Base, customer and stock products
The three kinds of product in Flyte, how a customer product stays linked to its base, and which details follow the base when it changes.
Every order, quote, visual and purchase order in Flyte reads its product details from the Products page. Before you add anything, it helps to know that Flyte has three kinds of product, and that two of them are connected to each other.
#The three kinds of product
| Kind | What it is | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Base | The blank garment as the factory makes it. It belongs to no customer. | Your team, the factory that makes it, and customers allowed by its catalogue visibility. |
| Customer | A base product decorated for one customer, such as a hoodie with Riverside Rugby Club's crest. | Your team, the factory, and that one customer. |
| Stock | A supplier item kept up to date from supplier feeds. | Your team, and customers in their stock area. |
A typical range starts with a base product (say, a 280gsm hoodie), and you then create one customer product from it for each club or business that orders it with their own branding.
#How a customer product stays linked to its base
A customer product built from a base stays linked to it. When it is first made, it copies the base. After that, some details keep following the base and others become the customer product's own.
| Detail | What happens |
|---|---|
| Size group and size chart | Always come from the base. You edit them on the base. |
| Pricing | Follows the base only while pricing is linked. See Linked and custom pricing. |
| Style, Category, Technique, Neckline / waist, Gender | A change on the base reaches every customer product made from it. |
| MOQ | Follows the base unless you set an MOQ on the customer product itself. |
| Fabric | Does not follow. Existing customer products keep their fabric; only products made after the change pick up the new one. |
| Everything else (description, colours, tags, freight details and so on) | Copied once at creation, then editable on the customer product. |
Each customer product has a Linked to base product card that spells this out, and a Linked to
Good to know
If you change a base product's description or colours and the customer products do not change, that is by design. Only the details in the "follows" rows above travel. Edit the customer product directly.
#Where customer products come from
There are three ways a customer product is made:
- From a base product, using + Customer variant. See Creating a customer product.
- From a visual, when you press Push to DB on an approved visual.
- From scratch, using Add product with a customer as the Owner. This makes a customer product with no base, so nothing is inherited.
#Stock products
Stock products are supplier items rather than things you have made. Flyte keeps them up to date from supplier feeds, including live stock per colour and size. In the product workspace they have two extra tabs:
- Variants — the option groups (for example colours) and variant images.
- Stock — live stock levels per colour × size.
Customers can browse stock in their portal's stock area, which shows brand tiles and live colour × size stock. It shows no prices and customers cannot order from it there.
You can set Default tags and a Stock product vendor for every new stock product in Settings → Product attributes.
#Common questions
Can a customer product belong to two customers? No. A customer product belongs to one customer. Make a second customer product from the same base for the other customer.
Can I change which customer owns a product? No, the Owner is locked after creation. Use Duplicate, choose the new owner, save, and then delete the old one if you no longer need it.
Why can't I edit sizes on a customer product? Sizes always come from the base. Press Open base on the Sizes tab to edit them there.
I changed the fabric on the base. Why did older customer products keep the old fabric? Fabric deliberately does not follow, so products that have already been made and ordered keep the fabric they were made in.