Shared parts are normal in a real catalogue

Most spare parts catalogues are not perfectly separate.

A seal kit might fit three pump models. A bracket might appear in several gate motors. A washer, clip, bearing, switch, blade guard, or O-ring might be used across a whole product range.

If you sell enough parts, this happens quickly.

The mistake is treating every appearance of that part as a different product. That creates duplicate product records, duplicated stock, duplicated images, and duplicated maintenance.

Konfigr is built around the cleaner approach: one Shopify product can appear wherever it belongs.

One product, many diagram appearances

A Shopify product should represent the part you actually sell.

If the same part appears in five different diagrams, it should still be one Shopify product. The diagrams are just different contexts where that product is used.

With Konfigr, you can link the same Shopify product to multiple Konfigs. Each Konfig has its own parent product, its own diagram, and its own hotspot placement.

The product stays the same. The visual position changes.

That is the right separation. Shopify manages the product. Konfigr shows where that product sits in each model or assembly.

A practical example

Say you sell parts for electronic gate motors.

A motor bracket is used in five different gate motor models. In one diagram, it sits near the lower mounting plate. In another, it sits higher in the housing. In a third, it appears beside a different cover assembly.

The diagram position changes, but the bracket is the same part.

You should not need five Shopify products called “Motor Bracket — Model A”, “Motor Bracket — Model B”, and so on if the physical product is identical.

Create one Shopify product for the bracket. Link it to each relevant Konfig. Place the hotspot in the correct position for each diagram.

Why duplication causes problems

Duplicate product records feel harmless at first.

They might even seem easier when you are building quickly. But they create problems later.

  • You update a price in one product but forget the others.
  • Stock becomes split across duplicate records.
  • Images drift apart.
  • Customers find two versions of the same part.
  • Your team is not sure which product should be used.

Once a catalogue grows, those small duplicates become hard to clean up.

Shared parts should stay shared.

Live product data makes sharing useful

The reason shared parts work well in Konfigr is that the product data still comes from Shopify.

If you update the price of the shared bracket in Shopify, every Konfig that uses that product shows the current price. If the stock changes, each diagram reflects the current product information. If you update the product image, the parts list uses the updated image.

You are not updating five diagram entries by hand.

The diagrams point to the same Shopify product, so the product remains the single place you maintain that part.

The hotspot belongs to the Konfig

The product is shared, but the hotspot position is not.

Each Konfig has its own diagram. The same part may sit in a different location on each diagram, so each Konfig needs its own marker placement.

This is an important distinction.

You are not saying the part is visually in the same place everywhere. You are saying the same sold item appears in different visual contexts.

That gives you the flexibility to be accurate on every diagram without duplicating the product.

Use clear titles for shared parts

Shared parts need careful naming.

If a product fits many models, avoid a title that makes it sound like it belongs to only one. A name like “Seal Kit — 38mm Pump Series” may be clearer than “Seal Kit for Model A” if it also fits Models B and C.

You can still use product descriptions, tags, or metafields in Shopify to explain fitment and model use where needed.

Konfigr does not decide compatibility for you. It displays the product under the Konfigs where you choose to place it. Your catalogue structure needs to be accurate.

When a shared part should not be shared

Do not share parts just because they look similar.

If two parts have different dimensions, materials, supplier codes, tolerances, or model restrictions, they may need separate Shopify products.

This is especially important for technical parts that look nearly identical but are not interchangeable.

The rule is simple: if it is the same sellable item, share the product. If it is a different item, create a different product.

Shared parts help large catalogues stay manageable

The more models you sell parts for, the more important this becomes.

A catalogue with twenty parent products can still have hundreds of repeated parts across diagrams. If every repeated appearance becomes a new product, the catalogue becomes messy fast.

Using the same Shopify product across multiple Konfigs keeps the structure clean.

Your customer still sees the part in the right diagram. Your team still maintains one product. Your stock and pricing stay tied to the item you actually sell.

Think in products and positions

A good shared-parts setup separates two things:

  • The Shopify product: the item you sell.
  • The diagram position: where that item appears in a specific Konfig.

Once you think that way, the catalogue becomes easier to manage.

The same product can appear in many places. Each place can have its own hotspot. The customer sees the part where it belongs, and you avoid creating duplicate products just to support different diagrams.

That is how shared components should work.

Related Articles

Continue your learning with these related resources: