How the catalogue fits together
Products, variants, units, packs, stock, bundles, modifiers and recipes in one picture — and which of them your kind of shop needs.
Checked against the product on 13 October 2026
Everything you sell in Otura is built from a few pieces. Once you see how they connect, the rest of these guides are quick to follow.
The picture
Product
What you sell, as customers think of it: “Canvas Sneaker”, “Pepperoni Pizza”. Name, base price, category, tax, and whether it tracks stock.
has one or more
Variant
A sellable version with its own SKU, price and stock — White / 10. Simple and weighted products have exactly one.
counted per location as
Stock
Quantity held at each location (shop, counter, warehouse), in the variant's unit. Never below zero.
Units
What “one” means — piece, kg, litre — and how many decimals a quantity may have.
Packs
A box of 12 of a variant, with its own price and barcode.
Bundles
Variants sold together for one kit price, fixed or chosen by the customer.
Modifiers
Options offered when a cashier picks an item — toppings, extras — with prices and ingredients.
Recipes
What a product is made of; selling it deducts the ingredients.
Which setup does your shop need?
| You sell… | Set it up as | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Shoes or clothes in sizes and colours | A Variable (Color/Size) product with a variant per combination — your account needs colour and size attributes first | Variants |
| Clothes and other goods that arrive without a barcode | Your shop’s own barcodes, and labels printed with them | Your own barcodes and labels |
| Packaged goods, by the unit and by the case | A Simple product, plus a pack for the case with its own barcode | Products, Packs |
| Phones, tools and appliances with a serial number | A product marked Sold by serial number, with its warranty | Serial numbers and warranties |
| Medicines with a 2D code and an expiry date | Batches with lots and expiry dates, and expired stock never sold | Medicine pack codes and expired stock |
| Loose goods by weight or volume | A Weighted product priced per kg or litre | Weighed items |
| Portions that can be halved | A unit with decimals as the item’s selling unit | Half a portion |
| Dishes whose ingredients you want to track | A Finished Good that tracks stock, with an active recipe, made to order | Recipes |
| Bread, cakes or sauces made in batches | The same, set to Made ahead, and made with production orders | Made ahead |
| Dishes or services you do not track | A product that does not track stock | Tracked and untracked items |
| Combo meals, gift sets, “3 for $10” rung up under one barcode | A bundle with its own barcode | Bundles |
| Toppings, extras, “no onions” | A modifier group added to the product | Modifiers |
| Different prices for different customers or quantities | A price list | Price lists |
Packs, weighed items and decimal units all need the Units of measure module. The Clothing Store, Supermarket, Pharmacy and Generic Retail business setups do not include it — ask us to switch it on.
A sensible order to set things up
- Set your exchange rate.
- Check the units you need exist; add any custom ones (portions, trays).
- Create categories, then products — by hand, or with Bulk Upload.
- Add variants and packs.
- Put stock in at the location your register sells from — for a simple product, straight from the New Product form with its barcode and opening stock.
- For food: ingredients, then recipes, then activate them.
- Finally the extras — bundles, discounts and price lists.
Every page says when it was last checked against the product, and each one marks clearly what Otura does not do yet, so you can plan around it rather than find out at the till.