Variantless: JIT CPQ & Virtual SKU Engine
9/10
Demand Score
Variant caps block complex assortments; merchants resort to manual quotes and custom invoices, causing lost sales and errors.
9/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
$149-1k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
60 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Hard
The Problem
Variantless removes variant limits by externalizing configuration. Define option rules, constraints, and BOM components once. Shoppers configure products in a fast widget; the engine calculates price,
Competitor Landscape
- Bold Product Options
- Infinite Options
- Threekit/Zakeke (3D configurators)
- CPQ suites (Salesforce CPQ)
- Manual custom order workflows
Must-Have Features for MVP
Rules-based configurator with constraints and dependency logic
Just-in-time SKU materialization and mapping
Component-level inventory and BOM export
Dynamic price and lead time calculation
Image rules/compositing and swatch sync
SEO-safe canonical URLs and precomputed top combos
Post-order SKU expansion for WMS/ERP
Analytics on configuration funnels and attach rates
⚠️ Potential Challenges
- Search/filter integration for configurable items
- On-the-fly SKU creation and ERP mapping
- Accurate component-level inventory and reservations
- Image compositing performance at scale
Risk Level: Low
🎯 Keys to Success
- Lift in conversion for configurable products
- Reduction in manual order edits/returns
- Accurate pick tickets and fewer fulfillment errors
- Stable site performance despite complex options
Ready to Build This?
This hard-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.