Have you ever thought about how to display products that come in different sizes, materials, or colors in your WooCommerce store? It’s a common problem that many store owners face.
Upon encountering this problem, some wonder how to get rid of it. Some know that a Variation Gallery can be the solution. However, not everyone knows how to use variation galleries for better product visualization.
For those people and others facing the same problem and who need solutions, we recommend that you all read this helpful article. Once you read to the end, you’ll already have the solution. So, let’s get going.
What is a Variation Gallery?
It’s basically a feature in WooCommerce or any other e-commerce platform. It lets you display several images for a single variable product. In case you need to know what a variable product is. Here you go: it’s a product that comes with different variations.
For example, a t-shirt comes in different sizes and colors. So, it’s a variable product. If you’re unsure how to add variable products in WooCommerce, check out our guide on How to Add Variable Product in WooCommerce.
Why Use Variation Galleries?
WooCommerce, by default, allows you to include only one image per product variation. Thus, you can’t display multiple images or even a video of a variable product to your targeted customers.
To avert this problem, you need to use a plugin that offers the variation gallery feature. This is the prime reason to use a plugin with variation gallery functionality. Here are some more reasons.
Better Product Visualization
Customers can properly view every detail of their preferred product variation and become more likely to purchase that product.
Builds Trust
When you display multiple images of a variable product, you reduce the uncertainty people usually face when checking out a variable product without many photos or videos.
So, you gain customers’ trust and your store encounters comparatively fewer abandoned carts and returns than your competitor stores that don’t have the variation gallery feature.
Higher Conversions
By using the variation gallery, you provide visitors with a rich product page to improve engagement. Such a page persuades shoppers to complete their purchases.
Improves Shopping Experience
Since customers don’t need to imagine how a product variation might look, it improves their shopping journey as they get to explore products from different angles on the product page.
How to Set Up and Use Variation Galleries in WooCommerce
Now that you know what a variation gallery is and why you need to use it. It’s time to include one in your WooCommerce store. So, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Install a Plugin That Supports Variation Galleries
First, you need to select a WordPress plugin that comes with a variation gallery feature. You’ll find many plugins to get the job done, but choosing the right one for your store is quite challenging.
To ease your search, we recommend you go with ShopBuilder. Why? It’s because it not only has the variation gallery functionality, but it also contains other remarkable features to help you easily create a high-converting WooCommerce shop.
So, go to Plugins > > Add Plugin from your WP Admin Panel.
Type ShopBuilder in the plugin search bar on the top right.
Hit Install Now button of the ShopBuilder plugin marked in the screenshot below.
Finally, click Activate button.
You’ve just installed ShopBuilder. Let’s use it.
Note: For optimal performance, we recommend selecting the Pro Version of ShopBuilder.
Step 2: Enable Variation Gallery Module
Now, we’ll enable the Variation Gallery module of ShopBuilder. To do so, head to ShopBuilder >> Settings from your WordPress Admin Dashboard.
Then, click Modules tab and hit Variation Gallery module.
At this point, you’ll see a pop-up with a switch named “Enable Variation Gallery Module?”. Just turn it on and hit Save Changes button.
Step 3: Add a Variable Product to Your Store
Let’s now add a variable product and see the difference you get after activating the ShopBuilder plugin. Thus, head to Products >> Add new product from your WordPress Admin Dashboard.
You’ll now see a product editor. Write your product name and description.
Then, head to Product data area, click on its drop-down menu, and select Variable product option.
Scroll down and ensure you are on the Inventory tab. Now, provide information related to your product’s SKU, GTIN, UPC, EAN, or ISBN. Additionally, perform other inventory-related tasks.
Then, click on the Shipping tab and provide your product’s weight, dimensions, and shipping class.
You can then press the Linked Products tab if you want to upsell or cross-sell any other product with this variable product. Otherwise, skip that tab for now. Instead, click Attributes tab to create attributes for your variable product.
Now, click Add new button to create a new attribute.
At this point, you’ll see a Name field and a Value box. Write your attribute name and value as shown in the screenshot below, and click Save attributes button to create a new attribute.
Now, click on the Variations tab and hit Generate variations button to automatically generate product variations. You can also choose to click Add manually button to manually create product variations.
Lastly, click on a variation and hit Add Gallery Images & Videos button to add product images and videos. Note that you won’t find this button in WooCommerce if you don’t have the ShopBuilder plugin.
Scroll down and include other product-related information.
Repeat these steps to add as many product variations as you want. Then, scroll down a bit to add your variable product short description, category, main image, and lastly publish it.
You can now see the outcome by visiting the product page. However, hold on! Let’s beautify the gallery view by enabling some amazing Variable Gallery features of ShopBuilder.
Step 4: Check Features of the Variation Gallery Module
After adding the variable product, return to the Variation Gallery module in ShopBuilder and click on it. You’ll see a few switches, fields, and sliders. For example, there’s a Zoom Gallery image switch, which allows shoppers to zoom in on a product image.
Underneath that switch, you’ll see another switch, titled “Enable Images lightBox.” When turned on, it lets shoppers view a larger version of a thumbnail image in an overlay, temporarily fading the rest of the webpage.
So, turn on these switches and click Save Changes button.
Now, visit the product page of a variable product and see the changes. We prepared an animation to demonstrate the effect below.
Alongside the zoom and lightbox, you can use this module to display a preset number of corresponding thumbnails of a variable product according to your needs.
You can work on the thumbnails gap, thumbnail image section height and width, and apply a transition effect on the image, and do much more stuff. You may read the documentation of the Variation Gallery module to learn more about what you can do with it.
Here’s one thing you need to know: You can only utilize a few basic features of the Variation Gallery module if you use the free version of ShopBuilder. We recommend you get the pro version of this plugin to make the most of it.
Best Practices for Using Variation Galleries
We’ve seen how you can use the Variation Gallery module. We’ll now share some secrets to implement to take the product visualization experience to the next level.
Correctly Upload Images
Always upload high-quality images of each product variation. Ensure all the images have a consistent background and perfect lighting. Additionally, upload photos that have different angles of the product. Last but not least, optimize images for fast loading.
Combine with Zoom or Lightbox for a Better Viewing Experience
As we’ve shown in the tutorial, we recommend you follow that and enable both the zoom and lightbox features. When you do this, your customers can view every tiny detail of the product. They will develop a sense of transparency and quality assurance and feel confident about their purchase.
Enable Asset Optimization
Improve your WooCommerce store’s performance by enabling the asset optimization feature of the ShopBuilder plugin.
When you turn it on, ShopBuilder loads the assets of modules and widgets only when particular modules or widgets are activated. Therefore, your store’s performance significantly improves and loads comparatively better than before.
Make Your Store Responsive
With time, the number of mobile users is increasing. Today, the majority of shoppers use their smartphones for shopping online. So, you must make your WooCommerce store mobile-friendly to offer those shoppers a remarkable shopping journey.
Make your store fully responsive. Ensure that all images adjust seamlessly on smaller screens without compromising the quality. Finally, you may use swap navigation for galleries to make browsing smooth for mobile users.
Wrapping Up
So, that’s how to use variation galleries for better product visualization. We’ve outlined a step-by-step guide in this content to help you easily utilize the variation gallery feature in your store and reap its benefits.
We’ve also shared some tips on how to get the most out of this excellent feature that improves the shopping experience. We believe you found this article beneficial and will share it with others as a gesture of appreciation for our effort.
