Important: Using the groupbycolor tag on products which are currently synced to Shopify without following the instructions below can result in data loss. Please read all instructions before using this tag.
The groupbycolor tag automatically creates a separate Shopify product for each color option in your matrix/grid, effectively splitting a matrix/grid by color to create multiple products. This enables more flexible online merchandising, making it easier for shoppers to see the available product options when shopping your site.

The groupbycolor tag should be applied to the matrix/grid and any matrix products that you want published grouped by color. All desired products must have BOTH the accumula and groupbycolor tags to successfully publish. Each color product will include any tagged size variants, displaying only the size options.
Attributes of Grouped Products
groupbycolor products inherit attributes from the original matrix, including:
- Shopify Product Title is made from the Web Short Description/Description, plus a comma, and the color (ie. Track Jacket, Black)
- Shopify Product Description is made from the Web Long Description
- Shopify Tags will include any tags applied to the matrix/grid. Additionally, the groupbycolor tag will appear in Shopify to help easily identify that the product is using this feature.
- Shopify Product Metafield will include the Shopify handle of each published color option for the product (ie. track-jacket-black, track-jacket-white, track-jacket-red, etc.). This info can be used to merchandise the product in different ways on Shopify. Please see spec below for details.
The Shopify Update settings in Accumula still apply to groupbycolor products.
Converting Existing Shopify Products
When applying the groupbycolor tag to a product that has already been published and exists in Shopify, the original Shopify product will be deleted and new products created for each color. Before applying the groupbycolor tag to a product that already exists in Shopify, you MUST make sure that:
- All relevant data and images exist in point of sale or
- You have backup copies or notes regarding any data that may have been manually edited or applied in Shopify, including Description, Tags, Type, Metafields, Images, AltText, etc.
To convert an existing Shopify product, we recommend you follow these steps carefully in this order:
- Set Non-Current/Archived Product Action to "Hide" or Ignore" in Apps > Shopify > Updates
- Apply the groupbycolor tag to every product in the matrix/grid that has the accumula (or webstore) tag
- Next, apply the groupbycolor and hidden tag to the matrix/grid.
- Review the resulting products and adjust as needed.
- Delete the original Product that included all Variants from Shopify so that only the new groupbycolor products remain.
Deleting Grouped Products
You may delete Grouped Products and Variants by removing the "accumula" tag in point of sale. To ensure deleting will work, first set your Archived/Non-Current Product Action to Delete in Apps > Shopify > Updates.
Next, remove the “accumula” tag from each matrix/grid product you wish to delete and press Save. Only remove the “accumula” tag from the Matrix/Grid, if you want to delete all products.
NOTE: If the Tag is removed from the Matrix at the same time as Variants, Variants may not be deleted, even if the Product Action is set to Delete.
Metafields on Grouped Products
Each groupbycolor product in Shopify will include a metafield called "grouped_products". This metafield will contain the Shopify handle of each published color option for the product (ie. track-jacket-black, track-jacket-white, track-jacket-red, etc.).
These handles can be used to group and merchandise the products on Shopify in different ways, giving you optimum flexibility in display. For instance, each grouped Product exists in Shopify with it's color option and sizes by default, the grouped metafields will allow you to group all the options on a single page.
Grouped Product Metafield Sample
{"metafields":[{"id":347689549834,"namespace":"Channels","key":"grouped_products","value":"track-jacket-stars-and-stripes,track-jacket-black,track-jacket-white,track-jacket-herringbone,track-jacket-red,track-jacket-royal-blue", "value_type":"string","description":null,"owner_id":263946207242, "created_at":"2017-10-27T12:28:18-07:00","updated_at":"2017-10-27T12:28:18-07:00", "owner_resource":"product"}]}
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