In our last post we covered the basic settings and configuration settings to get your WooCommerce store up and running.
Here we will give an overview of how to add products in WooCommerce.
But first, let’s define the four different types of products you can setup in WooCommerce: simple, variable, grouped, and external/affiliate product.
Simple Products
Simple products have one SKU, are shipped, and have no variations/options. For example, a book.
Variable Products
Variable products can have multiple variations/options, each of which may have a different SKU or price. For example, a piece of clothing that is available in a variety of colors and sizes.
Grouped Products
Grouped products are related products that can be purchased individually. Note that, grouped products can only consist of simple products. For example, an iPhone could be a grouped product as there are 8GB, 16GB, etc. variations of that same product parent.
External/Affiliate Products
External or affiliate products are ones that you list/display on your website but they are sold elsewhere.
Adding the different types of products all take a similar process, however, based on the product you are adding there will be some different product data required. To ensure a seamless process, make sure to setup product categories, tags, shipping classes, and attributes before getting started.
Below we will give an overview of how to add each type of product. But first here are is some product information that you will need/can add regardless of the type of product.
Title: Add the name of the product at the top of the page
Full Description: Add your product description here (you can add a shorter one later)
Product Categories and Tags: Use categories and tags to organize your products depending on how you would like to structure your website.
Product Image: This is the primary image of your product. It will be used for the thumbnail, catalog, and as the first image on your product page.
Product Gallery: Product gallery images will show up as small thumbnails next to your main product image described previously. Product galleries, for example, could be used for alternate views of your product.
Product Short Description: The short description typically appears next your product image on its page depending on your theme. Use this for a brief overview of your product. Save details for the long description (described above), which typically appear within the product description tab.
Adding Simple Products
Adding simple products can be very straightforward, especially for experienced WordPress users. A simple product can also be virtual (not shipped) or downloadable (customers given access to a file after purchase).
General
On the general tab fill out the SKU, regular price, and sale price of your product. It is important to note that prices must be entered without $. Sales prices can be schedule for a particular day, week, month, etc.
Inventory
If you have products that will sell out, be sure to enable stock management at the product level. If selected, a stock quantity field will appear where you can enter/add your quantity. This number will reduce automatically as orders are placed. Depending on your settings, out of stock items can be hidden on the front-end of your website. On this tab you can also specify if you would like to allow back orders of out of stock items or if they are to be sold individually.
Shipping
Enter the weight, dimensions, and shipping class (if applicable) of your product here. The weight and dimensions of your product are required when using table rate shipping or shipping extensions that use this information to calculate rates.
Related: How To Add Flat Rate Shipping WooCommerce
Linked Products
Here you can add up-sells and cross-sells to your product, which is a great way to drive extra sales and increase revenue!
Up-sells are displayed on the product details page and encourage visitors to view other products. Think, “You May Also Like…”. An example of an up-sell would be to offer some of your other Aerosmith merchandise to a visitor who is viewing an Aerosmith t-shirt.
Cross-sells are displayed on the cart page and relate to the product(s) that your customer has in their cart. For example, if your customer has an iPhone in their cart, you may also suggest that they also purchase a case.
To add, simply start typing the name of other products you have already added and select. (Tip: you may want to add all of your products first and go back to do up-sells and cross-sells so you have your full inventory to choose from)
Advanced
On the advanced tab you can set up an optional purchase note to be sent to the customer after purchase, a custom ordering position, or enable/disable customer reviews for the product.
Questions? Contact us today for a free quote at 630-868-5060 or email us here.
Adding a Variable Product
Adding variable products is very similar to adding simple, but with the selection of variable as the product type, additional tabs are added to your product data section.
General
Enter SKU of your item. Note: you will enter SKUs for variations later on.
Inventory
Here you can set the stock quantity for the product, or leave it blank to use the stock settings on the variable product’s.
Shipping
Enter the weights and dimensions of the product, or leave it blank to use the stock settings on the variable product’s.
Linked Products
Same process as simple products. Refer to Linked Products section above.
Attributes
Here is where the differences between simple and variable products begin. In the following example, we will use an attribute we have already setup: size. Don’t have any attributes? Read How To Setup Attributes in WooCommerce.
Select size from the drop down menu and click add. Click select all to add all sizes. If you would like to remove any options, click the x next to the term name. Select visible on the product page if you would like customers to choose from these sizes. Then, click used for variations if each size has it’s own sku/price/weight/etc.
Make sure to click save attributes as these will not be visible on the variations tab until you do so.
Variations
On the variations tab you will add all of the product data for each individual size.
First, click the ‘add variation’ button 4 times if you will be using all 4 sizes. Select the name of your sizes from the drop down menus. Then, fill in the product data for each size. Note: variation price is required or the variation will not show up on the front-end of your website.
If you fill in all the product information for your variations, you will now be able to see them on the front-end of you website on your product page.
Advanced
On the advanced tab you can set up an optional purchase note to be sent to the customer after purchase, a custom ordering position, or enable/disable customer reviews for the product.
Questions? Contact us today for a free quote at 630-868-5060 or email us here.
Adding a Grouped Product
Grouped products are related products that can be purchased individually. Note that, grouped products can only consist of simple products. For example, an iPhone could be a grouped product as there are 8GB, 16GB, etc. variations of that same product parent.
Group products are setup very similar to a simple product and consist of establishing a parent product and then child products within that group.
Setting Up the Parent Product
To establish the parent product, select a product type of ‘Grouped’ from the drop-down menu. Then fill in product information like description, images, categories, and tags in the same way you would for a simple product.
Now that the parent product is established, you will need to create the child products inside of that group.
To create a child product, create a new product. For the child product you will only be required to fill in the:
- Title
- Product type = Simple
However, add any necessary product data like descriptions or prices for each child product.
Next, navigate to the linked products tab. Now that a grouped product has been established, a grouping field appears below the Up-Sells and Cross-Sells. Select the parent product from the drop-down menu.
In this example, we setup an iPhone as the grouped (parent) product and the 8GB/16GB as the child products. If setup properly you should see links to each child product on the iPhone product page. Note: an individual product page exists for each child.
Adding an External/Affiliate Product
External or affiliate products are ones that you list/display on your website but they are sold elsewhere.
First, select this product type from the drop-down menu.
Enter SKU, the external URL to the product, the price, and the text you would like on the button that links externally to the product.
Be sure to fill in all other product information outlined in previous examples like description, tags, categories, images, up-sells/cross-sells, etc.
There you have it! You’ve successfully added your products in WooCommerce. We typically recommend adding some products like this manually to familiarize our clients with settings in WooCommerce. After getting to know the functionality, you can consider adding your products with a CSV, especially if you have a lot of products. Stay tuned for our future post where will we explain how to do product CSV imports.
Do you want to feature a product? Check out how to add featured products in WooCommerce.
Want to learn more? Check out WooCommerce: The Ultimate Guide. Or check out our tips for improving ecommerce sales.
Do you need help setting up your WooCommerce store?
Modern Marketing Partners has helped many ecommerce business owners launch their online store with WooCommerce. Contact us today for a free quote at 630-868-5060 or email us here.
