A dependent dropdown is a personalisation field with two or three linked levels: the shopper picks at the first level, and the next level shows only what that pick offers. Pick Apple, then see only Apple's models; pick Gold, then 18K, then a ring size.
It is not a variant. Your product keeps its own variants (or just one), its stock and its photos. The pick rides on the bag line, like a name to engrave, so 500 designs can share one list of 400 phone models without 200,000 variants. Two picks of one design are two lines in the bag.
Some ways stores use it:
| Store | Levels | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Printed phone cases | Brand → Model | Apple · iPhone 16 Pro |
| Jewellery | Metal → Purity → Ring Size | Gold · 18K · 12 |
| Car accessories | Make → Model → Year | Maruti · Swift · 2024 |
| Gifts shipped by city | Country → State → City | India · Karnataka · Bengaluru |
| Printing | Paper → Size | Matte · A4 |
Before You Start
- Decide the levels and their names. Shoppers see the names, such as Brand and Model. Left empty, they read Choose and Then choose.
- Decide where the entries come from:
- Your own list (the usual choice): you type them, paste them or import a CSV file.
- Your Fit list (for phones, cars or anything in Fit List): the brands and models you already keep there. The Fit list can take phones from Mercayo's shared list, so you never type 400 models.
1. Add the Field
- Open Products → Personalisation and choose NEW FIELD SET, so one list serves many products. Pick what it applies to: Every product, Products in chosen categories (their subcategories too) or Chosen products. You can leave products out. For one product only, use the Personalisation card in its Product Editor instead.
- Choose ADD A FIELD, then Dependent dropdown.
- Give it a label shoppers will see, such as Your Phone or Metal and Size, and turn on Required if the product cannot be made without it. The label is the heading above the field, so name the whole choice, not only its first level: Your Phone, not Phone Brand.
2. Choose the Levels
- Under Choices From, pick Your own list or Your Fit list.
- Type a name for each level. ADD A THIRD LEVEL adds one (your own list only).
- To change the words on each dropdown before the shopper picks, type a Prompt for that level, such as Choose phone brand. Left empty, it reads Choose and the level's name.
- Leave Add item codes to the SKU off unless your warehouse needs a different SKU for each pick. Off, the line keeps the product's SKU and the pick shows in the item's name everywhere.
3. Add the Entries (Your Own List)
Choose whichever is quickest:
- ADD ENTRY adds one at the first level; + on a row adds one under it.
- PASTE A LIST takes one group per line,
Apple: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, or one path per line,Gold > 18K > 12. READ THE LIST shows what will be added, changed or removed before APPLY. - DOWNLOAD SAMPLE CSV gives a file with your level names as columns, then price, code and hidden. Fill it in a spreadsheet and use IMPORT CSV. The preview names any wrong line by its number. Choose Add and update to keep what is there, or Replace the whole list.
- EXPORT CSV saves the current list, to edit it in a spreadsheet and import it again.
A list holds up to 100 entries at the first level and 2,000 below it.
4. Prices, Codes and Hidden Entries
Each entry has:
| Column | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Price | An amount (50 adds ₹50) or a share of the item's own price (8%). Empty: the entry above it decides, then the field's own price. |
| Code | An optional short code, such as IP16P. It joins the SKU only when Add item codes to the SKU is on. |
| Shown | Off hides the entry (and everything under it) from shoppers. Orders that already have it keep it. |
An item's price wins over its group's: Samsung at +₹50 with Galaxy S25 Ultra at +₹99 charges ₹99 for the Ultra and ₹50 for the other Samsung models.
For Your Fit list, the names and order come from the Fit list; here you only set a price, a code or hide a brand or a model. OPEN FIT LIST takes you there to add models.
5. Save and Check the Store
- Choose SAVE. The Preview shows the dropdowns as shoppers see them.
- Open the product on your store. On a phone, the field opens a sheet: the first level, then it slides to the next, with a search once a level is long. On a computer the levels are linked dropdowns.
- Shoppers who told your store their phone (the Fit list's remember setting) find it already picked.
What Happens After the Order
The pick reads like a variant everywhere: "Apple · iPhone 16 Pro" is part of the item's name in the bag, checkout, the order page, emails and messages, the packing slip, the GST invoice and credit notes, order exports, and what goes to your courier (Shiprocket or Shipway) and to Razorpay with the payment.
Example: Printed Cases
A store sells 500 printed case designs, each in one variant, for 400 phone models.
- In Fit List, add the phones from Mercayo's shared list.
- Put the designs in a Printed Cases category.
- Make a field set for that category with a required dependent dropdown, Your Phone, from Your Fit list, levels Brand and Model.
- Give Samsung +₹50 if its cases cost more, and hide a model you cannot print yet.
The Kosha demo store has exactly this sample under Phone Cases → Printed Cases; the Verenne demo store has Metal → Purity → Ring Size on its rings.
Common Questions
Is a dependent dropdown slower than a variant? No. The product page carries only the field; the list loads once, when the shopper opens it, and is shared by every product using it.
Can I have stock per model? Not with a dependent dropdown: stock belongs to variants. If each model has its own stock, use variants (see Options and Variants).
Can the shopper remove a pick? Yes: CLEAR under the field removes it. If the field is required, ADD TO BAG asks for it again.
How do I change the "Personalise" heading of the card? Open Settings → Localization, search for Personalise, and type your own words. It changes the heading on every product of your store.
What if I rename or hide an entry later? Bags pick again; orders keep exactly what was ordered.