Creating products in WooCommerce is very easy and similar to writing a WordPress post.

 

1. Creating a product

Go to Products > Add New from the WordPress left-hand menu.

 

2. Basic Information

The first things to fill in are the basic information.

Start with the Title – make sure it’s clear what the product is, but not too long so it’s confusing.

There are two descriptions.

a. Main Description

The first is the main text input area on the product page.

This is a full product description, where you add in all the key information, including care instructions or important information that a customer might need to know about the product.

 

b. Product Short Description

The product short description is found at the bottom of the page and is used as a short piece of copy that is used to detail all the features and benefits of a product.

It is the main piece of convincing marketing copy, rather than the important information.

 

3. Product Data

The product data section is where you select all the key information about your product.

 

a. Product Type

Firstly select the Product Type, a Simple Product, which is a product with only option to buy.

If the product has different options, here is the guide on setting up a variable product.

“Virtual” is usually a service, that doesn’t require shipping.

“Downloadable” is a digital product that customers download.

 

b. General Tab

“Regular Price” is the normal price of the of a product.

“Sale Price” is the item’s discounted price. You can also schedule this. If you do the sale expires at 11.59pm of the end date.

c. Inventory

The inventory tab is where you do you stock management. There are lots of useful options.

“SKU” is a unique code that you can use to track your product inventory. Often suppliers will have SKU codes, or you can create your own e.g. TS001 for T-Shirt 1.

 

“Manage stock?” is where you can say whether you want to manage individual stock. If you don’t select this, the product will be on sale, but an unlimited amount. Perfect for virtual or downloadable products, but if you have a physical product, it’s always best to manage stock in case you sell more than you have.

Depending on how many physical or virtual products you have, you might want to have “Manage Stock?” to be ticked for all products options by default. To do this make sure that “Enable Manage Stock” is selected in the WooCommerce General Settings > Product Inventory. For more information see the WooCoommerce Basics.

 

“Stock Status” shows if you haven’t selected “Manage Stock?”. There are 3 statuses.

“In Stock” for when the product is in stock.

“Out of Stock” for when the product is out of stock.

“On backorder” if you want people to be allowed to order the product but let them know the delivery will be delayed.

 

If you have ticked “Manage Stock?” there are a few extra options.

“Stock quantity” is the number you have in your inventory.

“Allow backorders” is when you want to continue selling the products even if you’re internal stock as run out. This is useful if you can order more of the product easily, to keep continuing sales.

There are 3 options.

“Do not allow” doesn’t allow back ordering.

“Allow, but notify customer” allows backorders, but also tells the customer that there might be a delay.

“Allow” lets the customer order, but doesn’t tell them about a delay.

“Sold Individually” is a checkbox that if you tick limits a customer to only buy one per order.

 

 

d. Shipping

In shipping, you can add in key information to the customer about the product but also set shipping classes.

“Weight” inputs the weight of the product.

“Dimensions” inputs the length, width and height of the product.

“Shipping class” helps you group similar products and used by some shipping methods to apply different flat rates. For example, you might have a shipping class for small products with a flat rate of £4.00, but a large shipping class with a flat rate of £8.00. Click here for more information on Shipping Settings.

e. Linked Products

Linked products where you can upsell different products during different points of the purchase path.

“Upsell” you can select products that you want to recommend on the product page. For example, if you’re selling a scented candle, you might want to upsell a diffuser with the same fragrance on the product page.

“Cross-sell” are products you recommend that show on the basket page. For example, if you were selling a diffuser, you might want to add a refill on the basket page.

f. Attributes

Attributes are features of the product for example colour. Learn how to set up attributes here.

Select an attribute from the dropdown list and click “Add”.

Once the attribute has been added you can select the terms. Start typing the term you want into the box and it should find the right term.

You can also “Select All” if you want all values to apply to the product. Click “Select None” of you want to remove all the terms from the product.

Untick “Visible on Product Page” if you don’t want the attributes to show under the Additional Information tab on the product page.

g. Advanced

In here you can add a few bits of additional information.

“Purchase Note” if you want to tell the customer extra information after they purchase the product.

“Menu Order” is if your shop is sorted by custom ordering and you can arrange the products in the order you wish customers to see them.

“Enable Reviews” is when you want customers to be able to leave reviews.

4. Product Categories & Tags

In the right-hand menu, there are options for Product Categories and Tags.

“Product Categories” are used to classify your items, for example, ‘Jewellery’ would be a primary category and ‘Rings’ a subcategory.

Find out how to set up Product Categories here. Select the product categories that are applicable.

 

“Product Tags” are useful for extra bits of information about the product, that are really useful for SEO purposes. They could even be keywords for that product, for example, if you were selling a Rose Gold Diamond Ring, you might use the tags ‘rose gold rings’ and ‘diamond rings’. Keep them simple and plain in language your customers might use to search.

However, don’t force too many keywords into tags. It’s important to only use ones that are relevant and also not throughout the descriptions too.

 

5. Product Images

In the right-hand bar, you can add “Product Images”.

 

a. Main Product Image

The main product image is the one used for the shop page. Choose one that shows the product off well.

If you need to change it click “Remove Product Image” and add another one.

You can only have one Main Product Image.

 

b. Product Gallery

The product gallery is found directly under the main product image.

Click “Add product gallery images”. Select the ones you want from the Media Library.

The first image in the product gallery is the image that shows when a customer hovers over an item in the shop page.

 

To reorder images, simply darg and drop them into the right order.

To remove pictures, hover over the picture you want to remove and click the red X.

 

6. Sidebar

Set your sidebar to the correct setting for Product Pages. This could be a specific product page sidebar, or disabled.

7. Preview and Save

Click “Preview” to see the product live and check everything is correct.

Click “Publish” when you want the product to be live.