Design variants
Design variants let you test several designs in one campaign. A design can have up to five variants, which you add, duplicate, rename or delete in Postcard Studio. The distribution decides what share of recipients gets which variant; the shares must add up to 100%. PostPal allocates recipients as exact counts rather than flipping a coin per recipient, so a 50/50 split really does send half of them variant A. A variant at 0% is a draft: it never ships, and so it does not need artwork yet.
Design variants let you test several designs within one campaign. A design can hold up to five variants.
Managing variants — in Postcard Studio you add variants, duplicate an existing one as a starting point, rename them or delete them. Each variant has its own artwork and its own studio content.
Distribution — the distribution decides what share of recipients receives which variant. The shares must add up to 100%. PostPal allocates recipients as exact counts: a 50/50 split sends exactly half of them variant A, not roughly half.
Parking drafts — a variant at 0% never ships. This is the intended way to keep an unfinished variant without blocking the campaign: only from a share above 0% does PostPal require a front side.
Interaction with control groups — distribution runs after the control group. Control-group holdouts receive no mail and therefore consume no share of any variant.
API flows — there the variant is decided when an entry is recorded and stays stable afterwards, even if the entry later lands in a different send. While entries are pending, their variant and its API fields are locked; the shares stay editable and apply to future entries.
Frequently asked questions
How many variants can a design have?
Up to five. The shares of all variants must add up to exactly 100%.
How are recipients distributed across variants?
As exact counts across all mailable recipients, not by a per-recipient coin flip. A 50/50 split really does send half of them variant A. Distribution runs after the control group — control-group holdouts receive no mail and therefore consume no share.
Can I create a variant that is not finished yet?
Yes. Set its share to 0%. Such a variant never ships and does not need artwork yet. As soon as you give it a share above 0%, PostPal requires a front side.
Can I base a new variant on an existing one?
Yes. When adding, you can duplicate the current variant instead of starting blank — artwork and studio content are carried over and you only change what should differ.
Can two variants share a name?
No. Names must differ within a design, and case does not count as a difference: "Control" and "control" are treated as the same name.
Can I change variants while an API flow is running?
You can change the shares at any time — they apply to future entries. But while API flow entries are pending, you cannot remove or rename the variant they are assigned to, nor change its API fields (markdown areas, API QRs). Otherwise an already validated entry would later print against different requirements.
What happens to pending entries if I set their variant to 0%?
Entries that are already assigned keep their variant and still print with it. The 0% share applies only to new entries.
Can I see which variant a recipient received?
Yes. The assignment is recorded per recipient, and the API log preview shows the assigned variant.