Best way to change product size variations?

[tamduong]

A lot of the clothing on Aliexpress are in Asian sizes and they're generally 2 sizes larger than US size.

Say if I want to change a shirt from XXL to L so that my US customers can order the correct size without having to tell them to order 2 sizes larger in the product description. What's the best way to do this?

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

A lot of the clothing on Aliexpress are in Asian sizes and they're generally 2 sizes larger than US size.

Say if I want to change a shirt from XXL to L so that my US customers can order the correct size without having to tell them to order 2 sizes larger in the product description. What's the best way to do this?

We will add option to import size chart from AliExpress as well, so your clients will always see all measures and choose a proper size.

 

[tamduong]

We will add option to import size chart from AliExpress as well, so your clients will always see all measures and choose a proper size.

I don't need size chart as I have a plugin to help me with that. I need to change the actual size attributes and variations as shown here.
I want to make it so that S will be XXS
M = XS
L = S
XL = M
and so on

Thanks,

 

[tamduong]

The most obvious way is to edit the size attribute but when I click on the pencil sign next to the sizes this happens and I can't click on anything after that.

 

[tamduong]

Also what does "any size" mean? if I change a size to any size then what happen when the customer order that? Sorry for asking so much.

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

Also what does "any size" mean? if I change a size to any size then what happen when the customer order that? Sorry for asking so much.

Hello, as you use WooCommerce please see instructions in WooCommerce documentation: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/variable-product/

 

[Arnaldo]

Hi Victoria.

So now i can edit and rename all product variations to my liking and Alidropship will remember the original supplier variation name right ?

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

Hi Victoria.

So now i can edit and rename all product variations to my liking and Alidropship will remember the original supplier variation name right ?

Yes, but make sure you have the latest version of extension, theme and plugin.

 

[thill]

I have the same question and don'y feel it was answered.

 

[Arnaldo]

Hi Thill.

Yes you can change any variation directly at the import stage and Aliwoo/Alidropship will remember the corresponding Aliexpress product variations. But choose it wisely first. Because once imported, you will only be able to change the variation names globally, or trash and reimport product again.

You have 2 strategies here for clothing selling :

1) You let the original variation for Asian Sizes indicating your customer to take 2 sizes upward to have the right US/EU Size, personally i prefer that option.

2) You change the Asian size the corresponding US Sizes at import stage, but the problem is if you customer argue that you sold him the wrong size or whatever motive, protect you first and indicate the size as is.

Hope that helps.

 

[thill]

Hi Thill.

Yes you can change any variation directly at the import stage and Aliwoo/Alidropship will remember the corresponding Aliexpress product variations. But choose it wisely first. Because once imported, you will only be able to change the variation names globally, or trash and reimport product again.

You have 2 strategies here for clothing selling :

1) You let the original variation for Asian Sizes indicating your customer to take 2 sizes upward to have the right US/EU Size, personally i prefer that option.

2) You change the Asian size the corresponding US Sizes at import stage, but the problem is if you customer argue that you sold him the wrong size or whatever motive, protect you first and indicate the size as is.

Hope that helps.

Hi Arnaldo. Thanks a lot for answering! I have the Woo version. I must be missing something???

Perhaps I am going to the wrong area, because when I go to the Variations tab and expand any variation, I see no way to edit it.

Additionally (at least via the Variations tab > Add Variation option) I also see no way to truly add a new variation. The only possibility is that the new variation must be called "any metal color" or an existing size from the original direct import. And then for colour, the only possibility is for this new variation it to be labelled "any stone color" or a colour selectable from existing colors.

 

[Arnaldo]

If you have an example of the product with these variation i would be easier to advise you. Can you describe more precisely what you want to do?

I have Aliwoo myself too.

For variation i advise you to edit it at the import stage:

- You click on the import tab via Aliwoo on your site
- You open Aliexpress product page to import with Alidropship google chrome extension

You have an "Edit" button on the red Alidropship ribbon displayed at the top of Aliexpress product page, click on it and edit your variations at that level. Then you can change the Aliexpress variations name by the name you want.

So in that case you can overwrite the nasty "any metal color" variation or whatever by any name you want.

But once you did, it's not advisable to edit back these variations in woocommerce because of the unique ID it is attached to, as it could create a whole mess. If you want so, delete the imported product and reimport it back then edit again these variations to your convenience.

I advise you also to let these useless variations in place on your site because of stock syncronisation on Aliexpress supplier.

I had this problem too, i had some products that were sent from multiple warehouse (China, Russia, etc...) and i wanted to hide these variations to my customers. Problem i couldn't delete these because if i did i would lost stock sync wich is bad.
So i renamed these at the import stage like : China = Main Warehouse , Russia= Warehouse 2 (or completely remove this variation if you don't need it).

Try to be systematic an plan your variations early on since it is more or less always the same on Aliexpress.

You can change the name of attributes in bulk in woocommerce but be careful, for the same reason above.

For the other questions you had about merging 2 Aliexpress items with differents size/variation, i could be no help. Maybe try to find another supplier who has all the sizes you want.

It is easier to split a multi variation product in individual products on your store (by duplicating the product and remove the unwanted variations) than doing product merging like you would.

 

[Arnaldo]

Also to ease the customer buying process to not bother them with useless variation/choice so it only leave the Add to cart button ready to be order, i tick these variation in the product edit tab (see pics). I edited the box color with css to be more visual.

Nothing is perfect, and we do dropshipping, but with a little creativity we can make the buying process less confusing.

 

[thill]

Hello Arnaldo
Firstly, thank you so much for giving me your time. You have really helped. You are very kind! Thank you Thank you...

HOWEVER I HAVE TO SAY TO ALIDROPSHIP: I am really in a mess and pretty unhappy. I have uploaded about 300 products so far (which in itself has taken forever!) and it seems from what I am hearing that the way to change the often inappropriate/awkward names of the Aliexpress product attributes is before the import. I really spent a long time reading documentation before starting trying to learn the platform, but this (which is a pretty basic thing, yet something one only realises they need after some experience) is not clear. I think it must be a very common thing to want to change names like the infamous "main stone color".

I am sure I will be scolded by some nice person (not by you Arnaldo, but by someone) and told it is very clear and obvious, but it really isn't... or else I wouldn't have wasted the past week importing incorrectly.

Sorry to sound bitter, but it seems like I am most likely knocked right back to day one. :'[

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

Hello Arnaldo
Firstly, thank you so much for giving me your time. You have really helped. You are very kind! Thank you Thank you...

HOWEVER I HAVE TO SAY TO ALIDROPSHIP: I am really in a mess and pretty unhappy. I have uploaded about 300 products so far (which in itself has taken forever!) and it seems from what I am hearing that the way to change the often inappropriate/awkward names of the Aliexpress product attributes is before the import. I really spent a long time reading documentation before starting trying to learn the platform, but this (which is a pretty basic thing, yet something one only realises they need after some experience) is not clear. I think it must be a very common thing to want to change names like the infamous "main stone color".

I am sure I will be scolded by some nice person (not by you Arnaldo, but by someone) and told it is very clear and obvious, but it really isn't... or else I wouldn't have wasted the past week importing incorrectly.

Sorry to sound bitter, but it seems like I am most likely knocked right back to day one. :'[

Hello , you can edit attributes , variations names after import as well.
https://alidropship.com/codex/product-options/#Variations

 

[thill]

Hello , you can edit attributes , variations names after import as well.
https://alidropship.com/codex/product-options/#Variations

Thank you for your reply.

I have landed on that page quite a few times before thanks... It is still not clear how to successfully add and/or change attributes and variables once imported into the Import List. I have just re-read the page and am looking and trying again after countless times. Sorry it is just not clear. :/ Also my editing area looks different to the images given as examples on the page (https://alidropship.com/codex/product-options/#Variations). Maybe the issue is that I have the Woo version?? Just not happening and if it is possible, really not intuitive so far after a lot of effort.

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

Thank you for your reply.

I have landed on that page quite a few times before thanks... It is still not clear how to successfully add and/or change attributes and variables once imported into the Import List. I have just re-read the page and am looking and trying again after countless times. Sorry it is just not clear. :/ Also my editing area looks different to the images given as examples on the page (https://alidropship.com/codex/product-options/#Variations). Maybe the issue is that I have the Woo version?? Just not happening and if it is possible, really not intuitive so far after a lot of effort.

If you have a WooCommerce version you have a different editing area - this is true. We always say that we recommend to use AliDropship Woo and WooCommerce if you are experienced user already. You know and understand how WooCommerce works and what possibilities it has. Otherwise, we recommend to use AliDropship original plugin which has a detailed Knowledge Base and which is easier to understand if you are a newby.

Anyway, you need to look through WooCommerce docs as well to get an understanding of how it works.

 

[Arnaldo]

Yes i understand your pain Thill, i lived and feel exactly the same way at first. So frustrating.

Keep in mind that Alidropship Yaros, Victoria, Ekaterina and the team do their best to improve support.

Development goes on a very fast pace these days, and in the last 6 month many many great improvements were done believe me.

As entrepreneurs we have to be patient and focused despite all the problem we encounter.

Alidropship is nothing but a great tool, and even with platform like shopify you could encounter the same problems despite their 24/24h support.

Yes Aliwoo learning curve is really harder, plus you'll have to spend some more buck for additional plugins to match the same functionalities as Alidropship.

But in the end you'll have a more nice looking and professional store. Because even if Alidropship is more sell-ready, all alidropship stores looks almost the same (like most standard shopify store), which marketing wise is no good at all if you are interested in "Western way of doing Marketing" (where the money lies) and developing a brand. It's good for beginners who want to make some money doing like what everybody does selling gadget stuff to uneducated people lol

But with 2 or 3 powerful store you can sell more than 20 so-so lookalike stores around.

You will learn many things by yourself in the process and if you keep focus you'll go for the win.

Many improvement are to be done and i really hope it's gonna be made soon by the team, WPML compatibility test for example ;-).

My store is almost finished and it's a killer "marketed by satan" hell of a store now. lol

Actually i had to make in twice from scratch to get of to do it in woocommerce, it took me 4 months to get it all.

And now i know that each new store will be done much more faster like 1 month max no problem.

Be ahead of the competition and work like a beast, you'll enjoy the results. No one said it was easy.

Let's have a thought for the early dropshippers that did this all by hand 10 years ago.

Now we live in an awesome era with these incredible, yet imperfect tools ;-)

 

[Arnaldo]

To answer your question for editing attribute and variations:

- Attributes: go to wp dashwboard---> Products----> attributes. Here you can change and edit attributes in bulk.
But be careful, make a backup first if something goes wrong.

- Variation: best is to plan it earlier and add/change it at the import stage.
Afterward is not advised. Or just trash/delete then reimport the product.

 

[MeenolGroov]

Thanks for your explanations, guys! Actually, it used to be hard for me to understand at first, but then I figured everything out. I’m really a newbie here, so I’m on my way to discovering new things. Btw, I love how this shop is built https://yoshitomonara.shop/. I shared it with you as inspirational material. I love that all the sizes are available. Anyway, keep us updated. Oh, I also wonder if there is any thread for beginners here? If this forum has one, just let me know. Thank you in advance!