Simple Products

Simple Product Overview

Simple products are standalone physical items with a single SKU:

-- Product entity
SELECT entity_id, sku, type_id, attribute_set_id
FROM catalog_product_entity
WHERE type_id = 'simple'
LIMIT 5;
+-----------+--------------+-----------+------------------+
| entity_id | sku          | type_id   | attribute_set_id |
+-----------+--------------+-----------+------------------+
|         1 | TSHIRT-001   | simple    |                4 |
|         2 | TSHIRT-002   | simple    |                4 |
|         3 | MUG-001      | simple    |                5 |
|         4 | PHONE-001    | simple    |                6 |
|         5 | LAPTOP-001   | simple    |                6 |
+-----------+--------------+-----------+------------------+

Simple Product Attributes

// Core attributes
$product->getId();          // Entity ID
$product->getSku();         // SKU (unique)
$product->getName();        // Name
$product->getPrice();       // Base price
$product->getSpecialPrice(); // Discounted price
$product->getTaxClassId();  // Tax class
$product->getStatus();      // 1=enabled, 2=disabled
$product->getVisibility();  // 1=not visible, 2=catalog, 3=search, 4=both

// Inventory
$product->getStockData();   // Stock information
$product->getQuantityAndStockStatus();

// Physical
$product->getWeight();      // Weight
$product->getDimension();  // Custom dimensions

Product Creation

// Create simple product
$product = $objectManager->get(
    \Magento\Catalog\Model\ProductFactory::class
)->create();

$product->setName('Blue T-Shirt')
    ->setSku('TSHIRT-BLUE-001')
    ->setPrice(29.99)
    ->setStatus(1)
    ->setVisibility(4)
    ->setAttributeSetId(4)
    ->setTypeId('simple')
    ->setStockData([
        'use_config_manage_stock' => 1,
        'qty' => 100,
        'is_in_stock' => 1,
    ])
    ->save();

SKU Properties

-- SKU is stored in varchar value table
SELECT value_id, entity_id, store_id, value AS sku
FROM catalog_product_entity_varchar
WHERE attribute_id = 77 -- sku attribute_id
LIMIT 5;
+----------+-----------+----------+--------------+
| value_id | entity_id | store_id | sku          |
+----------+-----------+----------+--------------+
|      123 |         1 |        0 | TSHIRT-001   |
|      124 |         2 |        0 | TSHIRT-002   |
|      125 |         3 |        0 | MUG-001      |
+----------+-----------+----------+--------------+

SKU Validation

// Check SKU uniqueness
$productRepository = $objectManager->get(
    \Magento\Catalog\Api\ProductRepositoryInterface::class
);

try {
    $existingProduct = $productRepository->get('TSHIRT-001');
    // SKU exists
} catch (\Magento\Framework\Exception\NoSuchEntityException $e) {
    // SKU is available
}

// Auto-generate SKU
$skuGenerator = $objectManager->get(
    \Magento\Catalog\Model\Product\Url::class
);
$autoSku = $this->generateSku($product);

SKU Configuration

// SKU can be same as URL key
$product->setUrlKey($product->getSku());

// SKU prefix/suffix
$prefix = 'VND-';
$suffix = '-001';
$sku = $prefix . $product->getName() . $suffix;

// SKU patterns
// TSHIRT-001        → Product code + sequence
// TSHIRT-BLUE-L     → Product code + variant + size
// PHONE-15-PRO-256  → Product + model + storage

Inventory Tables

-- inventory_source_stock (MSI)
SELECT source_code, qty, is_salable
FROM inventory_source_stock
WHERE sku = 'TSHIRT-001';
+-------------+------+-----------+
| source_code | qty  | is_salable |
+-------------+------+-----------+
| default     |  100 |         1 |
| warehouse1  |   50 |         1 |
| warehouse2  |   25 |         1 |
+-------------+------+-----------+

Stock Data Configuration

// Set stock data
$product->setStockData([
    'use_config_manage_stock' => 1,
    'qty' => 100,
    'is_in_stock' => 1,           // 1=in stock, 0=out of stock
    'manage_stock' => 1,          // 1=manage stock, 0=don't track
    'use_config_notify_stock_qty' => 1,
    'notify_stock_qty' => 5,      // Low stock threshold
    'backorders' => 0,            // 0=no backorders
    'min_qty' => 0,               // Minimum qty for order
    'min_sale_qty' => 1,          // Minimum sale qty
    'max_sale_qty' => 0,          // Maximum sale qty (0=unlimited)
    'is_qty_decimal' => 0,        // 1=allow decimal qty
    'stock_status_changed_auto' => 0,
]);

// Update stock
$stockData = $product->getStockData();
$stockData['qty'] = 75;
$stockData['is_in_stock'] = 1;
$product->setStockData($stockData);
$product->save();

Inventory Check

// Check if product is in stock
$stockState = $objectManager->get(
    \Magento\CatalogInventory\Api\StockStateInterface::class
);

$qty = $stockState->getStockQty($product->getId());
$isSalable = $stockState->verifyStock($product->getId());

// Check specific source
$sourceItems = $objectManager->get(
    \Magento\InventoryApi\Api\GetSourceItemsBySkuInterface::class
);
$items = $sourceItems->execute($product->getSku());

Pricing Structure

// Base price
$product->setPrice(29.99);

// Special price (discounted)
$product->setSpecialPrice(24.99);
$product->setSpecialFromDate('2024-01-01');
$product->setSpecialToDate('2024-12-31');

// Tier pricing (quantity discounts)
$tierPrice = [
    'website_id' => 0,
    'cust_group' => 1,  // General group
    'price_qty' => 10,
    'price' => 25.00,
];

// Group price
$groupPrice = [
    'cust_group' => 1,
    'price' => 27.00,
];

Product Associations

// Up-sells
$product->setUpsellProductIds([10, 11, 12]);

// Cross-sells
$product->setCrosssellProductIds([20, 21, 22]);

// Related products
$product->setRelatedProductIds([30, 31, 32]);

// Grouped product association
$groupedProduct->setAssociatedProductIds([1, 2, 3]);

Product Relations Table

-- catalog_product_link
SELECT * FROM catalog_product_link 
WHERE link_type_id = 1 AND product_id = 123;
+----------+------------+---------------+
| link_id  | product_id | linked_product_id | link_type_id |
+----------+------------+---------------+
|      456 |        123 |            10 |            1 |
|      457 |        123 |            11 |            1 |
|      458 |        123 |            12 |            1 |
+----------+------------+---------------+

-- Link types:
-- 1 = Up-sell
-- 2 = Cross-sell
-- 3 = Related
-- 4 = Grouped

Best Practices

1. Use meaningful SKUs (TSHIRT-BLUE-L)
2. Manage inventory for each simple product
3. Set appropriate visibility
4. Configure tax classes correctly
5. Use tier pricing for bulk discounts
6. Link related products for better UX