Contents<\/p>\n
- \n
- An overview of WooCommerce features and how to use them<\/a><\/li>\n
- Managing Your Stock in WooCommerce<\/a><\/li>\n
- Customize the Online Shopping Experience in WooCommerce<\/a><\/li>\n
- What Are WooCommerce Inventory Management Limitations?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
BONUS:<\/strong>\u00a0Before we get started, you can\u00a0download our Product Master Data Template<\/a> here.<\/p>\n
Adding and Managing Product Inventory in WooCommerce<\/h2>\n
As an online seller, you may offer physical products (e.g., shoes), digital products (e.g., an ebook) or both. For now, we\u2019re going to focus on physical products.<\/p>\n
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Building a Product Catalog in WooCommerce<\/h3>\n
Once you\u2019ve installed the WooCommerce plug-in and selected a theme, adding products to your online catalog is fairly straightforward, even for a novice webmaster. If you\u2019re familiar with the WordPress user experience, adding a new product to your WooCommerce inventory management is similar to creating a new page.<\/p>\n
When you create a product, you can add the:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Product title<\/li>\n
- Short product description<\/li>\n
- Long product description<\/li>\n
- Product image<\/li>\n
- Regular price and sales prices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"increase-ecommerce-sales-featured-image-800x534\"](\"https:\/\/f.hubspotusercontent30.net\/hubfs\/3469233\/Images\/Emails\/Blog\/increase-ecommerce-sales-featured-image-800x534.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWooCommerce\u2019s inventory management system<\/a> gives you the option to add simple products and variable products. A variable product gives your customers options for attributes like size or color while a simple product has only one type (e.g., your customers can only purchase black socks in one size).<\/p>\n
In addition, WooCommerce allows regular pricing and sales pricing, both scheduled and unscheduled.<\/p>\n
For instance, if your product\u2019s regular price is $40, you may want to offer a sales price of $35.99. If this is a sales tactic, you may want to offer this sales price indefinitely, so it would be an unscheduled sales price.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if the $35.99 price is part of a promotion (e.g., Christmas, Valentine\u2019s Day sales) or an inventory management strategy (e.g., you need to move this product quickly because it\u2019s tying up too much capital) you may use a scheduled sales price.<\/p>\n
For the scheduled sales price, you can indicate in WooCommerce\u2019s system that you only want the sales price to run from February 1 to February 16.<\/p>\n
Adding Variable Products in WooCommerce<\/h3>\n
To list products with variable attributes like size and color, you\u2019d add a \u201cvariable product.\u201d When you select this option, the main difference from the \u201csimple product\u201d set-up is the ability to add attributes.<\/p>\n
Now, you can choose an attribute like color and input your custom values. You would then indicate that you want this product:<\/p>\n
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- Visible on the product page<\/li>\n
- Used for variations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You can add multiple attributes with associated values to each product (e.g., Size: S | M | L | XL).<\/p>\n
Once those are created, select \u201ccreate variations from all attributes\u201d from the variations tab. This allows your customers to find products that are a combination of different colors and sizes (e.g., small red jumpsuit or large blue jumpsuit).<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve created your variations, WooCommerce gives you visibility over all possible variations.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s use our example of a small, red jumpsuit. For your online catalog, you have the ability to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Add a specific image<\/li>\n
- Add a SKU<\/li>\n
- Include a regular price and sale price (scheduled or unscheduled)<\/li>\n
- Manage the stock (and all related options discussed earlier)<\/li>\n
- Add weight and dimensions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Managing Your Stock in WooCommerce<\/h2>\n
WooCommerce empowers you to choose the right approach for your business–either hands-off or controlled product management.<\/p>\n
Using SKUs in WooCommerce<\/h3>\n
If you\u2019re an authorized reseller of popular products, it\u2019s important to be able to enter SKUs into the system<\/a> so your customers will know you carry the exact items they\u2019re looking for, whether it\u2019s a tracksuit or an important piece of machinery.<\/p>\n
If you sell original products, you may not have a SKU. Since entering a SKU in WooCommerce\u2019s inventory management is optional, you can choose whether you want to create one for your products or skip it. That said, it may be worth considering new SKUs for your products to make your accounting and recordkeeping easier.<\/p>\n
SKUs help you track the success (or failure) of your products based on sizes, colors, styles, and more. You can then use this data to make smarter inventory management decisions.<\/p>\n
For instance, you may find that a popular A-line dress is only popular in a red size 12, guiding you to lower your re-order levels for other colors and sizes and amp up your re-order levels for the popular SKU.<\/p>\n
Backorders and Stock Quantities in WooCommerce<\/h3>\n
WooCommerce also asks you to choose whether or not you want to manage your stock. If you do decide to manage your stock, you\u2019ll be asked to specify stock quantities and whether you\u2019ll allow back orders.<\/p>\n
Keep in mind that WooCommerce is an inventory management system in the most limited sense. While it helps you with the front facing part of selling your inventory, it does not connect to your actual inventory. This is why WooCommerce gives you this option. If you wanted, you could list products for sale on WooCommerce without any products actually in stock.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if you indicate that you want to manage stock you\u2019ll need to enter an inventory level. You\u2019ll then need to specify whether you will allow backorders<\/a> and if so, how you\u2019ll interface with customers.<\/p>\n
For example, if you have 20 jumpsuits in stock and you allow backorders with the condition that the customer is notified, the customer who orders jumpsuit number 21 will receive a message that their order may have a longer wait time.<\/p>\n
![\"start-ecommerce-biz-800x515\"](\"https:\/\/f.hubspotusercontent30.net\/hubfs\/3469233\/Images\/Emails\/Blog\/start-ecommerce-biz-800x515.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIf you allow backorders without notifying the customer, then the customer will assume their entire order is in stock and all items should arrive at the same time. This puts the responsibility on you, the retailer, to get the item from your warehouse or manufacturer in time or to notify the customer separately if shipping will be delayed.<\/p>\n
Best practice is to be transparent with your customers to avoid disappointment or cancelled orders. That said, if you have an excellent supply chain strategy or you\u2019re using a dropshipping business model, this WooCommerce inventory management feature is ideal.<\/p>\n
And of course, you can choose to not allow backorders. In this case, a customer trying to order more than 20 jumpsuits would receive a notification that they can only order 20.<\/p>\n
WooCommerce also gives you the option to specify that particular items are sold individually. In other words, when customers visit your product page they can only purchase one of each item at a time. They can\u2019t add 2, 10, or 20 items to their cart.<\/p>\n
Customize the Online Shopping Experience in WooCommerce<\/h2>\n
To help retailers optimize their shopping and checkout experiences, WooCommerce offers additional customization options:<\/p>\n
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- Enter a product weights and dimensions for fast, accurate shipping details<\/li>\n
- Display and link to related products for potential upsells and cross sells<\/li>\n
- Expand on product images by using a product gallery. This is especially useful when selling items like apparel – retailers can show the front, rear, and side views of a jumpsuit or pair of pants.<\/li>\n
- Activate or deactivate reviews for each product<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- For easier navigation, retailers can assign products (e.g., jumpsuit) parent categories (e.g., apparel) and subcategories (women\u2019s apparel), and use product tags to further optimize the website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Coupons and Discounts in WooCommerce<\/h3>\n
From a front-end, sales point of view, WooCommerce is a helpful online commerce system that enables you to offer a number of features including coupons, taxes, and shipping.<\/p>\n
Coupon codes are a particularly effective way for online sellers to manage their inventory, especially if they want to move a specific product off the shelves quickly.<\/p>\n
WooCommerce facilitates coupon codes that offer a fixed amount off the entire value of the customer\u2019s cart, a percentage amount off the entire value of the customer\u2019s cart, or a product-specific discount. You can also offer a free shipping coupon code. Once you\u2019ve established the parameters, you can add an expiration date.<\/p>\n
To make the coupon code worthwhile to your business, WooCommerce also gives you the power to restrict the coupon. For instance, if you\u2019re offering free shipping you may require a minimum spend of $75.<\/p>\n
You can also specify whether the coupon can be used in conjunction with other coupons and exclude sales items or specific products. For instance, you may want the discount to only apply to items you\u2019re trying to move out of inventory quickly instead of items that are already popular at full price.<\/p>\n
In addition, WooCommerce supports promotional features. For example, if you want to create a sense of urgency you can create a coupon that only works for the first 25 people who use it.<\/p>\n
What Are WooCommerce Inventory Management Limitations?<\/h2>\n
As we hinted at earlier, WooCommerce\u2019s focus is on the front end of inventory management. Its primary value proposition is helping online retailers provide a seamless experience for the customer who wants to know what a product looks like, how much a product costs, the sizes and colors they can buy, where they can apply a coupon code, and how much they\u2019ll be charged for shipping and taxes.<\/p>\n
WooCommerce and Warehouse Management System Integrations<\/h3>\n
- For easier navigation, retailers can assign products (e.g., jumpsuit) parent categories (e.g., apparel) and subcategories (women\u2019s apparel), and use product tags to further optimize the website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Managing Your Stock in WooCommerce<\/a><\/li>\n