Product characteristics with types and units

Shipped on 25 August 2026

Not every option creates a new SKU. Material, weight or warranty period describe a product without splitting it into sellable items. In RedCart these are characteristics, and each one has a type.

What you get

• Every option is either a SKU axis or a characteristic. You choose which when you create it.
• From 25 August: characteristics of type text and whole number.
• From 5 September: four more types, decimal, yes/no, date and colour, for six in total.
• An optional unit, such as kg or cm, shown next to the value.
• Values stored in their type, not as loose text.

How it works

You create a characteristic once, for example "Weight" as a decimal with the unit "kg", or "Waterproof" as yes/no. On the product card you fill in the value once for the whole product. It does not multiply SKUs, it simply describes the item.

Because the type is known, each value is stored as what it is: a number as a number, a date as a date, a colour as a colour. The unit is stored with the characteristic, so you type "2.5" and the storefront shows "2.5 kg".

Why this matters for your store

Typed values keep product data clean. A weight is always a number, a date is always a date, and the same characteristic reads the same way on every product. Buyers get a consistent list of specifications, and you avoid the small inconsistencies that free text invites.

The split between axes and characteristics also keeps your SKU list honest: only the options that really change what a buyer receives become separate items.

What we verified

We checked the migration that made an option either an axis or a characteristic, the later migration that added the four value types, and the option form in the cabinet.

We are looking for merchants with detailed product specs to try this first. Tell us about your catalog through early access.