How to Display Product Quantity in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
Want to let your customers know if you have plenty of their favorite item in stock, or if they need to act fast? Showing product quantity in WooCommerce can significantly improve the shopping experience and boost conversions. This guide will walk you through several easy ways to display the product quantity on your WooCommerce store. No coding wizardry required (though we’ll touch on a little code later for advanced customization)!
Think Discover insights on How To Add Sales Tax On Woocommerce of it this way: imagine you’re browsing a store for the *perfect* red sweater. If you see “Only 2 Left!” you’re much more likely to grab it before someone else does. Showing quantity taps into that sense of urgency.
Why Show Product Quantity?
Showing the product quantity in WooCommerce offers several key benefits:
- Creates Urgency: Seeing a low stock count can encourage customers to make a purchase sooner rather than later, boosting sales. It’s the “FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out) effect in action!
- Increases Transparency: Customers appreciate knowing the availability of a product. It builds trust and avoids potential disappointment later.
- Improved Customer Experience: Clear inventory information prevents customers from adding items to their cart only to find out they are out of stock during checkout. This is a frustrating experience you want to avoid!
- Reduced Customer Support Inquiries: By providing real-time inventory information, you can reduce the number of inquiries about product availability, saving you time and resources.
- Better Inventory Management: Displaying quantities can help you visually monitor your inventory levels and proactively restock popular items.
- Stock status options: This dropdown allows you to choose how stock status is displayed on the product page. Options include:
- In stock: Displays “In stock” when the product has stock.
- Out of stock: Displays “Out of stock” when the product has no stock.
- On backorder: Displays “On backorder” when the product is available for backorder.
- Out of stock visibility: Check this box if you want to hide out-of-stock products from your catalog.
Method 1: Using WooCommerce’s Built-in Stock Management
WooCommerce has built-in stock management features you can leverage. This is the easiest and most common method. Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Enable Stock Management
First, you need to ensure stock management is enabled in WooCommerce settings:
1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory.
2. Check the box labeled “Enable stock management?“
Step 2: Configure Stock Status Display Options
Under “Inventory options,” you’ll find settings to control how stock status is displayed:
Step 3: Set Stock Quantity for Individual Products
Now, let’s set the stock quantity for a product:
1. Go to Products > All Products and edit the product you want to manage.
2. In the “Product data” metabox, click the “Inventory” tab.
3. Check the box labeled “Manage stock?“
4. Enter the number of units you have in the “Stock quantity” field. For example, if you have 10 red sweaters, enter “10”.
5. You can also manage backorders and low stock thresholds from this tab.
Example:
Let’s say you’re selling handmade candles. You have 5 “Lavender Bliss” candles in stock. You would:
1. Go to the “Lavender Bliss” product page.
2. Enable “Manage stock?”.
3. Enter “5” in the “Stock quantity” field.
4. Update the product.
Now, your customers will see the stock status on the product page (e.g., “In stock”).
Method 2: Showing the Actual Stock Quantity (with a Snippet)
While WooCommerce shows “In stock” or “Out of stock,” you might want to display the *actual* number of items available. For example, you Explore this article on How To Make Buy Now Button In Woocommerce want your store to say “Only 3 Left!” when you only have 3 items in stock. This requires a little bit of code, but don’t worry, it’s relatively straightforward.
Important: Always back up your website before adding any code! You can use a plugin like UpdraftPlus for this.
Step 1: Add Code to Your `functions.php` File (or a Code Snippets Plugin)
The recommended method is to use a code snippets plugin (like “Code Snippets”) instead of directly editing your `functions.php` file. This is because code snippets are easier to manage and won’t be overwritten when your theme updates.
If you *do* choose to edit your `functions.php` file (located in your theme’s folder), be very careful. Make sure you’re using a child theme to avoid losing changes when you update your parent theme.
Here’s the code snippet:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_stock_html', 'ts_display_product_stock' ); function ts_display_product_stock( $html ) { global $product; $availability = $product->get_availability();
if ( $availability[‘class’] == ‘out-of-stock’ ) {
$html = ‘
‘ . __( ‘Out of stock’, ‘woocommerce’ ) . ‘
‘;
return $html;
}
if ( $product->managing_stock() ) {
$stock_quantity = $product->get_stock_quantity();
if ( $stock_quantity > 0 ) {
$html = ‘
‘ . sprintf( __( ‘Only %s left in stock’, ‘woocommerce’ ), $stock_quantity ) . ‘
‘;
}
}
return $html;
}
Explanation:
- `add_filter( ‘woocommerce_get_stock_html’, ‘ts_display_product_stock’ );` tells WordPress to use our custom function `ts_display_product_stock` to modify the default WooCommerce stock display.
- `global $product;` makes the product object available within our function.
- `$product->get_availability();` retrieves the product’s availability status (e.g., in stock, out of stock).
- `if ( $product->managing_stock() )` checks if stock management is enabled for the product.
- `$stock_quantity = $product->get_stock_quantity();` gets the actual stock quantity.
- `sprintf( __( ‘Only %s left in stock’, ‘woocommerce’ ), $stock_quantity )` creates the output string, replacing `%s` with the actual stock quantity.
Step 2: Test and Customize
After adding the code, visit a product page to see the quantity displayed. You can customize the text within the `sprintf` function to suit your brand. For example:
$html = '' . sprintf( __( '%s remaining!', 'woocommerce' ), $stock_quantity ) . '
';
This would display something like “5 remaining!”
Important Notes:
- CSS Styling: You might need to add CSS to your theme to style the `stock` class and make the quantity display visually appealing.
- Thresholds: You can further customize the code to display different messages based on the stock quantity. For example, you might display “Almost Gone!” when the quantity is below 5.
Method 3: Using Plugins
Several plugins offer more advanced stock management and display options. Some popular choices include:
- Stock Synchronization for WooCommerce by VillaTheme: Allows real-time stock updates and customizable stock messages.
- Advanced Stock Manager for WooCommerce by WebToffee: Provides robust stock management features, including low stock notifications and stock reports.
- Product Stock Manager Discover insights on How To Change Theme Of Woocommerce and Status by Addify: A comprehensive plugin to manage, update, and display real-time stock quantities.
These plugins often provide more granular control over how stock is displayed, including the ability to:
- Set custom stock messages based on quantity levels.
- Display a “last seen” counter to show how many people have viewed the product.
- Hide stock quantity completely when it reaches a certain level.
Conclusion
Displaying product quantity in WooCommerce is a powerful way to improve the shopping experience, increase sales, and manage your inventory effectively. Choose the method that best suits your needs and technical expertise. Whether Learn more about How To Add Sizes To A Woocommerce Product you opt for the built-in features, a simple code snippet, or a dedicated plugin, showing quantity will provide valuable Check out this post: How To Print Shipping Labels In Woocommerce information to your customers and help them make informed purchasing decisions. Happy selling!
