How to Reorder WooCommerce Products: A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’ve got your WooCommerce store up and running, products are listed, and customers are starting to browse. But wait! Are your best-selling items buried on page three? Is that seasonal product still hogging the top spot in December? That’s where reordering your WooCommerce products comes in handy.
This guide will walk you through different ways to rearrange your products, even if you’re completely new to WooCommerce. Think of it like arranging the items on a shop shelf. You want the most attractive and relevant items at eye level, right? Same principle applies online!
Why Reorder WooCommerce Products?
Reordering your products isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about improving the customer experience and boosting sales. Here’s why you should care:
- Increase Conversions: Placing your most popular or highest-margin products at the top of the list makes them instantly visible, encouraging more purchases. Think about a grocery store: they often place milk and bread at the back, forcing you to walk past other tempting items. You can do the same, but ethically!
- Promote Special Offers: Launching a new product or running a promotion? Move it to the top of the list to grab attention immediately. Imagine a “New Arrival” display at the front of a clothing store; you’re doing the same thing online.
- Improve Navigation: A logical product order makes your store easier to browse. If you sell apparel, grouping t-shirts, pants, and accessories together makes sense. This reduces frustration and helps customers find what they need quickly.
- Optimize for Mobile: On mobile devices, product listings are often displayed in a single column. This makes the order even *more* crucial, as users are scrolling vertically.
- Showcase Seasonal Items: Ensure seasonal products like Christmas decorations or summer beachwear are prominently displayed during the relevant periods.
- To make a product appear first, give it a menu order of “1”.
- To make another product appear second, give it a menu order of “2”.
- And so on. You can also use negative numbers. A product with a menu order of “-1” will appear before a product with a menu order of “0”.
- WooCommerce Product Sorting: This is a simple and free plugin that adds a custom sort option to the front-end of your shop. Customers can sort by featured, price, date, etc.
- Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order: This plugin allows you to order categories, which can indirectly influence the product order.
- Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce: This plugin allow you to create more customized product tabs, as well as sorting and filtering by category and tags.
Method 1: Default WooCommerce Sorting (Drag and Drop)
WooCommerce has a built-in feature for reordering products using a simple drag-and-drop interface. It’s the easiest method for most users.
1. Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress admin panel.
2. Look for the “Sorting” tab at the top of the product list. If you don’t see it, check your Screen Options (top right of the screen) and make sure “Sorting” is checked.
3. Click the “Sorting” tab. Now you’ll see a list of your products with a drag handle (usually four arrows) next to each one.
4. Click and drag the products to your desired order. The order is saved automatically!
Example: Let’s say you have a new winter coat you want to feature. Go to the “Sorting” tab and drag the coat to the top of the list. Now, when customers visit your shop, that coat will be the first thing they see.
Reasoning: This method is quick and easy for making small adjustments to your product order. It requires no coding knowledge.
Method 2: Using the “Menu Order” Attribute
Each product in WooCommerce has a “Menu Order” attribute. By default, this is set to 0, meaning products are sorted by their publication date. You can change the menu order to control the sorting manually.
1. Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress admin panel.
2. Edit the product you want to reorder.
3. In the Product data meta box (usually below the editor), click on the Advanced tab.
4. You’ll find a field called “Menu order”. Enter a number. Products are displayed in ascending order based on this number (lower numbers appear first).
Example:
Reasoning: This method is precise. You can control the exact position of each product. It’s good for stores with a relatively small number of products or for fine-tuning the order after using the drag-and-drop method.
Method 3: Using a Plugin
Several WooCommerce plugins can help you manage your product order with more advanced features. These are useful if you need complex sorting rules or want to automate the process. Here are a few popular options (search for these on the WordPress plugin repository):
Example: Imagine you want to automatically sort products by their sales volume. A plugin like WooCommerce Product Sorting could provide that functionality.
Reasoning: Plugins offer advanced features that aren’t available in the core WooCommerce functionality, making them suitable for larger or more complex stores.
Method 4: Custom Code (For the Advanced User)
If you’re comfortable with PHP, you can customize the WooCommerce product query to change the default sorting order. Use this method with caution as incorrect code can break your site. Always back up your website before making code changes.
Here’s an example of how to modify the product query to sort by price (low to high):
<?php add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args', 'custom_woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args' );
function custom_woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args( $args ) {
$orderby_value = isset( $_GET[‘orderby’] ) ? wc_clean( $_GET[‘orderby’] ) : apply_filters( ‘woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby’, get_option( ‘woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby’ ) );
if ( ‘price’ == $orderby_value ) {
$args[‘orderby’] = ‘price’;
$args[‘order’] = ‘ASC’; // or ‘DESC’ for high to low
$args[‘meta_key’] = ”;
}
return $args;
}
?>
Important: This code snippet should be placed in your theme’s `functions.php` file or in a custom plugin. *Never* directly edit the core WooCommerce files.
Reasoning: Custom code provides the most flexibility, allowing you to implement very specific sorting rules. However, it requires PHP knowledge and carries a risk of introducing errors.
Key Takeaways
- Reordering your WooCommerce products is crucial for enhancing the user experience and boosting sales.
- Start with the built-in drag-and-drop method for simple adjustments.
- Use the “Menu Order” attribute for precise control.
- Consider a plugin for advanced sorting options.
- Use custom code only if you’re comfortable with PHP and understand the risks.
- Always test your changes on a staging environment before deploying them to your live site.
- Monitor your sales and customer behavior after reordering your products to see what works best! Experiment and refine your approach. Happy selling!
