Struggling to add a variable product to your WooCommerce store? Do you want to learn how to add variable product in WooCommerce?
Many online businesses, like yours, need to add variable products to their stores. However, some lack the knowledge required to accomplish this task.
Some don’t even know associated facts, such as attributes, values, and terms related to variable products, so they can’t add such products.
Nonetheless, you won’t be in their shoes if you read this article and follow the outlined steps. Hence, let’s begin.
What is a Variable Product in WooCommerce?
A variable product refers to a product type that comes in multiple variations. Imagine this: you visit an ecommerce store to explore or purchase a T-shirt.
You browse several T-shirts in that store and then start looking at one. You check its sizes, colors, and other features.
Suddenly, you notice that the product prices change when you change its size, color, or any other feature. That’s a variable product.
A variable product offers many benefits. For instance, it allows you to charge different prices for diverse product variations. Such products also increase customer engagement and sales by keeping customers busy inspecting product variations.
What is an Attribute in WooCommerce?
An attribute is a detail/particular characteristic/feature of a product. These attributes help customers by delivering detailed information about a product, such as its size, color, dimension, etc. Therefore, shoppers can easily filter and choose products according to their preferences.
Attribute is a part of a variable. However, it’s distinctly different from variables. For instance, shoppers can interact with variables. In contrast, they can’t interact with attributes since these elements are informational and have no functionality.
Attributes define variations and features of a particular product. For example, a hoodie product page can include dimensions, fabric details, and other features as attributes. Customers can only see these attributes and product details.
On the other hand, variations combine these attributes to help shoppers navigate each one before checkout. For example, the product hoodie here has color and sizes as attributes. The color attribute also comes in different variations, such as white, black, grey, and more.
Hence, a variation puts all these attributes together and allows customers to choose products with diverse attribute variations. You now understand what an attribute is.
Why Should You Add Variable Products in WooCommerce?
If you need a straightforward answer to this question, here you go. You should add variable products in your WooCommerce store to increase sales.
Think about how shopping in the real world works. You go to a shopping mall, visit several shops, check many products, and finally, inspect one product that draws your attention.
If the product is attire, you ask sellers if it has other designs, sizes, and colors available. Once the seller says the product has multiple options, you stay engaged in shopping and eventually buy it.
That’s precisely what happens with your WooCommerce store. You increase dwell time on your product page by displaying variable products. Also, you get to skyrocket your overall sales and revenue.
Adding variable products to your Woocommerce store has other benefits. It makes customers happy as they can select their preferred products after checking several product variations.
Once those customers leave your store with a happy shopping experience, they may return and even recommend your store to others.
In addition, your brand value increases when you present the exact product with variations that your targeted customers seek. These are some significant advantages of adding variable products to your store.
How to Add Variable Product in WooCommerce – Follow Our Footprints
We’ve talked about what a variable product and an attribute is. We’ve also discussed why you need to add variable products to your WooCommerce store. It’s time to show you how to do this job without hassle. Let’s begin.
Step 1 – Create a New Attribute
Follow these steps to create a new attribute:
- Navigate to the WordPress Admin Panel > Products > Attributes.
- You’ll now see the attribute window with several fields, a menu, and a button. Type your attribute name in the ‘Name’ field and write its slug in the ‘Slug’ field.
- Afterward, select the “Default sort order” using the drop-down menu. It’s a setting that will help customers sort attributes’ terms (we’ll configure it in a while) by name, number, or term ID.
We recommend keeping the “Default sort order” as “Custom ordering.” Lastly, hit the “Add attribute” button.
- We need to configure the terms of the attribute we’ve just created. To do that, click the “Configure terms” link.
- At this point, you’ll notice the attribute term window, similar to the attribute window. Here, you need to add diverse options to your attribute. We’ll add color names here since we created a color attribute.
So, type the term (color) name in the ‘Name’ field, slug in the ‘Slug’ field, term description (if needed) in the ‘Description’ box, and finally, click the “Add new [attribute-name]” button.
- You can keep adding attributes’ terms based on your needs. To create an attribute with several terms, follow these exact steps every time.
So, that’s how you create an attribute in your WooCommerce store.
Step 2 – Add a Variable Product in Your WooCommerce Store
In order to add a product, head to the WordPress Admin Dashboard > Products > Add new product.
Then, write down your product name and product description.
Scroll down, click the “Product data –” drop-down menu, and select “Variable product.”
Then, provide inventory information.
Right now, click the ‘Attributes’ tab, click the “Add New” drop-down menu on the right side, and add an attribute you created a while ago.
Now, add all attribute values in the value field.
Repeatedly follow these exact steps to add all the attributes you created. Then, hit the “Save attributes” button.
Head to the ‘Variations’ tab and click the “Add manually” button to manually add a variation product. You can also click the “Generate variations” button to add all the variations at once.
You’ll now see a variation. Click on it, and several fields with options to add a variation product will populate.
Afterward, choose the attributes’ values first, write the SKU and other relevant information, and upload the product image.
Note: you can add multiple product images to a variable product instead of including just one if you install and activate the Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce plugin.
However, once you’ve included all the information about your variable product, click the “Save changes” button.
Okay, you’ve added one variation of a product. Now, repeatedly follow these exact steps to add all the product variations.
Now, add a short product description and include product tags and categories.
Finally, add the main product image, recheck everything, and hit the ‘Publish’ button.
That’s it! This is how you add a variable product to your WooCommerce store. Let’s now check how your variable product appears in the store. Here’s how our ones look.
Best Practices to Follow While Adding a Variable Product
You can follow the best practices below to add a variable product and offer a smooth shopping experience.
- Add Clear Product Descriptions: Clearly include product descriptions for all the product variations. Include everything from features, materials, sizes, and colors to the SKU number. This will help prospects easily understand the product’s available options.
- Utilize Relevant and Descriptive Attributes: Always use relevant and descriptive attributes, such as size, color, and more, to assist customers in easily selecting product options they like.
- Set Default Attributes: Don’t forget to set the default attribute for every variable product. Set the most popular product options as the default attribute to show customers the commonly chosen product option.
- Attractively Display Product Options: Ensure customers can clearly view product variations and effortlessly understand product details. Use plugins like Variation Swatches for WooCommerce and Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce to professionally display product attributes and descriptions.
- Highlight Price Differences: Clearly show variable product prices and highlight price differences between product variations.
- Effectively Manage Inventory: Monitor your inventory and track sales. Set up notifications to alert you when stock runs low.
- Optimize Your Store: Check if the variable product quickly loads with all its features. If not, inspect the issue and solve it. We recommend optimizing images and minimizing unnecessary plugins to improve page loading time.
- Thoroughly Test: Remember to thoroughly test the variable product before launching it. Ensure customers can easily view products and place orders.
Bottom Lines
There, you have all the information regarding how to add variable product in WooCommerce. You can now easily add variable products to your WordPress store by following all the steps outlined in this article.
Besides adhering to these steps, consider the best practices shared in this article while adding a variable product. Our good wishes will be with you on your ecommerce journey.
