Magento CE offers a variety of product types that enable significant flexibility when defining products.

The following lists the available product types and their typical usage:




  • Simple Product:
    • This is the most basic product type. It is suitable for all kinds of physical (shipped) products.
  • Grouped:
    • This product type enables your customers to select the variant that they want by choosing options. For example, you can sell T-shirts in two colors and three sizes. You would have to create six variants as individual products (each with its own SKU) and then add these six to a configurable product where customers can choose the size and color, and then add it to their cart. A very similar functionality is possible by using Custom Options for Simple products. The difference between a configurable product and a product including custom options is that inventory is not checked or updated for individual options during the purchase of the latter and there is no possibility to go directly to a product with a given set of options. This also makes it hard for a search engine to find the product option.
  • Virtual Product:
    • This is a product that does not require shipping or inventory. It is generally used for warranties or services.
  • Downloadable Product:
    • This is a digitally downloadable product that sells one or more files of a product and provides samples of those files. These downloadable files can reside on your server or be provided as URLs to any other server.
  • Bundle:
    • This product is composed of components that are presented in different ways and are made from existing products. A good example of a bundle is a complete computer. For this computer, you can configure how much RAM or what kind of monitor is included with this computer in your store.