PrestaShop organises its catalogue into Products, Combinations (variants) and Attributes. For a UK merchant, the daily workflow is: add product, set tax-inclusive GBP price, upload images, assign categories, enable. This guide walks through the product editor, the Combinations feature for size/colour variants, the pricing fields, stock management and the bulk operations that keep a large catalogue tidy.
Product types in PrestaShop • Creating a product — step by step • Tax-inclusive pricing for UK stores • Stock and availability • Images and media • Attributes, features and combinations • Bulk actions and daily operations • FAQ
Four types:
Most UK stores use Standard for 80% of their catalogue, combinations for clothing/footwear/variable items, and a handful of Virtual products for gift cards or digital downloads.
Catalog › Products › New product. PrestaShop 9 uses a single-page editor with collapsible sections:
Enable the product via the toggle at the top of the editor. Save.
UK B2C retail shows shelf prices including VAT. Configure once under Shop Parameters › Product Settings › Tax:
Now product pages show £29.99 to customers (the £24.99 net + £5.00 VAT happens invisibly). UK B2C legal requirement met; margin tracking in admin unaffected.
Additional pricing fields:
Under the Quantities tab of the product editor:
Advanced stock management (multi-warehouse) can be enabled under Shop Parameters › Product Settings › Stock. For single-warehouse UK stores, leave it off — the simple quantity field is sufficient.
Under the product editor, the Images section accepts drag-and-drop. Upload up to 30 images per product (or more with configuration). Two settings per image:
PrestaShop generates multiple sizes automatically: home_default, category_default, large_default, medium_default, small_default and thumbnail. The theme picks which size to serve per context.
Upload at 2,000px on the long edge in WebP or JPEG. Keep source file size under 500 KB. Embedded images in the description use the file manager; upload to the Files library first for reusability.
PrestaShop has three catalogue-metadata concepts:
Create attributes under Catalog › Attributes & Features › Attributes. Then on a product, Combinations tab › Generate › pick attribute values › PrestaShop creates one combination per combination (e.g. 4 sizes x 3 colours = 12 combinations). Adjust price, SKU suffix and quantity per combination.
On the Products list, tick rows and use the Bulk Actions dropdown:
For bulk pricing or stock updates, export to CSV, edit in Excel/Sheets, re-import. Full walkthrough in Importing and Exporting Products in PrestaShop.
PrestaShop hosting for fast catalogue management
Redis caching and Symfony-based editor keep product management snappy on SmartXHosting PrestaShop plans — even with 10,000+ SKU catalogues.
See PrestaShop plansQ: How many combinations can one product have?
A: No hard limit, but UX-wise 50+ combinations make the picker unwieldy. Stores with size-heavy inventories (shoes in 10 sizes and 5 widths = 50 combinations) sometimes split into multiple parent products by category.
Q: What’s the difference between a Feature and an Attribute?
A: Features describe the product (material, origin, care). Attributes vary the product (size, colour). Features don’t create new combinations; attributes do.
Q: How do I bulk-import products?
A: Via CSV under Advanced Parameters › Import. Covered in depth in Importing and Exporting Products in PrestaShop.
Q: Why is a product not showing on the storefront?
A: Six things to check: enabled toggle, at least one category, quantity > 0 (or backorder enabled), no customer group restriction, friendly URL valid, cache cleared.
Q: Can I schedule a price change?
A: Yes — via Specific Prices. Create a specific price with a From/To date; PrestaShop applies it only in that window.
Q: How do I handle products sold by weight rather than unit?
A: PrestaShop does not natively support “sell by weight” (e.g. deli counter style). Workaround: list the product by 100g with a quantity selector. Community modules add true weight-based checkout.
Q: Can I hide the product price until login?
A: Under Shop Parameters › Customer Settings, you can require login to view the catalogue. Useful for B2B trade stores.