Wasting $284K on E-commerce? Sell Products Easily in Odoo 18 Website

Retail business launches e-commerce site. Developer builds custom website: $47K upfront. Adds products manually via backend database. Each product = 23 fields (name, price, description, image, category, variants, stock, shipping weight, tax codes). 847 products × 23 fields × 3 min avg = 58,521 minutes = 975 hours manual data entry. Product images? Upload one-by-one via FTP. Variants (size, color)? Create separate SKU for each = 847 products become 2,847 SKUs. Customer orders blue shirt size L. Inventory shows out of stock (forgot to update). Customer gets "unavailable" message. Lost sale. Happens 127 times monthly = $87K lost revenue. Product descriptions inconsistent (15 different formats from 3 employees). No upsell/cross-sell (can't suggest accessories). SEO disaster (missing meta tags on 73% of products). Annual cost: $47K dev + $127K data entry + $87K lost sales + $23K SEO fixes = $284K e-commerce chaos.

Odoo 18 Website E-commerce fixes this: One product form = everything (name, price, variants, inventory, images, SEO). Variants auto-generated (Blue + Size L = one variant, not separate SKU). Upsell/cross-sell configured (accessories auto-suggested). Published to website = one-click (no FTP, no database). Inventory synced real-time (out of stock = auto-hidden or pre-order). Product ribbons (New, Sale, Bestseller). Alternative products shown automatically. Customer journey: Browse shop → Select variant → Add to cart → Checkout → Pay. Here's how to sell products on Odoo 18 Website so you stop losing $284K annually to e-commerce complexity.

What Odoo 18 Website E-commerce Does

Complete e-commerce solution: Create product → Configure variants/pricing → Add images/SEO → Publish to website → Auto-sync inventory → Upsell/cross-sell → Customer checkout → Done.

Step 1: Create Product

1. Go to Website → eCommerce → Products
2. Click New
3. Product form opens (similar to Sales/Inventory products)
4. Fill basic details:
   • Product Name: "Classic Cotton Shirt"
   • Product Type: Storable Product (for physical inventory)
   • Sales Price: $49.99
   • Cost: $18.50 (internal cost)
   • Category: Apparel / Shirts

Step 2: Configure General Information

General Information tab configures core product settings:

• Product Type:
  • Storable Product (physical inventory tracking)
  • Consumable (no inventory tracking)
  • Service (non-physical)
  • Combo (bundle of products)
• Invoicing Policy: Ordered quantities vs Delivered quantities
• Sales Price: Customer-facing price
• Sales Taxes: Applicable taxes (auto-calculated at checkout)
• Cost: Your cost (for profit calculations)
• Purchase Tax: Tax when buying from suppliers
• Category: Organizes products (affects accounting, inventory rules)
• Reference/SKU: Internal product code
• Barcode: For POS/warehouse scanning

Step 3: Add Product Variants

1. Go to Attributes and Variants tab
2. Click Add a line
3. Create attributes:
   • Attribute: Color → Values: Blue, Green, Grey
   • Attribute: Size → Values: S, M, L, XL
4. Odoo auto-generates variants: Blue-S, Blue-M, Blue-L, Blue-XL, Green-S, etc.
5. Total variants: 3 colors × 4 sizes = 12 variants (automatic)
6. Click Configure to set per-variant pricing, images, ribbons

Step 4: Configure E-commerce Settings

1. Go to Sales tab
2. ECOMMERCE SHOP section:
   • Is Published: Enable to show on website
   • Website: Select which website (multi-site support)
   • Categories: Shop categories (Apparel → Shirts)
   • Tags: Search tags (Cotton, Casual, Summer)
   • Website Sequence: Display order (lower = shown first)
   • Out of Stock: Options:
     • Continue Selling (backorders allowed)
     • Show Out of Stock (with custom message)
     • Hide (don't show product when stock = 0)
   • Ribbon: Badge on product (New, Sale, Bestseller, Limited)
   • Show Available Amount: Display stock quantity to customers

Step 5: Add Product Images

1. In Sales tab → ECOMMERCE MEDIA section
2. Click Add Media
3. Upload multiple images:
   • Main product image
   • Variant images (blue shirt, green shirt)
   • Detail shots (fabric close-up, stitching)
   • Lifestyle images (person wearing shirt)
4. Drag-and-drop to reorder (first = main image)
5. Images auto-optimized for web performance

Step 6: Configure Upsell & Cross-sell

1. In Sales tab → UPSELL & CROSS-SELL section
2. Add products:
   • Alternative Products: Similar items (different brand shirt)
   • Accessory Products: Complementary items (belt, tie, watch)
   • Optional Products: Add-ons shown at cart (gift wrapping, insurance)
3. Example:
   • Customer views shirt → Alternatives shown (other shirt brands)
   • Add to cart → Optional products appear (gift box, express shipping)
   • Cart page → Accessories suggested (belt, shoes)
4. Increases average order value automatically

Step 7: Write Product Descriptions

1. ECOMMERCE DESCRIPTION: Customer-facing description
   • Rich text editor (images, videos, formatting)
   • Product features, benefits, sizing chart
   • Care instructions
2. QUOTATION DESCRIPTION: Internal description for quotes/invoices
3. SEO tip: Include keywords naturally in descriptions

Step 8: Configure Inventory Settings

1. Go to Inventory tab
2. OPERATIONS: Supply chain routes
   • Buy (purchase from supplier)
   • Manufacturing (produce internally)
   • Dropship (ship directly from supplier to customer)
3. LOGISTICS:
   • Weight: 0.3 kg (for shipping calculation)
   • Volume: 0.005 m³
   • Customer Lead Time: 3 days (order to delivery)
   • HS Code: For customs/international shipping

Step 9: Publish Product to Website

1. Save product
2. Click Go to Website button
3. Product page opens in preview mode
4. Toggle Unpublished → Published button
5. Product now live on website shop
6. Instant (no FTP upload, no cache clearing, no deployment)

Step 10: Customer Shopping Experience

Browse Products

1. Customer visits Shop page
2. Products displayed in grid
3. Filters available: Category, Price, Attributes (Color, Size)
4. Search bar for quick product finding

View Product

1. Click product → Product detail page
2. Customer sees:
   • Product images (gallery with zoom)
   • Price, ribbons (Sale, New)
   • Variant selectors (Color, Size dropdowns)
   • Stock availability
   • Description
   • Alternative products below
3. Add to Wishlist: Save for later
4. Compare: Compare with other products

Add to Cart

1. Select variant (Blue, Size L)
2. Click Add to Cart
3. Optional products popup (gift wrapping, insurance)
4. Customer adds optionals or skips
5. Cart updated

Checkout

1. Cart page shows:
   • Products added
   • Accessory products suggested
   • Coupon code field (discounts)
   • Shipping estimate
2. Click Checkout
3. Enter delivery address
4. Select shipping method (Standard, Express)
5. Select payment method (Credit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer)
6. Click Confirm
7. Payment processed
8. Order confirmation displayed

Advanced Features

SEO Optimization

1. Promote → Optimize SEO
2. Set:
   • Meta Title (unique per product)
   • Meta Description (search result preview)
   • Keywords
   • URL slug (clean URLs)
3. Image alt tags auto-generated from product name

Multi-website Support

1. One product → Publish to multiple websites
2. Different pricing per website
3. Different availability per website
4. Shared inventory across websites

Real-time Inventory Sync

1. Warehouse updates stock → Website auto-updates
2. Product sold → Stock decremented
3. Stock = 0 → Product auto-hidden (or shows "Out of Stock")
4. Restock → Product auto-visible again

Real-World Impact

FAQs