The objective is to provide an enhanced product viewing experience by:

  • Displaying a dedicated image gallery or slider for each product variation.
  • Dynamically loading and rendering the correct set of images when the user selects a variation (e.g., color, material).
  • Organizing images per variant to reflect the actual look and feel of the selected option.

Why Is This Important?

Reflect True Product Representation: Variants like colors, finishes, or styles often differ visually showing unrelated images can mislead customers.

Increase User Confidence: Shoppers feel more secure when they can see the exact item from multiple angles before purchasing.

Support Complex Visual Products: Apparel, furniture, or multi-part items often need variation-specific image galleries.

Improve Engagement: Sliders and image galleries encourage users to stay on the product page for longer, increasing conversion opportunities.

Implementation Plan

1. Organize Images by Variant

Store variant-specific image sets using:

  • Metafields (e.g., product.metafields.custom.variation_galleries)
  • Tagged media grouped by variant
  • Or preprocessed data in your CMS

Structure:

liquid
{% assign images = product.metafields.custom.variation_galleries[variant.id] %}

Example metafield structure (JSON-like):

json
{
"123456": [
"cdn.shopify.com/image-red-front.jpg",
"cdn.shopify.com/image-red-back.jpg"
],
"987654": [
"cdn.shopify.com/image-blue-front.jpg",
"cdn.shopify.com/image-blue-back.jpg"
]
}

2. Detect Variant Change

Listen for user interaction with variant selectors (color swatches, dropdowns).

Use JavaScript to trigger image gallery updates when a variant is selected:

js
variantSelector.onchange = (event) => {
const variantId = event.target.value;
loadVariantGallery(variantId);
};

3. Load the Correct Image Set

Dynamically update the gallery or slider component using the corresponding image array.

Liquid Example (Shopify):

liquid
{% assign images = product.metafields.custom.variation_galleries[variant.id] %}
<div class="variant-gallery">{% for image in images %}
<img src="{{ image | img_url: 'medium' }}" alt="Variant Image" />{% endfor %}
</div>JavaScript Example (for dynamic environments):
js
function loadVariantGallery(variantId) {
const galleryImages = variantGalleryMap[variantId] || [];
const container = document.querySelector('.variant-gallery');
container.innerHTML = '';
galleryImages.forEach(src => {
const img = document.createElement('img');
img.src = src;
container.appendChild(img);
});
}

4. Integrate With a Slider or Carousel

Use a lightweight carousel library (like Swiper.js, Slick, or Flickity) to enhance the experience:

  • Allow users to swipe, scroll, or zoom on variant images.
  • Add thumbnails or pagination for improved navigation.

Example:

html
<div class="swiper variant-swiper"><div class="swiper-wrapper"><div class="swiper-slide"><img src="..." /></div><div class="swiper-slide"><img src="..." /></div></div></div>

Initialize dynamically on variant change:

js
new Swiper('.variant-swiper', {
loop: true,
pagination: { el: '.swiper-pagination' },
});

5. Fallback for Variants Without Galleries

If a selected variant has no dedicated gallery:

  • Fallback to default product images.
  • Optionally display a message like “Gallery unavailable for this variant.”
js
new Swiper('.variant-swiper', {
loop: true,
pagination: { el: '.swiper-pagination' },
});

Backend/API Considerations

  • Ensure variant gallery data is correctly stored and structured in metafields or backend CMS.
  • If using Shopify, ensure metafields are accessible via Storefront API or Liquid templates.
  • Preload or lazy-load galleries to improve performance on mobile and slow connections.
  • Maintain consistency across product pages and quick view modal if both use variant-specific galleries.