---
title: Leverage variants and availabilities
slug: '3121'
canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/3121/
collection: coveo-for-commerce
source_format: adoc
---
# Leverage variants and availabilities
Product [variants](https://docs.coveo.com/en/mc7f0326/) let you define different variations of a product, while product [availabilities](https://docs.coveo.com/en/mc7e9096/) let you specify where and when products and their variants are available.

In your [catalog data](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3448/), variants and [availability channels](https://docs.coveo.com/en/mc7e9096/) are represented by [items](https://docs.coveo.com/en/pa8f6515/) of the [variant](https://docs.coveo.com/en/n8of5561#variant) and [availability](https://docs.coveo.com/en/n8of5561#availability) [catalog objects](https://docs.coveo.com/en/ncig0154/).

Variant and availability items usually have their own set of fields to store [metadata](https://docs.coveo.com/en/218/) specific to their catalog object.

**Example**

A retailer sells a pair of shoes, which is offered in different sizes and widths.

The retailer creates an item of the product catalog object for this pair of shoes and defines a set of variant items.

The item of the product catalog object contains the general information about the pair of shoes, such as the `brand`, the `model`, and the `color`.
The items of the variant catalog object contain the variant-specific information, such as the `size` and the `width`.

The retailer also creates an item of the availability catalog object for each store location where they sell their products.
Each item of the availability catalog object contains the following:

* `ec_availability_id`—the store's location.

* `ec_available_items`—the list of items, as identified by their unique identifiers, which are available at that location.

This information can be used to generate [facets](https://docs.coveo.com/en/198/) on a search results or listing page, to filter results based on the product's [variants](https://docs.coveo.com/en/mc7f0326/) and [availability](https://docs.coveo.com/en/mc7e9096/) channels.
See [Determine which fields are available for facets](https://docs.coveo.com/en/ncc97453/) for instructions.

Once you've defined your [catalog structure](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3139#catalog-configuration) and decided which fields you want to use as facets, you can leverage these facets to filter returned products.
Here are some common use cases where you'll want to leverage filters on variants and availabilities:

* [Buy online pickup in store (BOPIS)](https://docs.coveo.com/en/nbg84474/)

* [Handle dynamic and customer-specific pricing](https://docs.coveo.com/en/n3uf0361/)

This section also contains instructions on how to [disable availability filtering](https://docs.coveo.com/en/nc7a8448/) for all products to appear in the search results, regardless of availability channels.