Chapter 9

Matrix Items

A Matrix is a group of related items that share the same base product but differ by size and color. For example, a “Henley T-Shirt” might come in sizes S, M, L, XL and colors Red, Blue, Black — producing 16 individual items that Quasar creates and manages as a set.

Key Concepts

Concept	Where It Lives	Purpose
Default Sizes	Subdepartment Master	Defines the valid size list for a subdepartment (e.g., S, M, L, XL, XXL). The Matrix Build screen populates its size picker from this list.
Force Size	Subdepartment Master	When enabled, the Matrix Build screen locks the size picker to only the subdepartment’s predefined sizes — users cannot type custom sizes.
Colors	Color Master (global)	Colors are shared across all subdepartments. The Matrix Build screen lists all active colors and creates new ones as needed.
Matrix	Matrix Master	A named group (e.g., “Henley T-Shirt”) that ties the generated items together.

Setting Up Sizes and Colors

Step 1: Define Sizes on the Subdepartment

Before building a matrix, set up the valid sizes on the subdepartment that will hold the items. Open Inventory → Subdepartments, edit the subdepartment, and go to the Default Sizes area.

Add each valid size (e.g., S, M, L, XL). If you check Force Size, users will only be able to select from this list when building a matrix — they cannot add custom sizes. This is important for maintaining consistency.

Plan Your Sizes Carefully Sizes are tied to the subdepartment, not to individual items. All items in a subdepartment share the same size options. If you have products with different size scales (e.g., clothing S/M/L vs. shoes 7/8/9/10), put them in separate subdepartments.

Step 2: Set Up Colors

Colors are global — they are defined once and shared across all products. Go to Inventory → Colors and create the colors you need (e.g., Red, Blue, Black, White, Green).

You can also add new colors directly from the Matrix Build screen — if you type a color that doesn’t exist, it will be created automatically.

Building a Matrix

Open the Matrix Build screen from Inventory → Matrix Build. See Matrix Build. This screen takes a product definition and generates all the size/color combinations as individual items.

Matrix Build Fields

Field	Purpose
Matrix Number	Auto-assigned from the global sequence
Matrix Name	The base product name (e.g., “Henley T-Shirt”). Each generated item’s description will be this name plus the size and color.
Vendor	The supplier for all generated items
Dept / Subdept	Department and subdepartment — the subdepartment controls the available sizes and the GL accounts
Brand	Optional brand assignment
Price Zone	Price zone for the generated prices
Cost	Purchase cost applied to all generated items
Price	Selling price applied to all generated items
Stocked in Stores	Single store, store group, or all stores

Selecting Sizes and Colors

The screen shows two selection tables:

Default Size — populated from the subdepartment’s default sizes. Select each size you want to include. If Force Size is not set, you can type custom sizes.
Color — populated from the global Color Master. Select each color you want. New colors can be typed directly.

Generating Items

Click Generate New Items. Quasar calculates the total combinations (sizes × colors) and shows a confirmation:

How many new sizes will be added to the subdepartment
How many new colors will be created
How many new items will be generated

For example, selecting 4 sizes and 3 colors generates 12 items. Each item gets:

A description like “Henley T-Shirt L Red”
An auto-assigned item number from the global sequence
The specified cost, price, vendor, and GL accounts
A link to the matrix group and color record
Stocking records for the selected stores

Pricing Matrix Items

When you build a matrix, all items receive the same base cost and price. After generation, you will typically need to adjust pricing for individual items or sizes. Quasar provides several tools:

Price Batch

Use a Price Batch (Inventory → Price Batches) to update prices for multiple items at once. This is the most common way to manage matrix pricing after the initial build.

Click the Add Items button to open the Add Items dialog. This dialog provides several filters to quickly load items into the batch:

Filter	Purpose
Department	Load all items from a department
Subdepartment	Narrow to a specific subdepartment
Brand	Filter by brand
Vendor	Load items supplied by a specific vendor
Item Group	Load items belonging to a group
Matrix	Load all items from a specific matrix — this is the fastest way to load an entire matrix into a price batch
Same price for all	Enter a price here and every item added will have this value pre-filled as the new price. Leave blank to keep each item’s current price.
Price Type	Filter by price type: Regular, Customer Levels, Quantity Levels, or All
Only items outside allowed variance?	Show only items where the actual margin deviates from the target

Quick Matrix Repricing To reprice an entire matrix to a new uniform price: open a Price Batch, click Add Items, select the matrix, enter the new price in Same price for all, and click OK. All items in the matrix are loaded with the new price already filled in. Then click Execute Batch to apply.

After loading items, you can also use the batch’s Calculate Prices button to apply formula-based repricing, and Round Prices to round to standard price points.

Promo Batch

Use a Promo Batch (Inventory → Promo Batches) to set temporary promotional prices with a start and end date. The Promo Batch has the same Add Items dialog with the same Matrix filter and Same price for all option, making it easy to put an entire matrix on sale.

For example: “All Henley T-Shirts at $19.99 for December” — select the matrix, enter 19.99 as the same price, set the promo dates, and execute.

Price Calculations

Use Price Calculations (Inventory → Price Calculations) to define formula-based pricing rules. For example, you can create a rule that prices all items in a subdepartment at cost plus a fixed margin, or applies a percentage markup by department.

Item Master Prices Tab

For individual adjustments, open any matrix item in the Item Master and edit its Prices tab directly. This is useful for one-off exceptions.

Pricing Strategy For matrix items, use this approach:

Set the base price during matrix build (applies to all sizes/colors equally)
Use a Price Batch with the Matrix filter and Add Items to adjust specific sizes (e.g., add $2.00 for XXL)
Use a Promo Batch with the Matrix filter for time-limited sales across the whole matrix
Use Price Calculations for ongoing formula-based pricing across the subdepartment

Working with Matrix Items

Reviewing Items by Matrix

Several screens let you filter by Matrix to view or report on all items in a matrix group:

Screen	Matrix Filter
Item List	Filter by Matrix to see all items in the group
Stock Status	Filter by Matrix to view inventory levels for all size/color combinations
Sales Report	Filter by Matrix to analyze sales performance across all sizes and colors
Price Change History	Filter by Matrix to review price changes for the entire group
Auto Order	Filter by Matrix to generate purchase orders for all items in the matrix

Adding Sizes or Colors Later

To add new sizes or colors to an existing matrix, run the Matrix Build screen again with the same subdepartment and select the additional sizes/colors. Quasar will create only the new combinations.

Subdepartment Sizes Are Shared When you add sizes during a matrix build, those sizes are added to the subdepartment’s default size list. This means they will also appear as options for any future matrix builds in that subdepartment.

Matrix Setup Checklist

Create Colors in the Color Master (or let the builder create them)
Define Default Sizes on the Subdepartment Master
Consider enabling Force Size to restrict custom entries
Open Matrix Build and enter the product details
Select sizes and colors, then click Generate New Items
Review the generated items in the Item List
Adjust pricing using Price Batch or Promo Batch as needed

What’s Next?

Chapter 10 — Media and Document Management