How to Show Stock in WooCommerce Product Pages: A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’ve set up your WooCommerce store and you’re ready to start selling! That’s fantastic. But are you showing your customers how much stock you have available for each product? Showing stock levels can significantly improve the customer experience and even boost sales. This article will walk you through exactly how to show stock in WooCommerce product pages, even if you’re a complete newbie. We’ll cover the basics, the benefits, and some helpful tips along the way.
Why Show Stock Levels?
Think about it from a customer’s perspective. Imagine you find the perfect t-shirt on an online store. You’re about to add it to your cart, but you’re not sure if they even have enough in stock. You might hesitate, or even leave the site to find a seller who clearly displays their inventory. Here’s why showing stock is a good idea:
- Transparency and Trust: Letting customers know how many items are available builds trust. They see you’re running a legitimate business and that the product is actually available.
- Urgency and Sales Boost: Seeing phrases like “Only 3 left!” can create a sense of urgency, encouraging customers to purchase immediately. This is especially true for limited edition items or products that are in high demand. Think of those “Last chance!” or “Selling fast!” promotions you see everywhere. They work!
- Informed Purchasing Decisions: Customers can make better purchasing decisions if they know how much is available. For example, if they need to order multiple items, they’ll know if they need to wait for a restock or choose an alternative.
- Reduced Customer Support: Showing stock levels can Read more about How To Show Stars On Woocommerc E Without Review minimize customer inquiries about product availability, freeing up your time to focus on other aspects of your business.
- Manage stock? Make sure this box is ticked if you want WooCommerce to track your stock levels automatically. If it’s unticked, you’ll have to manually manage stock (not recommended).
- Stock display format: This is the most important setting for our purpose. You’ll see a dropdown menu with these options:
- “Always show stock e.g. ’12 in stock'”: This is the most straightforward option. It displays the exact stock quantity.
- “Only show stock when low e.g. ‘Only 2 left in stock'”: This option only shows the stock level when it’s below a certain threshold (which you can configure in the “Low stock threshold” setting). This can be very effective for creating urgency.
- “Never show stock”: This disables stock display altogether.
The Easy Way: WooCommerce Default Settings
The easiest way to show stock in WooCommerce is to utilize Learn more about How To Change Picture Size Of Shop In Woocommerce the built-in settings. You won’t need any coding for this!
1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard: This is your store’s control center. You know the drill: `yourdomain.com/wp-admin`.
2. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings: Find “WooCommerce” in the left-hand menu and click on “Settings.”
3. Click on the “Products” Tab: You’ll see various tabs at the top. Select the “Products” tab.
4. Click on “Inventory”: Within the “Products” tab, find and click on the “Inventory” section.
5. Stock Management Options: Here’s where the magic happens! Look for the following settings:
6. Choose Your Display Option: Select the option that best suits your needs. For beginners, “Always show stock” or “Only show stock when low” are generally the best choices. If you choose “Only show stock when low”, make sure you define what you consider “low” by setting the “Low stock threshold”.
7. Save Changes: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Save changes” button.
Example:
Let’s say you set “Stock display format” to “Always show stock Explore this article on How To Hide A Product Woocommerce e.g. ’12 in stock'”. If you have 15 t-shirts in stock, your product page will display “15 in stock”. If you choose “Only show stock when low e.g. ‘Only 2 left in stock'” and set the “Low stock threshold” to 3, then the product page will only show the stock level when you have 3 or fewer t-shirts remaining.
The Slightly More Advanced Way: Customizing Stock Messages
While WooCommerce’s default settings are great, you might want to customize the stock messages to better match your brand voice or provide more specific information. This requires a bit of coding knowledge.
Important: Before making any code changes, back up your website! This is essential to protect your data in case something goes wrong.
You’ll need to edit your theme’s `functions.php` file. Use a child theme! Directly editing the parent theme’s `functions.php` file is a bad practice because your changes will be overwritten when the theme is updated. If you’re not familiar with child themes, search for “create a child theme wordpress” on Google. There are plenty of helpful tutorials available.
Here’s an example of how you can customize the stock message:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_stock_html', 'custom_stock_message', 10, 2 );
function custom_stock_message( $html, $product ) {
$availability = $product->get_availability();
$stock = $availability[‘availability’];
if ( $product->is_in_stock() ) {
if ( $product->get_stock_quantity() > 10 ) {
$html = ‘
Plenty in stock!
‘;
} else {
$html = ‘
‘ . $product->get_stock_quantity() . ‘ items remaining. Order now!
‘;
}
} else {
$html = ‘
Currently out of stock.
‘;
}
return $html;
}
Explanation:
- `add_filter( ‘woocommerce_get_stock_html’, ‘custom_stock_message’, 10, 2 );` This line tells WordPress to use our `custom_stock_message` function whenever WooCommerce generates the stock HTML.
- `$product->get_availability();` This retrieves the stock availability information from the product.
- `$product->is_in_stock();` This checks if the product is currently in stock.
- `$product->get_stock_quantity();` This gets the number of items in stock.
- The code then uses `if` and `else` statements to create different stock messages based on the stock level.
- Finally, the function returns the customized `$html`.
How to Use This Code:
1. Create a Child Theme (Highly Recommended): As mentioned earlier, this prevents your changes from being overwritten.
2. Edit `functions.php`: Open your child theme’s `functions.php` file.
3. Paste the Code: Paste the code snippet at the end of the file.
4. Save the File: Save your changes.
5. Check Your Product Pages: Visit your product pages to see the new stock messages in action!
Important Notes About Customization:
- CSS Styling: You can use CSS to style the stock messages (e.g., change the color, font, or add an icon). The code above uses classes like `stock`, `in-stock`, and `out-of-stock`, which you can target in your CSS.
- Translation: If your store is multilingual, remember to translate your custom stock messages using a translation plugin like WPML or Polylang.
- Testing: Always test your code changes thoroughly to ensure they work correctly and don’t break your website.
Conclusion
Showing stock levels in your WooCommerce store is a simple yet powerful way to improve the customer experience, build trust, and potentially increase sales. Start with the easy, built-in WooCommerce settings. As you become more comfortable, explore customizing the stock messages to better align with your brand. Remember to always back up your website before making any code changes and test thoroughly! Good luck!