WooCommerce: Setting Your Default Product Display to Popularity for Increased Sales
Introduction:
In the competitive world of e-commerce, making your online store as user-friendly and appealing as possible is paramount. WooCommerce, being a highly customizable platform, offers numerous options to achieve this. One powerful, yet often overlooked, customization is setting the default product display to “Popularity” (showing products sorted by sales). This can significantly impact your sales and customer browsing experience. By highlighting your best-selling products upfront, you immediately showcase items that have already proven successful, influencing new customers and potentially boosting your conversion rates. This article will guide you through the process of setting the default product display to popularity in WooCommerce and discuss the pros and cons of doing so.
Main Part: Implementing the Default Popularity Sort Order
There are several ways to set the default product display to popularity in WooCommerce. Here are a couple of common methods:
Method 1: WooCommerce Settings (If Available in Your Theme)
Some themes provide a direct option to configure this within their theme settings. Check your theme documentation first. If you’re lucky, you might find a simple dropdown menu in your theme customizer or settings panel allowing you to choose the default product sorting. If not, proceed to the next method.
Method 2: Using the `woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby` Filter
This is the most reliable and universal method. We’ll use a code snippet placed in your theme’s `functions.php` file or, even better, in a custom plugin. Modifying `functions.php` directly is discouraged because a theme update will overwrite your changes. Therefore, using a custom plugin or a code snippets plugin is highly recommended.
Here’s the code snippet:
<?php /**
- Change default WooCommerce product sorting to popularity. */ function my_woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby( $sort_by ) { return 'popularity'; } add_filter( 'woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby', 'my_woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby' );
- `my_woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby`: This is the name of our custom function. You can choose a different name, but make sure it’s unique to avoid conflicts.
- `woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby`: This is the WooCommerce filter we’re hooking into. Filters allow you to modify existing WooCommerce functionality.
- `return ‘popularity’;`: This line tells WooCommerce to use “popularity” as the default sorting order.
- `add_filter(…)`: This line adds our custom function to the `woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby` filter. This tells WordPress to run our function whenever that filter is used by WooCommerce.
- Caching: After implementing any code changes, remember to clear your website’s cache (both server-side and browser cache) to see the changes take effect.
- Theme Compatibility: While this method is generally Explore this article on How To Add Tax Classes To Woocommerce compatible with most WooCommerce themes, it’s always a good idea to test it on a staging environment before implementing it on your live site.
- Plugin Updates: If you choose to use a plugin, make sure it’s regularly updated to maintain compatibility with the latest version of WooCommerce.
- Increased Sales: Showcasing your best-selling products can encourage customers to purchase items that are already popular, leading to higher sales.
- Improved User Experience: Customers can quickly find popular and highly-rated products, saving them time and effort.
- Social Proof: Highlighting popular items provides social proof, influencing purchasing decisions.
- Effective for New Visitors: New visitors are immediately presented with your most successful products, giving them a good first impression.
- Reduced Bounce Rate: Showing relevant and popular products upfront can decrease the bounce rate and encourage browsing.
- Reduced Visibility for Newer Products: Newer products might not get as much exposure initially, as they’re not sorted based on popularity yet. Mitigation: Consider implementing other strategies to promote new products, such as dedicated “New Arrivals” sections or promotional banners.
- Can create a stale shop page: Customers always see the same best-selling products first. Mitigation: Rotate featured products and use other marketing strategies to highlight less popular items.
- Seasonal Products: May not be ideal if you heavily rely on seasonal products that are not consistently popular year-round. Mitigation: Temporarily change the default sorting or use alternative methods to promote seasonal items during their peak season.
- Potentially misleading: If a product is popular due to a promotion or discount, it might not be genuinely the best choice for all customers.
Explanation:
How to Implement:
1. Choose a method: Select either a custom plugin or a code snippets plugin (recommended). Alternatively, you can directly edit `functions.php`, but exercise caution.
2. Add the code snippet: Paste the code into your chosen method.
3. Save Changes: Save the changes to your plugin or `functions.php` file.
4. Clear Cache: Clear any caching plugins you may be using.
5. Test: Visit your shop page and verify that the products are now sorted by popularity by default.
Method 3: Using a Plugin
Several plugins are available that simplify this process. Search the WordPress plugin repository for “WooCommerce default sorting” Learn more about How To Get Product Image In Woocommerce or similar terms. These plugins often provide a Check out this post: How To Use Woocommerce For Donations user-friendly interface to configure the default sort order without requiring you to write code. Always choose plugins from reputable developers with good reviews and frequent updates.
Considerations for Implementation:
Pros and Cons of Defaulting to Popularity:
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion:
Setting the default product display to “Popularity” in WooCommerce can be a valuable strategy for boosting sales and improving the user experience. By highlighting your best-selling products upfront, you can influence purchasing decisions and provide social proof. While there are potential drawbacks, these can be mitigated with careful planning and alternative promotional strategies. By understanding the methods outlined in this article and carefully considering the pros and cons, you can make an informed decision about whether defaulting to popularity is the right choice for your WooCommerce store. Remember to monitor your sales data and Read more about How To Remove Woocommerce Review Datepublished With Php user behavior to assess the effectiveness of this change and make adjustments as needed. Always test changes in a staging environment before applying them to your live site.
