shopify product tax code is applied on product level, not on variant level, so you canˇt have adult and child tax rates for the same product. The usual is 2 products, one for hoodies adult and one for kids, and each one has it’s own tax class (17% vs 3%). To keep a consistent exprience for customers on your storefront, you could link them on product metafields or through a custom product page template so customers feel like they are choosing size from the same “range”. You can link the inventory of the two products using Shopify Flow or stock sync apps.
