The "layers" on your commerce site

There are essentially three "layers" that need to be considered when adding products. Each of these layers can also have variations such as; default or teaser.
These layers are: - The product instance. The record of a unique product that has a unique SKU. This is just called "product".

• The product type. The template from which each product instance follows, or is created from. You could think of the product type as like a jello mold or muffin tin, and the product instance as the jello or muffin that comes out of the mold.

• the product display. This is the "container" by which the product instances are actually presented on the web site. A particular product display can be used to present or display, many products or just a single product. The product display can contain its own content such as a description of a category of products, a generic image of what those types of products look like and other information. Within this display you may present a single product instance or many (a few or thousands). You could present all the product in your hardware store using just one "product display" or you could create a separate product display for; electrical, plumbing and gardening. OR You could create a display for shirts. Then within that display you could let the shopper choose which color shirt they wanted. In this case the "display" could have a picture of a single white shirt, and the individual product instances would contain a red shirt a blue shirt and a white shirt. There are dozens if not hundreds of combinations of how these "product displays" can be used. So each site will be different. The key thing to remember is there is at least three relevant layers or components that are used to put together what is seen on the site in the form of a "product display", again these are: -the SKU specific product instance known as a product

• the product type or the "mold" from which the product is created
• the product display, or the frame, or "show window" in which a single or many products are displayed.