[RetailEdge Moderator]

There have been a number of people asking about how many and what criteria to use when setting up matrix definitions.

Some people have setup matrix definitions for each item style in their inventory. This is because each style has different available colors and or sizes. If you think that it is going to be manageable for you to work with that many matrices then this is Ok. You probably have a good feel for that now.

Some people create huge multi-dimensional matrices that try and incorporate all sizes within a Vendor for all items and styles (I REALLY would NOT recommend this!!).

Size and colors etc. for styles change. So this years taupe might be next years ecru. And these are essentially the same thing. Also if you keep size and color generic across multiple styles then you are only going to have to manage a few matrices. Something like mens sizes and use all of the size run combinations possible and a few color choices using generic colors like black and white rather than charcoal and cool white.

That being said every business does things a little different and there are advantages and disadvantages to each method.

Matrix Pricing

The matrix parent controls the properties of the children when making a change in Inventory. This is a feature that allows you to quickly change the properties of all the children by simply making changes to the parent. This feature does have the limitations that you mentioned. You need to be careful when making changes to parents in inventory because it will overwrite pricing information etc. of the children. This will also apply for parts of a size run (XXL) that might have different pricing. So when you receive an item through receiving or create a new item, you have to make the adjustments to the children after creation of the item to make sure you have accounted for these differences. If you have totally different pricing for an item, then it would be best to create a new parent for this item.