Derah DocsHow the Catalog Works
Products, variants, and modifiers explained.
Three levels
Your catalog has three levels. Understanding when to use each one saves you time and keeps things clean.
Products
A product is a concept like "Latte" or "Chicken Shawarma." It has no price and no SKU. It carries the name, description, image, and category. It also defines which modifier groups customers can choose from. Because modifier groups are set at the product level, every variant under that product automatically gets the same customization options.
Variants
A variant is what customers actually buy. "Small Latte" and "Large Latte" are two variants of the product "Latte." Each variant has its own price, SKU, and recipe (for inventory tracking).
You need at least one variant per product. If your product only comes in one size, you still create one variant — it just won't have a size distinction.
Modifiers
Modifiers are choices the customer makes at order time: Oat Milk, Extra Shot, No Sugar. They belong to modifier groups, which you attach to products.
Each modifier has a price adjustment (for example, +0.200 KWD for Oat Milk), not a standalone price. The adjustment is added to the variant's price at checkout.
When to use which
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does it need its own price? | Make it a variant |
| Does it need its own SKU? | Make it a variant |
| Is it a customer choice at order time? | Make it a modifier |
| Is it a fixed option you define upfront? | Make it a variant |
| Example: Small vs Large | Variants |
| Example: Oat Milk, Extra Shot | Modifiers |
Branch overrides
If you have multiple branches, each branch can set its own prices and availability without changing the brand defaults. For example, your airport branch can charge 2.250 KWD for a latte while all other branches charge 1.750 KWD.
Set overrides in Settings → Branches → [branch name] → Pricing Overrides. When a branch override is present, it takes priority. When it's not set, the brand default applies automatically.