How to Set Up Product Sample Buttons for Specific Variants in Your Store

Introduction

Many online store owners offer product samples to help customers get a feel for the colors or materials before they make a purchase. However, what do you do when only some variants of a product are available for sampling? In this blog post, I’ll walk you through how to customize your app to show the “Order Sample” button only for specific variants of your products.

Understanding the Problem

Let’s say you are selling a product that comes in multiple colors. For instance, you may have a curtain available in 10 colors, but only 3 of those colors have samples that customers can order. By default, most apps will display the sample button for all variants. To address this, we need to implement a simple customization to restrict the display of the sample button based on the specific variant the customer selects.

Solution Overview

To achieve this, we will use metafields to specify which variants have samples available. We will then add a little bit of JavaScript that listens for changes to the selected variant and hides the sample button when appropriate.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Create a Metafield for Variants:
   You need to create a metafield for the product variants that indicates whether the sample is available. For example, you could use a metafield called Product Samples: Disable. This metafield will store a boolean (true/false) value. If there is no sample available for that variant, you can set this value to true.
2. Add Custom Code:
   Next, you’ll need to modify your theme code. If you’re using Shopify, access the theme editor and add a script to check the value of the metafield whenever a variant is changed. Below is a sample code snippet to help you get started:

{% if product.selected_or_first_available_variant.metafields.custom.product_samples_disable %}
  <style>
    [data-samples-widget],
    [product-samples-button] {
      display: none !important;
    }
  </style>
{% endif %}

Note:
With this approach, customers will need to reload the page for the changes to take effect. To provide a better experience, check your theme for a JavaScript-based solution that updates the UI dynamically when the variant changes—this way, reloading is not required.

3. Update Product Variants:
   Now you need to go to each product’s variant settings and update the metafield value based on which colors or options have samples available. For instance, if pink and dark blue have samples, you would set their metafield to false (indicating samples are available) and the others to true (indicating samples are not available).
4. Testing the Setup:
   After you have implemented the code and set the metafields, make sure to test the functionality. Change the variants on the product page and observe whether the sample button appears or disappears correctly.

Conclusion

This solution allows you to selectively display the product sample button based on the specific variants that you have available, improving the customer experience on your site. If you’re not comfortable with coding, you may need the assistance of a developer or a collaborator to implement these changes effectively.

Need Help?

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out, and I would be more than happy to help!