How To Show Woocommerce Stock Status Values

How to Show WooCommerce Stock Status Values: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction:

WooCommerce is a powerful e-commerce platform that allows you to sell products online. One crucial aspect of managing an online store is accurately displaying product stock status. This lets your customers know whether a product is in stock, out of stock, or available for backorder, influencing their purchasing decisions and overall shopping experience. Displaying stock levels clearly reduces customer frustration, prevents order cancellations, and builds trust. This article will guide you through various methods of showing WooCommerce stock status values on your store, from default settings to custom code implementations, ensuring you choose the approach that best suits your needs.

Displaying WooCommerce Stock Status: Different Approaches

There are several ways to display stock status on your WooCommerce store. We’ll explore the most common and effective methods, ranging from simple settings to custom code solutions.

1. Using Default WooCommerce Settings

WooCommerce offers basic stock management features out-of-the-box. These settings can be found in the WooCommerce settings panel.

• Enable Stock Management: First, ensure stock management is enabled. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory and check the box that says “Enable stock management“.
• Stock Status Display Options: Under the same Inventory tab, you can configure how stock status is displayed. The key settings here are:
• Hold Stock (Minutes): This determines how long a pending order holds stock before being released.
• Low Stock Threshold: Define when a product is considered “low stock” and triggers a notification.
• Out Of Stock Threshold: Define how to handle out of stock situation, in default it takes value zero.
• Out Of Stock Visibility: This option lets you choose whether to hide out-of-stock products from your catalog. Carefully consider this setting as hiding products can impact SEO.
• Stock Display Format: This controls how the stock quantity is displayed on the product page. You have the following options:
• “Always show stock e.g. ’12 in stock'” – Shows the exact quantity.
• “Only show stock when low e.g. ‘Only 2 left in stock'” – Only displays when stock is below the low stock threshold.
• “Never show stock” – Hides the stock quantity entirely.

Advantages:

• Simplest method, no coding required.
• Fully integrated with WooCommerce.

Disadvantages:

• Limited customization options. You cannot change the text or the appearance of the stock status messages without code.

2. Using WooCommerce Product Settings

Individual product settings also impact stock status display. When adding or editing a product, pay attention to these fields in the “Inventory” tab of the product data meta box:

• Stock Status: You can manually set the stock status of a product to “In Stock”, “Out of Stock”, or “On Backorder”. This overrides the automatic stock management if used carefully.
• Manage Stock?: Enables stock management for this specific product. If enabled, you can enter the “Stock quantity”.
• Allow Backorders?: Decide whether customers can order the product even if it’s out of stock. Options include “Do not allow”, “Allow, but notify customer”, and “Allow”.

Advantages:

• Allows you to override global settings for individual products.
• Useful for products with unique stock management needs.

Disadvantages:

• Requires manual configuration for each product.
• Can become time-consuming for stores with a large product catalog.

3. Using Code Snippets (Customization)

For greater control over the appearance and functionality of stock status displays, you can use code snippets. This is a more advanced method, requiring some PHP knowledge.

#### Displaying Custom Stock Status Messages:

You can use the `woocommerce_get_availability_text` filter to modify the stock status message displayed on the product page. Add the following code snippet to your theme’s `functions.php` file or use a code snippet plugin:

add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_availability_text', 'custom_stock_status_text', 10, 2 );

function custom_stock_status_text( $text, $product ) {

if ( $product->is_in_stock() ) {

$stock_quantity = $product->get_stock_quantity();

if ( $stock_quantity > 10 ) {

$text = __(‘Available!’, ‘woocommerce’);

} else if ( $stock_quantity > 0 && $stock_quantity <= 10 ) {

$text = sprintf( __(‘Only %s left in stock’, ‘woocommerce’), $stock_quantity );

}

} elseif ( $product->is_on_backorder() ) {

$text = __(‘Available on backorder’, ‘woocommerce’);

} else {

$text = __(‘Sold Out!’, ‘woocommerce’);

}

return $text;

}

Explanation:

• This code filters the standard WooCommerce availability text.
• It checks if the product is in stock using `$product->is_in_stock()`.
• If in stock, it gets the stock quantity using `$product->get_stock_quantity()`.
• Based on the quantity, it displays a custom message.
• If on backorder, it shows “Available on backorder.”
• If out of stock, it displays “Sold Out!”.

#### Displaying Stock Level Graphically:

You can use CSS to visually represent stock levels with a bar graph or other graphical representation. You’ll need to combine PHP to retrieve the stock quantity and CSS to style the visual representation.

add_action( 'woocommerce_after_shop_loop_item_title', 'display_stock_level_graph', 10 );

function display_stock_level_graph() {

global $product;

if ( $product->is_in_stock() ) {

$stock_quantity = $product->get_stock_quantity();

$max_stock = 20; // Set a maximum stock level for scaling the graph

$percentage = min(100, ($stock_quantity / $max_stock) * 100); // Calculate percentage capped at 100%

echo ‘

‘;

echo ‘

‘;

echo ‘

‘;

echo ‘

‘;

echo ‘.stock-level-graph { width: 100%; height: 10px; background-color: #eee; margin-top: 5px; }’;

echo ‘.stock-level-bar { height: 10px; background-color: #4CAF50; }’;

echo ‘

‘;

}

}

Explanation:

• This code adds the stock level graph after the product title on shop pages.
• It retrieves the stock quantity.
• It calculates a percentage based on a maximum stock level.
• It creates a `
  ` element with a background color to represent the graph’s base.
• It creates another `
  ` element with a different background color, and its width is set dynamically based on the calculated percentage.
• Embedded CSS is used to style the elements. You should ideally move this to your theme’s stylesheet.

Advantages:

• Highly customizable.
• Allows for advanced stock status displays.
• You can create unique and engaging experiences for your customers.

Disadvantages:

• Requires PHP and CSS knowledge.
• Can be more complex to implement.
• Might break after theme update without properly handle it.

4. Using Plugins

Numerous plugins offer advanced stock management and display features for WooCommerce. These plugins can simplify the process of showing stock status values and often provide additional functionalities like:

• Low stock alerts
• Backorder management
• Stock synchronization with other platforms

Some popular plugins include:

• ATUM Inventory Management: Offers comprehensive inventory control features.
• Smart Inventory Management for WooCommerce: Simplifies stock tracking and order fulfillment.
• WooCommerce Stock Manager: Provides a centralized interface for managing stock levels.

Advantages:

• Easy to install and configure.
• Often provide a user-friendly interface.
• Add extra features beyond basic stock status display.

Disadvantages:

• Can be expensive.
• May introduce conflicts with other plugins.
• Relying heavily on plugins can increase your site’s overhead.

Conclusion:

Showing WooCommerce stock status values is crucial for providing a positive customer experience and managing your online store effectively. By understanding the different approaches available – from default settings to custom code snippets and plugins – you can choose the method that best suits your technical skills and business needs. Remember to test your chosen solution thoroughly to ensure it accurately reflects your product stock levels and provides clear information to your customers. Accurate and informative stock status displays will lead to increased sales, reduced customer service inquiries, and greater customer satisfaction. Remember to prioritize website speed and security regardless of the method you choose to implement!