What determines a Product?

Hello,



I think there is may be a conflict in the schema.org mark-up and the search
engine's requirements that could very likely produce duplicate content. This
may be an issue with other e-commerce web sites.



It appears that the mark-up only supports a single product per page as
opposed to multiple products (product variations) as in the case of clothing
(ie. products with different sizes and colors, applications, but unique UPC
codes or part numbers for each variant). Please let me know if there is
support for in these instances.



In order to not produce duplicate content, we typically form a “family page”
with all the pertinent information (i.e. photo, product description) and the
variations as “children” listed below. Therefore, we have the following
information ALL on one page:





One Broad Product Name (Stainless Steel Pumps)

One Representational Photo (www.example.com/image/stainless-steel-pumps.jpg)

One Brand Name (Acme Pump Inc.) – listed only 1 time

One Product Description: (Stainless Steel Pumps have a 5 Year Warranty and…)

One URL: (www.example.com/product.do?stainless-steel-pumps.html)

And Multiple variations of that product with their separate skus i.e.:



SKU1

Stainless Steel Pump, 12 Volt, 500 GPM

part no. 1234

price $124.00

UPC:12323938303930

In Stock



SKU2

Stainless Steel Pump, 24 Volt, 500 GPM

part no.  4563

price $346.00

UPC:12323938303931

Out of Stock



Not to belabor the point, but here is another example, if you purchase a
sweater and there are multiple sizes, it doesn’t make any sense to have a
separate product description for each size when the only variation is the
size. However, each size has its own price, weight, upc code, stock level,
item no, etc.



Obviously we could have separate pages with slightly different product
descriptions, but this would be a step backward for the customer who is used
to picking out a product and selecting the size, color, voltage or other
minor variations. How do we properly format the mark-up in our case? Do all
products (unique skus) need their own product descriptions and or URLs?
Maybe the big question here is -what determines a product?





Thank you!