# How to Add Rental Products to WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
WooCommerce is a fantastic platform for selling physical products, but did you know it can also handle rental bookings? This guide will walk you through adding rental functionality to your WooCommerce store, even if you’re a complete beginner. We’ll cover the essential steps and explain the reasoning behind them.
Why Offer Rentals?
Before we dive into the technical aspects, let’s consider *why* offering rentals might be beneficial for your business.
- Expand your market reach: Attract customers who may not be able to afford to buy your products outright.
- Increased revenue streams: Generate income from products that might otherwise sit idle. Think party equipment rentals, tools, or even designer clothing.
- Reduced inventory costs: You don’t need to stockpile as many items.
- Test product demand: Rent out items before committing to a large-scale purchase.
- WooCommerce Bookings: This is a good starting point if you need basic rental functionality. It’s relatively straightforward to use.
- YITH WooCommerce Booking & Appointment: Offers more advanced features than WooCommerce Bookings, such as calendar synchronization and multiple booking types.
- RentalWP: A comprehensive rental plugin with a strong focus on managing inventory and pricing.
- Download: Download the WooCommerce Bookings plugin from the WordPress plugin directory or your hosting provider’s marketplace.
- Upload: Upload the plugin file to your WordPress site and activate it.
- Booking types: Define the different types of rentals (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).
- Resource Management: Define your available rental items – perhaps you have multiple cameras or different lenses. Each item is a resource.
- Pricing: Set prices for each booking type and resource. You can create custom pricing based on duration or seasonality.
- Create a new product: In your WooCommerce dashboard, go to Products > Add New.
- Choose “Booking” product type: When creating the product, select the “Booking” product type.
- Assign resources: Assign the specific resource (e.g., a Canon EOS R5) to the product.
- Set booking rules: Specify the rental durations, available dates, pricing, and any other relevant booking rules.
- Publish: Publish the product to make it visible on your store.
Let’s say you own a photography business. Offering camera equipment rentals allows you to reach amateur photographers who might not afford to buy the equipment, increasing your revenue and brand awareness.
Choosing the Right Plugin: The Foundation of Rental Functionality
You’ll need a plugin to add rental capabilities to WooCommerce. There are many options, but some popular choices include:
The best plugin for you will depend on your specific needs and budget. Consider factors such as the complexity of your rental system and the number of products you plan to rent. For a simple setup, WooCommerce Bookings is often sufficient. For more complex needs, explore YITH or RentalWP.
Step-by-Step Guide: Adding Rentals with WooCommerce Bookings (Example)
We’ll use WooCommerce Bookings as our example, as it’s a widely used and relatively easy-to-understand plugin.
1. Installation and Activation
Explore this article on How To Add Sizes In Woocommerce
2. Setting Up Bookings Options
Once activated, you’ll find new options under WooCommerce > Bookings. Here’s where you configure settings like:
3. Adding a Rental Product
4. Handling Bookings
After a customer makes a booking, WooCommerce Bookings will manage the reservation process, sending notifications to both you and the customer. You’ll need to configure notification emails to ensure communication flows seamlessly.
Example: Setting a Daily Rental Price with PHP (Advanced)
While you can set most rental options directly in the WooCommerce interface, more advanced customization may require some code. Here’s a simple example of how to adjust pricing using a filter (This is an advanced technique, only attempt if you’re comfortable with PHP):
add_filter( 'woocommerce_bookings_get_price', 'custom_booking_price', 10, 3 ); function custom_booking_price( $price, $booking_id, $qty ){ //Get booking data $booking = wc_get_booking( $booking_id ); $duration = $booking->get_duration(); //In days
//Check if duration is a day
if ( $duration == 1 ){
$price = 50; //Set daily price
}
return $price;
}
This example sets the daily rental price to $50. Remember to place this code in your theme’s `functions.php` file or a custom plugin. Always back up your files before adding code.
Conclusion
Adding rental functionality to your WooCommerce store opens up exciting new opportunities. By choosing the right plugin and following the steps outlined above, you can easily start renting out your products and expanding your business. Remember to start simple, choose a plugin that fits your needs, and don’t hesitate to explore more advanced options as your business grows.
