How To Set Up Product Variations In Woocommerce

How to Set Up Product Variations in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide

So, you’re selling something awesome online using WooCommerce! Fantastic! But what if your awesome product comes in different colors, sizes, or styles? That’s where product variations come in, and setting them up correctly is crucial for a smooth shopping experience and ultimately, *more sales*.

Think about it: If you’re selling t-shirts, you probably offer them in sizes Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large, and maybe in colors Red, Blue, and Green. Instead of listing each size and color combination as a *separate* product (which would be a nightmare to manage!), you can use WooCommerce variations to present all options neatly on a single product page.

This guide will walk you through setting up product variations in WooCommerce, step-by-step, in a way that’s easy to understand, even if you’re a total newbie.

Why Use Product Variations?

Before we dive in, let’s quickly recap why using product variations is a smart move:

Improved User Experience: Customers can easily see all available options for a product on one page, making it easier to find what they want. Imagine having to click through dozens of pages to find a specific size or color!
Better Organization: Keeping all variations of a product under one parent product keeps your product catalog tidy and manageable.
Simplified Inventory Management: You can track inventory levels for *each* variation individually, ensuring you don’t oversell. For example, you can track if you only have 2 Red shirts in Size Medium.
Increased Conversions: A clear and concise presentation of options can lead to a higher conversion rate as customers find what they are looking for more easily.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Product Variations

Okay, let’s get practical! Here’s how to set up product variations in WooCommerce:

1. Create a Variable Product:

First, you need to create a new product (or edit an existing one) and set its type to “Variable product.”

Go to Products > Add New (or edit an existing product).
In the “Product data” section, select “Variable product” from the dropdown menu.

2. Create Attributes:

Attributes are the characteristics of your product that will vary (e.g., color, size, material).

In the “Product data” section, click on the “Attributes” tab.
Click the “Add” button to create a new attribute.
Give your attribute a name (e.g., “Color”, “Size”, “Material”).
Enter the “Values” for the attribute. Separate each value with a vertical bar (|). For example, for “Color”, you might enter: `Red | Blue | Green`
Important: Check the box “Used for variations“. This is *essential*!
Click “Save attributes”.
Repeat this process for any other attributes you need (e.g., Size, Material).

Example: Let’s say you’re selling coffee mugs. You want to offer them in different sizes and colors. You would create two attributes: “Size” (with values `Small | Medium | Large`) and “Color” (with values `Red | Blue | Green`).

3. Create Variations:

Now, you’ll create the actual variations based on the attributes you defined.

In the “Product data” section, click on the “Variations” tab.
Choose an option from the “Add Variation” dropdown. You’ll likely want to choose “Create variations from all attributes“. This will automatically generate all possible combinations of your attributes.
Click “Go”. WooCommerce will create the variations for you. You may see a warning if you have a *lot* of attributes and values, as this could create a large number of variations.
Each variation will now appear as a separate entry. Click on the arrow next to each variation to expand its details.

4. Configure Each Variation:

This is where you specify details for *each* variation.

Price: Enter the price for the specific variation. This is *required*.
SKU: Enter a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) for the variation. This helps with inventory tracking.
Manage Stock?: Check this box if you want to track inventory for this specific variation. If you check it, enter the “Stock quantity”.
Weight & Dimensions: Enter the weight and dimensions if they differ for this variation.
Shipping Class: Assign a shipping class if applicable.
Description: You can add a description specific to this variation. This might be helpful if certain colors have different materials.
Image: Upload an image that represents the specific variation. This is highly recommended! Showing a picture of the *exact* red mug makes it much easier for customers.

Example: Let’s take the “Red, Small” coffee mug variation. You would:

Enter a price (e.g., $12.99).
Enter an SKU (e.g., MUG-RED-S).
Manage stock if you want to.
Upload a picture of the *red, small* mug.

Repeat this process for each variation.

5. Save Your Product!

Once you’ve configured all your variations, click the “Save changes” button, and then click the “Publish” (or “Update”) button to publish your product.

Important Tips and Considerations:

Default Form Values: In the “Variations” tab, you can set default form values. This determines which variation is selected by default when a customer visits the product page. For example, you might choose the most popular size as the default.
Variation Swatches: Consider using a plugin that provides visual swatches for your variations. Instead of dropdowns, customers can click on color swatches (e.g., a small red square for the “Red” color option). This provides a much better user experience. Many good WooCommerce plugins available offer this feature.
Managing a Large Number of Variations: If you have a huge number of variations (e.g., you sell fabric with hundreds of color and pattern combinations), you might consider using a plugin that simplifies variation management or using a CSV import/export plugin to manage variations in bulk.
Check Your Mobile View: Make sure your variations display correctly on mobile devices. The default WooCommerce dropdowns can sometimes be clunky on mobile.
SEO for Variations: Each variation doesn’t get its own unique URL. However, you can optimize your product description and image alt text to include keywords related to the different variations.
Clear Pricing Display: Make sure your pricing is displayed clearly, especially if different variations have different prices. Consider using a plugin that improves the price display on variable products.

Example Code (For advanced users – filtering variations):

Sometimes you might need to programmatically manipulate your variations. Here’s an example of how to filter variations based on an attribute using PHP (requires knowledge of WordPress theme customization or a code snippets plugin):

<?php
// This code filters variations based on the 'color' attribute.

add_filter( ‘woocommerce_ajax_variation_threshold’, ‘increase_variation_threshold’, 10, 2 );

function increase_variation_threshold( $qty, $product ) {

return 50; // Adjust this number based on the number of variations you have.

}

add_filter(‘woocommerce_get_available_variation_filters’, ‘custom_variation_filters’, 10, 2);

function custom_variation_filters( $variation_filters, $product ) {

//Get attribute options of the color attibute

$color_options = wc_get_product_terms( $product->get_id(), ‘pa_color’, array( ‘fields’ => ‘names’ ) );

//Only display red and blue colours.

$allowed_colours = array(‘Red’,’Blue’);

//Filter options to only contain the allowed colours

$filtered_options = array_intersect($color_options, $allowed_colours);

if (!empty($filtered_options)){

$variation_filters[‘pa_color’] = $filtered_options;

} else {

unset($variation_filters[‘pa_color’]); //Remove color filter if allowed_colours are not set.

}

return $variation_filters;

}

Important Notes:

Replace `pa_color` with the *actual* attribute slug. The slug is visible in the “Attributes” tab of the product settings. Usually it’s `pa_` followed by attribute name.
The example above *shows* only “Red” and “Blue” colour variations. It filters all other variations.
The `woocommerce_ajax_variation_threshold` ensures all variations load (up to a limit – you might need to increase the limit to something higher than 50 if you have many variations). Otherwise, WooCommerce might not load all variations, and the filtering won’t work correctly.

Conclusion

Setting up product variations in WooCommerce can seem a bit daunting at first, but by following these steps, you’ll be able to offer your customers a wider range of options, improve their shopping experience, and ultimately, boost your sales! Remember to focus on clear images, accurate pricing, and easy-to-understand descriptions for each variation. Good luck!