Adding Products Manually

To add a single product:

1. Navigate to Products

   From your admin panel, click on "Products" in the sidebar or navigate to /admin/yourstore.

2. Click Add Product

   Click the "Add Product" button in the top right corner.

3. Fill in Product Details

   Enter the required information:

   Required Fields:

   • Name - Product name

   SKU Field:

   • SKU - Optional for products with variants, required for standalone products
   • If your product has variants (colors, sizes, etc.), each variant will have its own SKU
   • If your product has no variants, you must provide a SKU for the parent product

   Optional Fields:

   • Description - Detailed product information
   • Model Number - Manufacturer's model number
   • Stock Status - In Stock, Low Stock, Out of Stock, or Backordered
   • Lead Time - Days until delivery (for backordered items)
   • Pricing Type - How to display pricing (RRP only, hidden, or contact for price)
   • RRP - Recommended retail price
   • Image URLs - Comma-separated list of image URLs

4. Save as Draft or Publish

   • Save as Draft - Product won't appear on your storefront
   • Publish - Product becomes visible to customers immediately

Editing Existing Products

1. Find the Product

   Navigate to your Products page and locate the product you want to edit.

2. Click the Edit Button

   Click the pencil icon next to the product.

3. Make Changes

   Update any fields you need to change. All product information can be modified.

4. Save Changes

   Click "Update Product" to save your changes.

Understanding Product Fields

Stock Status

Choose from four stock status options:

• In Stock - Product is available for immediate delivery
• Low Stock - Limited quantity available (creates urgency)
• Out of Stock - Temporarily unavailable
• Backordered - Available with a lead time

Pricing Types

Control how pricing is displayed:

• RRP Only - Shows the recommended retail price
• Hidden - No price displayed (quote-based)
• Contact for Price - Shows "Contact for pricing" message

This flexibility supports various B2B pricing strategies (tiered pricing, customer-specific pricing, etc.).

Lead Time

For backordered products, specify the lead time in days. This helps customers understand when they can expect delivery.

Example: "Backordered (14 day lead time)"

Product Visibility

Products in BearOrders have two separate visibility controls that work together:

Publication Status (Primary State)

Draft - Product is being worked on and is not ready for customers

• Not visible on your storefront at all
• You can edit details, add variants, set pricing
• Think of this as "work in progress"
• Click "Publish" when the product is ready to go live

Published - Product is live and ready to be shown to customers

• Product is complete and approved for sale
• Can be made visible or hidden on your storefront (see below)
• Once published, product appears on your admin product list with a green "PUBLISHED" badge

Visibility Toggle (Secondary Control)

The visibility toggle only works on published products. It acts as an on/off switch:

Visible (Eye icon) - Product appears on your customer-facing storefront

• Customers can see it and place orders
• This is the default state for published products

Hidden (Eye-off icon) - Product is published but temporarily hidden from storefront

• Product still exists and is "ready"
• Customers cannot see it on the order sheet
• Easy to show again with one click

Common use cases for hiding published products:

• Seasonal items: Hide winter products in summer, show them again later
• Temporary stock issues: Hide product while waiting for restock
• Testing: Verify product details without showing to customers yet
• Product rotation: Rotate which products are actively promoted

Workflow Example

1. Create product → Starts as Draft
2. Add details and variants → Still Draft
3. Click "Publish" → Now Published and Visible
4. Product goes out of stock → Click eye icon to Hide (still Published)
5. Restock arrives → Click eye icon to make Visible again

Organizing Products

Understanding SKUs

What are SKUs?

SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) are unique identifiers for orderable items. In BearOrders:

• Products with variants: SKU is optional on the parent product. Each variant must have its own unique SKU.
• Products without variants: SKU is required on the parent product.

SKU Best Practices:

SKUs should be:

• Unique - No two products/variants can have the same SKU
• Consistent - Use a naming convention
• Meaningful - Include useful information

Example SKU patterns for variants:

TS-BLK-M     (T-Shirt, Black, Medium)
TS-BLK-L     (T-Shirt, Black, Large)
TS-RED-M     (T-Shirt, Red, Medium)
HD-GRY-XL    (Hoodie, Grey, X-Large)
MUG-WHT-12   (Mug, White, 12oz)

Filtering Products

Use the filter tabs to view:

• All - Every product in your catalog
• Drafts - Unpublished products
• Published - Live products

Bulk Operations

CSV Upload

For adding many products at once, use the CSV upload feature. This is much faster than manual entry.

Learn more about CSV upload →

Bulk Editing (Coming Soon)

Future updates will include:

• Bulk stock status updates
• Bulk pricing changes
• Bulk delete

Working with Product Variants

If your products have multiple options (colors, sizes, materials), you'll want to use variants.

Learn about product variants →

Best Practices

Deleting Products

To delete a product:

1. Click the trash icon next to the product
2. Confirm the deletion

Note: You cannot delete products that have been ordered. Hide them instead.