Zoey Product Types

One of the most important important parts of your store is of course the items you sell. In order to get the most out of your store, inventory management and improve your customer's experience, it's important to know the difference between these types.

Simple Products

Simple Product are the most basic type of product. A simple product is a singular physical product- an item that can be touched, held and shipped. These are also the building blocks of more complex items as inventory is always kept at the Simple Product level.

A Simple Product will only be shown in your Zoey store directly if it generally has a single configuration–”one size fits all.” See other product types below for multiple-configuration product types. And of course, this is up to you! If you want both simple and complex products visible, that's completely possible!

Here are some example Simple Products with a single configuration:

• Zoey Mug
• A Box of Crayons - Small (24 Colors)
• A Box of Crayons - Large (64 Colors)
• SuperHighTech 26” HD Computer Monitor

Configurable Products

Configurable Products are virtual (i.e., they don’t exist in the real world) and they require underlying Simple Products. They can only be used together with Simple Products; they can’t exist on their own.

Say you offer T-shirts in two colors and three sizes. You would create six Simple Products individually (each with its own SKU) and then group these six as a Configurable Product; customers can choose the size and color and then add it to their cart.

Note: Very similar functionality is possible using Custom Options for Simple Products. The difference between a Configurable Product and a product including Custom Options is that Custom Options do not have an inventory option.

Virtual Products

Virtual Products are those that do not have a physical or digital counterpart. They do not ship, nor do they have a download link. This product type might be used for services like:

House Cleaning
1-Year Newsletter Subscription
Note: If using Virtual Products for “subscriptions,” be aware that there is no built-in way to manage auto-renewing subscriptions. All purchases made in Zoey, regardless of Product Type, are one-time purchases.

Downloadable Products

Downloadable Products are similar to Virtual Products, with the option to add one or more digital files for download. Files can be uploaded one of two ways:
Directly on the product through the control panel
Saved to a third party host such as Amazon S3
When a customer buys a Downloadable Product, Zoey will generate a secure, encrypted link for the download to disguise the file’s actual location from the customer. This category might include products such as:

• Music/MP3s
• Computer Software

Grouped Products

Grouped Products are similar to Configurable Products, allowing you to create a new product using one or more existing products in your store. For instance, let’s assume you sell linens and have a matching set of sheets. Your "Purple Cotton Queen Set" may have several items attached to it:

• Fitted Sheet
• Flat Sheet
• Pillow Case
• Duvet Cover

With a Grouped Product, your customers can choose how many or few they want of the items offered in this package.

Note: Unfortunately, you can’t set a special "group" price directly from the product page. To offer a discount for buying items together, you will need to create a new Shopping Cart Price Rule. 

Bundled Products

This product type, can also be thought of as a kit and is ideal for circumstances where the user has to select at least one option from a number of configurable options. This might include products like:

• Customizable Computer Systems
• Customizable Tuxedos/Suits

Unlike Grouped Products, Bundled Products allow discounts on the underlying Simple Products.