In this article, we will go over the process of creating parent and child ASINs.

First, Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs) are 10-digit alphanumeric codes that identify products in Amazon’s store. The ASIN is unique to each product and assigned when you create a new product in Amazon’s catalog. It’s often referred to as the parent ASIN. You can also create child ASINs and variations beneath this parent ASIN. Creating child ASINs and variations are important as they allow buyers to compare and choose products based on different attributes such as size, color, or other characteristics from the available options on a single product detail page.

What do these different elements mean?

• The parent product (parent ASIN) – This is the product displayed in the search results. It’s a non-buyable product and used by the Amazon catalog to establish a relationship between child products. For example, a parent product is a t-shirt with no size or color product details.

• The child products (child ASIN) – These are purchasable products related to the parent product (they are an instance of the parent product). You can have many child products that are all related to one parent product. For example, the child attributes of a t-shirt are the color and size.

• The variation theme - In order to determine child ASINs, you will need to establish variation themes for your product. For example, if it’s a t-shirt, it could be size and color. To help create ASINs, consider using the Variation Wizard. This interactive tool allows you to create parent-child variation relationships in bulk using an auto-populated inventory file template. To access it, go to the Inventory link in your Seller Central account and select Manage All Inventory. Then on the Manage All Inventory page, select Add a Variation.

You can find more information in the Variation Relationship FAQ.

Watch this video for additional parent/child ASIN and variation information.