Mastering Product Sorting in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide to Guiding Your Customers
WooCommerce is a powerhouse for online stores, but sometimes its default settings leave something to be desired. One common challenge is getting your product sorting *just right*. Think about it: when a customer lands on your shop page, the order in which they see your products can significantly impact their experience and, ultimately, your sales. Do you want to showcase your newest arrivals, your best-selling items, or maybe items on sale? That’s where product sorting comes in. This guide will walk you through the various options and how to configure them in WooCommerce, even if you’re a complete newbie.
Why is Product Sorting Important?
Imagine walking into a clothing store looking for a new winter coat. You’d expect to find the coats grouped together, maybe sorted by style, size, or color. If they were randomly scattered throughout the store, you’d likely get frustrated and leave.
Online shopping is similar. Proper product sorting:
- Improves User Experience: Makes it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for, leading to happier shoppers.
- Boosts Sales: Highlighting popular, on-sale, or strategically important products can directly increase your sales.
- Reduces Bounce Rate: When visitors can quickly find what they need, they’re less likely to leave your site.
- Enhances Brand Image: A well-organized store projects professionalism and trustworthiness.
- Default Sorting (Custom Ordering + Name): This uses the drag-and-drop order you set in the “Products” section of your WordPress admin (more on this later!), or sorts alphabetically by product name if no custom order is set.
- Popularity (Sales): Sorts products by the number of sales, showing your best sellers first.
- Average Rating: Read more about How To Refund On Woocommerce Orders products by their average customer rating.
- Newness: Sorts products by the date they were published, showcasing your newest arrivals.
- Price: Low to High: Orders products by price in ascending order.
- Price: High to Low: Orders products by price in descending order.
Understanding the Default WooCommerce Sorting Options
Out of the box, WooCommerce offers several product sorting options for customers:
These options appear in a dropdown menu at the top of your shop page. Now, let’s see how to customize them!
Step-by-Step: Setting the Default Sorting Option
The first thing you’ll want to do is define the *default* sorting method for your shop page. This is the option customers will see when they first land on your store.
1. Go to WordPress Admin: Log in to your WordPress admin panel.
2. Navigate to WooCommerce Settings: Hover over “WooCommerce” in the left-hand menu and click “Settings.”
3. Click the “Products” Tab: At the top of the settings page, click the “Products” tab.
4. Select the “Display” Section: Scroll down until you find the “Display” section. Here, you’ll see a setting labeled “Default product sorting.”
5. Choose Your Sorting Method: Select your desired default sorting from the dropdown menu. For example, if you always want to show your newest products first, choose “Newness.”
6. Save Changes: Click the “Save changes” button at the bottom of the page.
That’s it! Your shop page will now default to the sorting option you selected.
Customizing Product Order with Drag-and-Drop (Custom Ordering)
The “Default Sorting (Custom Ordering + Name)” option gives you ultimate control over product arrangement. Here’s how to use it:
1. Go to “Products” in WordPress Admin: Click on “Products” in the left-hand menu.
2. Filter to View All Products: If you have many products, you might need to adjust the screen options (top right) to show more products per page or use the search filter to find the product you want to arrange.
3. Drag and Drop: *This is the key part!* Hover over a product. When you hover over the first column (left of the product image), you’ll see a four-way arrow cursor. Click and drag the product to its desired position in the list. Repeat for each product you want to reorder. Important: This only works if you have “Default Sorting (Custom Ordering + Name)” set as your default sorting option in the WooCommerce settings (as described above).
4. That’s It! There’s no “save” button. The new order is automatically saved as you drag and drop.
Real-Life Example: Let’s say you’re launching a new collection. You could set the default sorting to “Default Sorting (Custom Ordering + Name)” and then manually drag the new collection to the top of your product list. This immediately showcases your newest offerings to every visitor.
Removing Sorting Options You Don’t Need
Sometimes, you might want to simplify the sorting options available to customers. For example, if you sell only unique, handmade items, sorting by “Popularity” might not be relevant. Unfortunately, WooCommerce doesn’t provide a direct setting to remove default sorting options. You’ll need to use a code snippet (a small piece of PHP code) or a plugin.
Option 1: Using a Code Snippet (For More Advanced Users)
Important: Back up your site before making any code changes! Incorrect code can break your site. Consider using a staging environment.
Add the following code to your theme’s `functions.php` file (or, ideally, a child theme’s `functions.php` or a code snippet plugin like “Code Snippets”):
add_filter( 'woocommerce_catalog_orderby', 'remove_sorting_options' ); function remove_sorting_options( $options ) { unset( $options['popularity'] ); // Remove "Sort by popularity" unset( $options['rating'] ); // Remove "Sort by average rating" // Add more "unset" lines for other options you want to remove
return $options;
}
- Explanation:
- `add_filter( ‘woocommerce_catalog_orderby’, ‘remove_sorting_options’ );` tells WordPress to use our custom function `remove_sorting_options` to modify the sorting options.
- `unset( $options[‘popularity’] );` removes the “Sort by popularity” option from the dropdown.
- `unset( $options[‘rating’] );` removes the “Sort by average rating” option.
- Important: To remove other options, find their corresponding keys (e.g., `’date’` for “Sort by newness”, `’price’` for “Sort by price: low to high”, `’price-desc’` for “Sort by price: high to low”).
Option 2: Using a Plugin (Easier for Beginners)
Several WooCommerce plugins can manage product sorting and filtering. Search the WordPress plugin repository for terms like “WooCommerce sort options,” “WooCommerce product filter,” or “WooCommerce attribute filter.” These plugins often provide a user-friendly interface for enabling, disabling, and reordering sorting options. Read reviews and check compatibility with your WooCommerce version before installing any plugin.
Advanced Sorting: Using Attributes and Custom Fields
For more advanced control, you can leverage product attributes and custom fields. This allows you to sort products based on properties like size, color, brand, or even custom specifications you define.
Example: Sorting by Brand
1. Create a Product Attribute: Go to “Products” -> “Attributes.” Create a new attribute called “Brand.” You can optionally enable “Enable archives?” if you want to create brand-specific archive pages. Add the various brand names as terms to the “Brand” attribute.
2. Assign Brands to Products: Edit each product and assign the appropriate brand from the “Brand” attribute to the product.
3. Install a plugin: Look into plugins like “WooCommerce Attribute Sort.”
4. Implement Sorting using the Plugin: Usually after intalling the plugin, you will have a new option in the WooCommerce settings.
While WooCommerce doesn’t natively allow sorting by attributes in the default dropdown, plugins or custom code can be used to achieve this.
Tips and Best Practices
- Analyze Your Data: Use Google Analytics to track which sorting options customers use most frequently. This data can inform your default sorting strategy.
- Consider Mobile Users: Mobile users often have less screen space, so simplifying the sorting options can improve their experience.
- Test, Test, Test: Experiment with different sorting configurations to see what works best for your store. A/B testing plugins can help you compare the performance of different sorting strategies.
- Keep it Relevant: Only offer sorting options that are meaningful for your product catalog. Don’t overwhelm customers with too many choices.
- Be Clear and Concise: Make sure the sorting option labels are easy to understand.
By taking the time to configure your product sorting correctly, you can create a more intuitive and enjoyable shopping experience for your customers, ultimately leading to increased sales and a more successful online store. Good luck!
