Products | Creating a Product

The Products section in Orbit allows you to add new products to your store, set their pricing, organise their details, and publish them to your storefront. Creating a product brings together everything a customer needs to find, understand, and buy what you sell.

From here you can choose a product type, add a title, description and media, set pricing, create variants, manage inventory and shipping, optimise the search engine listing, and link related products — all before you decide whether to save your work as a draft or publish it.

Starting a new product

To start a new product:

• From the left-hand menu, go to Products.

• Select New product.

The New Product page will open, ready for you to enter the details.

Choosing the product type

At the top of the page, choose the Product Type that best matches what you are selling. The type you select determines which options are available later on, so it is worth getting this right from the start:

• Physical Product — tangible items that require shipping.

• Digital Product — downloadable files and digital content.

• Subscription — recurring billing with configurable plans.

• Service — professional services and consultations.

Title, description and media

Enter a clear Title for your product — this is the name customers will see in your store. Use the Description rich text editor to explain what the product is, highlighting its key features and benefits. The editor lets you format text, add headings, lists, links, and colours so your description reads well on the product page.

You can also add images and other media to show the product from different angles and help customers decide.

The New Product page is organised into a series of sections, listed down the left-hand side and grouped under Basics, Logistics, Organization, and Advanced. You can move between them as you build the product:

• Title & media — the product name, description, and images.

• Pricing — how much the product costs and your margins.

• Variants — different versions of the product, such as sizes or colours.

• Search engine listing — how the product appears in search results.

• Inventory — stock levels and tracking.

• Shipping — weight and delivery details.

• Taxonomy, brand & tags — categorisation and labels.

• Linked products — related and recommended products.

Pricing

Open the Pricing section to set how much your product costs. The fields available are:

• Price — the amount the customer pays for the product.

• Compare-at price — the original or recommended price, shown alongside the selling price to highlight a saving.

• Cost per item — what the product costs you, used to work out your profit.

• Profit — calculated automatically from the price and cost per item.

• Margin — your profit shown as a percentage, also calculated automatically.

Only the Price is required. Entering the cost per item lets Orbit show your profit and margin so you can keep an eye on profitability.

Variants and options

If your product comes in more than one version — for example different sizes or colours — open the Variants section and tick This product has variants. You can then create options and combinations, each with its own price, stock level, and other details. Leave this unticked if you are selling a single version of the product.

Inventory

Use the Inventory section to track how many units you have in stock. Keeping inventory up to date helps prevent overselling and shows customers when a product is running low or out of stock.

Shipping

For physical products, the Shipping section is where you enter details such as weight, which are used to calculate delivery options and charges at checkout. This section is most relevant to physical products that need to be sent to the customer.

Search engine listing (SEO)

The Search engine listing section controls how your product appears in search results. A preview shows the Page title and meta description as they would look in a search engine. Enter a Page title and a Meta description to make the listing clear and appealing — Orbit shows a character count to help you keep each within a sensible length. A well-written listing can help more customers discover your product.

Taxonomy, brand and tags

Use the Taxonomy, brand & tags section to organise your product. Assign it to the right category, set its brand, and add tags. Good organisation makes products easier for customers to find and easier for you to manage as your catalogue grows.

Linked products

In the Linked products section you can connect related and recommended products. Linking products encourages customers to discover more of your range and can help increase the value of each order.

Saving as a draft or publishing

Once you have entered your details, you can choose how to save the product using the buttons at the top right of the page:

• Save draft — saves your progress without making the product visible in your store, so you can come back and finish it later.

• Publish — makes the product live and visible to customers on your storefront.

Saving as a draft is useful when a product is not quite ready, while publishing makes it available to buy straight away. You can edit and republish a product at any time.

Why creating a product carefully is important

A complete, well-organised product gives customers the information they need and presents your store at its best. By taking the time to set the type, pricing, media, and organisation correctly, you make your products easier to find, more appealing to buy, and simpler to manage.

If you have any questions, please contact us at support@orbitcommerce.net