Variation data applies only to the US locale. Some products are available in various sizes, colors or styles. The XML data returned by ECS consists of two different types of item records:
| Can be purchased? | Has image of product? | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent product (e.g., T-shirt) | No | Yes | Describes the features common to all individual products. No offers or browse nodes. |
| Child (variation) products (e.g., T-shirt in blue, size small) | Yes | Sometimes | Includes attributes common to its parent and also unique elements including ClothingSize and Color. |
If you look up a parent ASIN, it will show that there are no offers available for that product. Specifying the response group Variations however will return ASIN products which do have offers and can be purchased. Specifying the response group VariationImages will return image links for child products, if they are available.
Alternately, you can look up the child products individually.
A single parent product typically has multiple child products.
Variations are used primarily in the Apparel and Sporting Goods stores.
To find the variations of a product, when doing an ItemLookup, ItemSearch, SimilarityLookup or ListLookup operation, you must include the response groups Variations (for details) or VariationMinimum (for a list of variation ASINs).
The child elements of Variations/Item/ItemAttributes are the same as for Items/Item/ItemAttributes and depend on the type of item.
Determining price and availability for variation products is the same as for other products, via product offers in the child (variation) ASIN.
You can also retrieve a summary of variation data, similar to the offer summary. To get a variation summary, include the VariationSummary response group in your ItemLookup, ItemSearch, SimilarityLookup or ListLookup operation.
Child elements of a <VariationSummary> element
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| LowestPrice | Lowest price for any variation of this item with child elements that contain the price. Note that the actual price(s) are listed in the offer(s). |
| HighestPrice | Highest price for any variation of this item with child elements that contain the price. Note that the actual price(s) are listed in the offer(s). |
| LowestSalePrice | Lowest sales price ever offered for any variation of this item with child elements that contain the price. Note that the actual price(s) are listed in the offer(s). |
| HighestSalePrice | Highest sales price ever offered for any variation of this item with child elements that contain the price. Note that the actual price(s) are listed in the offer(s). |
| SingleMerchantId | If this item is sold by only one merchant, then this element contains the MerchantId for that vendor. |