Your Online Store

Welcome to ZCM Digital guide to update your WooCommerce store. WooCommerce is a powerful plugin for WordPress, providing businesses with the flexibility to create a seamless, feature-rich shopping experience. 

This user guide is designed to help you get started with WooCommerce, covering essential update information on products and online store management.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is intended for business owners, store managers, and anyone responsible for running a WooCommerce-based website. Whether you’re new to eCommerce or an experienced online retailer, this guide offers valuable insights to help you make the most out of WooCommerce’s powerful capabilities.

Your Online Store Functionality

Orders are the center of activity in your WooCommerce store. Understanding how to manage them effectively is key to keeping your business running smoothly. 

Order Status

Every order has its current state marked by a status. Order statuses can provide valuable information about the state of an order at a glance. and inform your customers when any updates are made.

Orders are the center of activity in your WooCommerce store. Understanding how to manage them effectively is key to keeping your business running smoothly. 

Every order has its current state marked by a status. Order statuses can provide valuable information about the state of an order at a glance. and inform your customers when any updates are made.

External helpful links

In any business, at times you’ll need to refund your customers. With WooCommerce, you can quickly process refunds in two ways: Automatically or Manually. 

  • Automatic refunds are preferred, and when used, return customer’s money via the payment method used to pay for the order. This all happens via the “Edit Order” page in your WooCommerce admin area.
    • To process automatic refunds, your customer must have paid via a compatible payment gateway. 
  • Manual refunds record the order as refunded in your WooCommerce store, but you’ll still need to return the money manually to your customer.
    • In most cases this means accessing your merchant account and returning funds via that interface. This varies depending on the payment gateway used.

Note: Directly changing an order’s status to Cancelled or Refunded will not automatically refund your customer. Be sure to complete the refund process outlined here.

Automatic Refunds

When processing refunds automatically, the order in WooCommerce has its status changed to “Refunded”, and the customer is refunded their money via the same payment method used to pay for the order, all in one process.

Once you’ve processed a refund automatically in WooCommerce, no further steps are necessary. Here are general steps to process an automatic refund via WooCommerce:

  1. Head to: WooCommerce > Orders.
  2. Select the order to refund.
  3. Go to the order summary, and select the Refund button.
  4. Use the quantity fields next to the product(s) to be refunded in the text box(es) that appear for each line item. The refund amount will automatically be calculated based on the quantities entered. If inventory is not managed, you can also enter the Refund amount for each line item, without adjusting the product quantity.
  5. Add refund notes, if desired.
  6. Select “Refund $x.xx via [your payment method]”.

If the full order value is not refunded, the order will not have its status changed to Refunded and the email that is sent to the shopper will refer to a “partial refund.”

Manual Refunds

Generally the only time you’ll need to use the manual refund option is if you’ve taken payment with a payment gateway that doesn’t support automatic refunds, like Cash On Delivery, or Check Payments. When manually refunding an order it is up to you to ensure your customer’s funds are returned outside of WooCommerce!

  • Check: Consult the documentation or support of your payment gateway on whether manual refunds are available. You will either need to:
    • Log in to your payment method account and process the refund there.
    • Transfer the money from your bank account manually.
  • Scope: Refunds normally extend to products, taxes, and shipping fees. However, any transaction fees charged by the payment gateway will usually be lost and not refunded.
  • WooCommerce: Refunds can be processed through your Orders page. To manually refund an order:
    1. Go to: WooCommerce > Orders.
    2. Select the order to refund.
    3. Go to the order summary, and select “Refund” to start.
    4. Specify the quantity of the product(s) to be refunded in the text box(es) that appear for each line item. The refund amount will automatically adjust based on the products refunded. If inventory levels are not managed, you can also enter the Refund amount, without adjusting the product quantity.
    5. Add refund notes, if desired.
    6. Select “Refund $XX.XX manually”.

Note: If the full order value is not refunded, the order will not have its status changed to “Refunded” and the email sent to the shopper will refer to a “partial refund.”

Items selected for a refund will be noted as refunded. Once the refund has been applied to the order, it will look like this:

External helpful links

WooCommerce comes with built-in coupon creation and management tools. WooCommerce core offers fixed-cart, fixed-product, and percentage-based coupons. On this page you’ll learn how to: 

  • Activate coupons in your store. 
  • Create a coupon.
  • Set “Usage Restrictions” and “Usage Limits” for coupons.

Activating Coupons in WooCommerce

Before creating your first coupon, you’ll need to enable coupon use in your store. Enable coupons by following these instructions:

  1. Navigate to:  WooCommerce > Settings > General > Enable coupons
  2. Tick the checkbox to Enable the use of coupon codes.
  3. Save Changes.

Creating/Adding Coupons

The first step to offering coupons to your customers is to create a coupon. Follow these instructions to create a coupon in WooCommerce:

  1. Navigate to: Marketing >Coupons.
    • If you’ve never made a coupon before, you’ll initially see a screen with a button to create a coupon and a button to learn more about coupons.
    • If you’ve made a coupon previously, you will see the “coupons” menu.
  2. Create a new coupon by clicking the Add Coupon button at the top of the screen.
  3. Enter or generate a Coupon Code. Customers use this code on the cart/checkout pages to apply the discount. You have two options for generating a code:
    • Create/Enter a code – Enter an alphanumeric code in the Coupon Code Field. Coupons are not case sensitive
    • Generate a Random Code – Select the Generate Coupon Code button if you want WooCommerce to auto-create and enter a coupon code via algorithm.
  4. Enter a Description (optional). This is information about the coupon for internal use (not seen by customers) like name of promotion/event, dates the coupon is valid, ticket number, customer name, etc.  
  5. Select the “Discount Type” from the dropdown menu. There are three choices:
    • Percentage discount – A percentage discount for selected products only. For example, if the cart contains three (3) t-shirts @ $20 each = $60, a coupon for 10% off applies a discount of $6.
    • Fixed cart discount – A fixed total discount for the entire cart. For example, if the cart contains three (3)  t-shirts @ $20 each = $60, a coupon for $10 off gives a discount of $10.
    • Fixed product discount – A fixed total discount for selected products only. Customers receive a set amount of discount per item. For example, three (3) t-shirts @ $20 each with a coupon for $10 off applies a discount of $30.
  6. Enter the coupon amount. Enter the amount without currency (i.e. : $ , £ ) or percent ( %) signs regardless of the discount type you chose in the previous step. If you want to offer a discount of 10%,  you’ll enter `10` in the field.  
  7. Check the box for “Allow Free Shipping” if applicable. You use this box when creating a “free shipping” coupon to use with the free shipping method. You can learn more about this option here. 
  8. Set a coupon expiry date (optional). Coupons expire/cannot be used on the date that is set.
  9. Click the “Publish” button on the right hand side if you do not need to add any usage restrictions or usage limits (covered in the next section)

External helpful links

If you sell physical products on your WooCommerce store, you need to configure shipping zones. Shipping Zones are the foundation for all (and most) shipping options/configurations in WooCommerce. How you configure your shipping zones determines the shipping options and rates customers see on the cart/checkout pages. This page outlines three steps to configure shipping zones

To update shipping settings in WooCommerce, follow these steps:

1. Access WooCommerce Shipping Settings

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Go to WooCommerce > Settings.
  3. Click on the Shipping tab.

2. Configure Shipping Zones

Shipping zones let you define specific regions with custom shipping options, rates, and methods.

  1. In the Shipping tab, select Shipping Zones.
  2. Click Add shipping zone to create a new zone, or click on an existing zone to edit it.
  3. Name the zone, select regions (e.g., countries, states, or postal codes), and add shipping methods.

3. Set Up Shipping Methods

Within each shipping zone, you can add and update various shipping methods, such as:

  • Flat Rate: Set a fixed rate per order, per item, or per shipping class.
  • Free Shipping: Offer free shipping based on conditions like minimum order amount.
  • Local Pickup: Allow customers to pick up orders in person.
  1. After selecting a shipping zone, click Add shipping method to choose from these options.
  2. Configure each method by clicking Edit next to it. You can set prices, add conditions, and customize details for each shipping method.

4. Update Shipping Options

  1. In the Shipping tab, select Shipping Options.
  2. Here, you can configure general settings, like enabling shipping calculators, choosing default shipping destinations, and hiding shipping costs until an address is entered.

5. Configure Shipping Classes (Optional)

Shipping classes are useful for organizing products with different shipping requirements (e.g., heavy items vs. light items).

  1. In the Shipping tab, go to Shipping Classes.
  2. Click Add shipping class to create new classes or edit existing ones.
  3. Once created, go to each product page to assign shipping classes to relevant products under the Shipping section in the Product Data panel.

6. Integrate Real-Time Shipping (Optional)

For live shipping rates, you can use plugins or WooCommerce Shipping extensions, which integrate with carriers like UPS, USPS, and FedEx.

Summary

Shipping settings in WooCommerce offer flexibility to meet diverse requirements, allowing you to set rates based on zones, products, or specific conditions. Be sure to test shipping options during checkout to verify they appear as expected.

External helpful links

How to Access WooCommerce Reports

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Go to WooCommerce > Analytics
  3. Select the report type you want to view, and choose the date range or other filters for more specific insights.

The table below describes how different metrics are calculated.

TermDescription
Gross SalesSale price of product(s) multiplied by quantity ordered. Does not include refunds, coupons, taxes, or shipping
Total SalesGross Sales – Returns – Coupons + Taxes + Shipping
Net SalesGross Sales – Returns – Coupons
(referred to as “Sales” in the legacy WooCommerce Reports)
OrdersThe number of new orders placed for a selected date range
Average Order ValueNet Sales / Orders
Items SoldThe discrete number of items sold.
RefundsMoney returned to the customer via a refund
Discounted OrdersThe count of orders with a coupon applied.
Net Discount AmountTotal sum of discounts from coupons.
Total TaxOrder Tax + Shipping Tax
Order TaxThe total tax applied to items in an order
Shipping TaxThe total tax applied to shipping in an order
ShippingThe shipping charges associated with an order or refund.
DownloadsTotal number of downloaded files

Refunds

  • Refunds appear as a negative number on the date that the return occurred (not the date the order was placed).
  • Refunds include discounts from coupons.
  • Refunded shipping charges and refunded taxes are not included in the Refunds summary number or columns. They appear as negative values in the shipping and taxes summary numbers and columns respectively.

Date Range Picker

The Date Range picker allows you to specify which dates to include in the report being viewed. When you first open the Date Range Picker, a variety of popular presets allow you to quickly choose some common date ranges:

  • Today
  • Yesterday
  • Week to Date
  • Last Week
  • Month to Date
  • Last Month
  • Quarter to Date
  • Last Year

You can also select which date range to compare against, either the same range from the “Prior Year” or the “Prior Period.”

If the presets don’t match your desired date range, click the “Custom” tab at the top of the picker for more granular control over the date range:

In the custom picker, you can either manually enter the start and end date using the provided input fields, or use the calendar to make your selection.

After either choosing a preset, or a custom date range, click the Update button to modify the data in the report. By doing this, the date range selected is added to the address of the report URL, allowing you to bookmark or share a report URL with a specific date range with other Store admins. This date selection persists on the report view until you navigate away from the report.

At the top of the reports, the Chart and Summary numbers offer quick access to key data, trends of that data, and visualizations for changes over time in the period selected, and the period being compared against.

Summary Numbers

The “Summary Number” tab gives you a quick view of the total figure for that metric over the period selected, the total number for the period being compared, and the percentage trend between those two figures. By clicking on a Summary Number, that particular metric is then displayed in the chart.

For example, this is what the “Orders Summary Number” looks like:

Chart

The charts on report pages offer quite a few options to customize the visualization of data. The “Data Legend” (labeled “a” in the above screenshot) allows you to toggle the visibility of the different data set periods. The “Interval Selector” (labeled “b”) allows you to adjust the interval displayed in the chart. The options available here are dependent upon the length of the date range selected:

Length of Date RangeInterval Options
One year or more‘day’, ‘week’, ‘month’, ‘quarter’, ‘year’
90 days to 1 year‘day’, ‘week’, ‘month’, ‘quarter’
1 month – 89 days‘day’, ‘week’, ‘month’
1 week – 28 days‘day’, ‘week’
1 day – 1 week‘day’
1 day‘day’, ‘hour’

And lastly, you can adjust the “Type of Chart” being displayed (labeled “c”) between a bar or line chart.

Table

The table which displays the detailed data on Analytics reports also has a number of features that allow you to customize how the data is displayed, and even an option to download a CSV copy of the data used in the report for further analysis.

Table Column Sorting

Many columns in reports will allow you to click on the column header to sort the tabular data by that value and to either sort by that value in ascending or descending order. Simply click the column header to sort by that value, and click it again to change between ascending and descending sort.

Toggle Column Visibility

If a report contains a data column that you don’t need to be displayed, you can adjust the visibility of it by using the visibility menu on the right side of the table header. Click the column name in the menu to change the visibility of the column. Your visibility selections are persisted to your user preferences for each report, so on subsequent visits to that report, the columns you have previously toggled off will not be displayed.

Download (to CSV)

If you would like to download a copy of the data contained in the report table, you can do so by clicking the Download button in the table header. If the amount of data shown in the report is limited to one page ( e.g. there are no pagination options shown in the table footer ), the CSV file will download immediately.

If your selected date range results in a data set that spans more than one page in the table, your CSV download will be processed as a background job by WooCommerce. Once the data is ready to be downloaded, an email will be sent to the address that is attached to your WordPress account with a link to download the file. Here is how that email looks like:

Receiver is using the email address attached to your WordPress account.
Click on Download your Orders Report to download the file.
Note: If you have more than one Admin on your site, the currently logged-in Admin who initiates the download will receive the report.

Table Pagination

When the data displayed in the table is larger than the default single page size of 25, some pagination options will appear in the table footer area. Directional buttons–labeled < and >–enable you to move backward and forward between pages, and a text field will allow you to jump to a specific page number. Furthermore, you can change the number of rows to display per page.

Table Search Box

On some reports, a search box is displayed in the table header area as well. For details on what the search box does on a given report, please refer to the associated documentation for that report.

Dashboard

The Analytics and Sales Reports dashboard in WooCommerce has been designed to allow you to keep track of the statistics and data that matter most to your site. Each section of the dashboard can be fully customized to meet the needs of your store, and also act as launching points to dive deeper into other reports.

The dashboard is comprised of three sections:

  • Performance Indicators,
  • Charts, and
  • Leaderboards.

The data presented in these sections are controlled by the Date Picker which appears at the top of the page. This lets you quickly look at data for a number of preset date-ranges like week, month, quarter, and year to date, or to select a specific date range to view.

Navigate to WooCommerce > Dashboard to get started.

Customize Dashboard Sections

These sections can be re-ordered, re-named, or even toggled off if you don’t want to view a particular section(s).

Toggle Stats

To customize dashboard sections, click the kebab menu in the top right corner of the section. The first item that appears in this menu is the ability to toggle the display of the various stats that are shown in the section.

Rename, Move or Remove a Dashboard Section

Below that you will find options for renaming the section, moving it up or down, or removing it entirely from the dashboard.

Add a Dashboard Section

If you removed a dashboard section, or you have an extension installed that adds in an option for a new section, a plus icon will appear at the bottom of your dashboard. Clicking that plus will allow you to insert previously removed sections, or add in new ones.

Performance Section

By default, the Performance Indicators section is what appears at the top of your dashboard below the Date Picker. Each performance indicator will display a label informing you of the statistic that is being presented, the value of that statistic for the date range selected, a percentage change over the prior period along with a trend arrow of up/down/same, and the value for the previous period that is being compared.

Beyond giving you a quick glimpse into the statistic, Performance Indicators also act as a quick shortcut to dive deeper into the data behind the stat. For example, clicking on the Total Sales indicator will open up the Revenue Report for the date range that has been selected on the Dashboard. From there you can view associated charts and tabular data for deeper analysis.

Using the customization menu in the top right corner of the section, you can toggle the display of the following default performance indicators:

Indicator NameDescriptionLinks to (Report Name > Chart Name)
Total SalesGross Sales – Returns – Coupons + Taxes + ShippingRevenue Report > Total Sales
Net SalesGross Sales – Returns – CouponsRevenue Report > Net Sales
OrdersThe number of new orders placed for a selected date rangeOrders Report > Orders
Average Order ValueNet Sales / OrdersOrders Report > Average Order Value
Items SoldThe discrete number of items sold.Products Report > Items Sold
RefundsMoney returned to the customer via a refundRevenue Report > Refunds
Discounted OrdersThe count of orders with a coupon applied.Coupons Report > Orders Count
Net Discount AmountTotal sum of discounts from coupons.Coupons Report > Amount
Total TaxOrder Tax + Shipping TaxTaxes Report > Total Tax
Order TaxThe total of tax applied to items in an orderTaxes Report > Order Tax
Shipping TaxThe total of tax applied to shipping in an orderTaxes Report > Shipping Tax
ShippingThe shipping charges associated with an order or refund.Revenue Report > Shipping
DownloadsTotal count of downloaded filesDownloads Report > Download Count
Gross SalesSale price of product(s) x quantity ordered. Does not include refunds, coupons, taxes or shippingRevenue Report > Gross Sales

Charts Section

The next section displayed by default is Charts. The customization menu again allows you to toggle the display of charts that are most useful for your Store. The following charts are available to display in this section:

Chart NameDescriptionLinks to (Report Name > Chart Name)
Total SalesGross Sales – Returns – Coupons + Taxes + ShippingRevenue Report > Total Sales
Net SalesGross Sales – Returns – CouponsRevenue Report > Net Sales
OrdersThe number of new orders placed for a selected date rangeOrders Report > Orders
Average Order ValueNet Sales / OrdersOrders Report > Average Order Value
Items SoldThe discrete number of items sold.Products Report > Items Sold
RefundsMoney returned to the customer via a refundRevenue Report > Refunds
Discounted OrdersThe count of orders with a coupon applied.Coupons Report > Orders Count
Gross Discount AmountTotal sum of discounts from coupons.Coupons Report > Amount
Total TaxOrder Tax + Shipping TaxTaxes Report > Total Tax
Order TaxThe total of tax applied to items in an orderTaxes Report > Order Tax
Shipping TaxThe total of tax applied to shipping in an orderTaxes Report > Shipping Tax
ShippingThe shipping charges associated with an order or refund.Revenue Report > Shipping
DownloadsTotal count of downloaded filesDownloads Report > Download Count

Chart Interval Options

The charts section has a setting that allows you to set the time interval to display in the charts. The options displayed in the interval drop down are determined by how long of a date range you currently have selected in the Date Picker.

Length of Date RangeInterval Options
One year or more‘day’, ‘week’, ‘month’, ‘quarter’, ‘year’
90 days to 1 year‘day’, ‘week’, ‘month’, ‘quarter’
1 month – 89 days‘day’, ‘week’, ‘month’
1 week – 28 days‘day’, ‘week’
1 day – 1 week‘day’
1 day‘day’, ‘hour’

Chart Type Option

The last way you can customize the appearance of the charts is the ability to toggle between Line and Bar charts. Your selection chosen here will be saved to your user options and used on subsequent visits to the WooCommerce Dashboard.

Leaderboards Section

The final section on the Dashboard allows you to view four different “Leaderboards” for your store’s statistics. Like the other two sections, you can also toggle the visibility of the leaderboards via the customization menu. By default you have the following four Leaderboards to choose from:

  • Top Customers, Total Spend
  • Top Coupons, Number of Orders
  • Top Categories, Items Sold
  • Top Products, Items Sold

Analytics Settings

WooCommerce is pre-configured with default settings for the Analytics and Sales Reports.

Navigate to Analytics > Settings to change these default settings.

These settings are broken down into sections:

  • Excluded Statuses
  • Actionable Statuses – See Activity Panels for details
  • Default Date Range
  • Import Historical Data
  • Reset Defaults

Excluded Statuses

In this section, statuses that are unchecked are included in analytics reports. Checked statuses are excluded. If your store uses custom order statuses, those statuses are included in the reports by default. They will be listed in this section under Custom Statuses and can be excluded via the status checkbox.

Actionable Statuses

See Activity Panels for details.

Default Date Range

WooCommerce is pre-configured with a default date range of Month to Date. This is the date range that will be used when loading the Analytics and Sales Reports Dashboard or Analytics page from any non-WooCommerce page. Any reports that support a date range will have a Date Range Picker to allow changing the date range for the report.

Date Type

Select the date field that should be considered for Revenue and Order Reports. The default date type is set to “Date Paid”. This setting gives you the flexibility to select the date to be used in the reports – Order created, Order processed, or Order Completed.

Importing Historical Data

When you install WooCommerce 4.0 the Analytics and Sales Reports needs to process the historical data in order to populate new Report pages. This is not done automatically – extremely large or high volume stores might want to schedule a maintenance window in which to import their historical data.

Stores with existing Orders will be prompted to import their data:

Prompt to import historical data

Starting the Import

To start a historical data import, use the prompt above or go to Analytics > Settings, and scroll down to Import Historical Data.

Analytics > Settings > Import historical data

Stores that only want to see report data from a certain date onward can choose a date period, otherwise “all” data will be imported.

Extremely large or high volume stores might choose to import data in smaller increments – perhaps each year or quarter separately. The “skip previously imported customers and orders” control allows for overlapping date ranges to be imported without unnecessary data processing.

The Customer and Order counts will be updated in real-time to reflect changes made to the import settings. Press “start” when you’re ready for the import to begin.

Monitoring Progress

Once you’ve started an import, progress will be periodically updated on the Analytics > Settings screen.

Historical data import in progress

Navigating away from this page will not affect the import, and you can return to it at any time to monitor progress.

Once the import is complete, the status will reflect it:

Historical data complete

You’ll be given the option to run another import or to delete previously imported data. Please note that deletion is for analytics data only. This doesn’t delete your products, orders, customers, etc…

Resetting Analytics

Speaking of deleting any already imported historical data. If you do need to reset the Analytics reports you can do so from this settings screen by selecting Delete Previously Imported Data. Once that data is deleted your reports won’t show any information and you’d want to select new historical data to import, say a new time frame, or wait on new orders and customers to come in.

How the Import Works

Initial Data Import

The historical data import uses Action Scheduler to queue jobs that process the existing data on your store, building tables of aggregate data to be used in Reports.

Before version 3.0.0, Action Scheduler used custom post types to manage queue data. To avoid problems queuing large numbers of items, the import jobs are queued and processed in batches to reduce the likelihood of execution time limits on servers/hosts with limited resources.

Subsequent Data Updates

All Customers and Orders that get created after WooCommerce 4.0 (or the WooCommerce Admin plugin) is installed are automatically queued for processing. Only historical data requires manual intervention to process.

Action Scheduler at Scale

For extremely large or high volume stores, we recommend following the Action Scheduler documentation for Background Processing at Scale.

If you’re using WooCommerce 3.9 or earlier, the bundled version of Action Scheduler uses a custom post type to manage queues. This can cause performance issues for high volume stores. We recommend installing the Action Scheduler plugin at version 3.0.0 or later. Action Scheduler 3.0.0+ uses custom database tables for queue handling and is significantly faster than previous versions.

Reset Defaults

The “Reset Defaults” button resets the settings to default values for all of the settings above the button. It has no effect on the data imported via Import Historical Data.

Reports

You can access the individual reports (listed below) directly from your site’s dashboard. Below you will find detailed instructions on how to access and use them:

Analytics Cache

WooCommerce has to process a large amount of data to generate the reports detailed in this section. To avoid potential performance issues the data is cached in a usable format and regularly updated.

If you notice that the figures displayed in the reports differ from the actual figures on your website then you can clear the cache by going to WooCommerce > Status > Tools and running the Clear Analytics Cache tool. If after clearing the cache the figures still look off, try reimporting historical data.

Questions and support

Do you still have questions and need assistance? 

This documentation is about the free, core WooCommerce plugin, for which support is provided in our community forums on WordPress.org. By searching this forum, you’ll often find that your question has been asked and answered before.

If you haven’t created a WordPress.org account to use the forums, here’s how.

  • If you’re looking to extend the core functionality shown here, we recommend reviewing available extensions in the WooCommerce Marketplace.
  • Need ongoing advanced support or a customization built for WooCommerce? Hire a Woo Agency Partner.
  • Are you a developer building your own WooCommerce integration or extension? Check our Developer Resources.

If you weren’t able to find the information you need, please use the feedback thumbs below to let us know.

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Clicking on the Accounts and Privacy tab at the top of the WooCommerce > Settings page takes you to the accounts and privacy Settings.

These settings are where you can enable or disable guest checkout, control customer account creation, decide how personal data is retained or removed from your shop, and set your privacy policy notices. Sections include:

Guest Checkout

  • Allow customers to place orders without an account – Allows customers to check out without creating an account or being logged in. Guest orders will not be tied to a user account in WordPress.
  • Allow customers to log into an existing account during checkout – This displays a login form and prompt on the checkout page if the customer is not already logged in.

Account Creation

  • Allow customers to create an account during checkout
  • Allow customers to create an account on the My account page
  • Automatically generate username from customer email – If this setting is disabled, there will be an input box for the user to enter their own username.
  • Automatically generate customer password – If this is disabled, there will be an input box for the user to set their own password. Note that while the password strength notification will be displayed at Checkout, customers can choose any password so as to not limit conversions. For accounts created on the My Account page, the password will need to meet certain strength requirements (i.e. a combination of the number of characters and mixture of uppercase / lowercase / numeric / symbol characters).

Account erasure requests

  • Remove personal data from orders – WordPress 4.9 allows you to remove personal data on request. When doing this, if you enable this option, user data will also be removed from your orders if they belong to the user being erased.
  • Remove access to downloads – WordPress 4.9 allows you to remove personal data on request. When doing this, if you enable this option, download data will also be removed if it belongs to the user being erased. The erased user will no longer have access to any purchased downloads if this happens.

Personal data removal

  • Allow personal data to be removed in bulk from orders – Adds a new bulk action to remove personal data on the Orders page. Useful if you need to manually anonymize orders in bulk. See more about this feature at Managing Orders: Removing Personal Data from Orders.

Your Products

In WooCommerce you can add products with as little as a product name and a price. However to an extent, the more information you add, the more enticing your products will be to customers, and the better they’ll rank in search engines. This process soon reveals there’s a lot to consider.

You’ll need to decide which categories to use for organising and displaying your products. Will you charge tax? How will you track stock? If you offer shipping, do you need to include product dimensions and weight? How will you handle products with variations, like a shirt that comes in different colours? What attributes will you need for these products? Will you allow reviews, encourage them site-wide, per product, or not at all?

Thinking about these questions ahead of time makes adding and managing products much easier. Use the links below to learn how to add/edit/manage different types of products, navigate the product editor, and sort/filter/feature products in your shop:

 

To update products in a WooCommerce store, follow these steps:

1. Access Your WooCommerce Products

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Navigate to WooCommerce > Products.

2. Edit an Existing Product

  1. In the Products list, locate the product you want to update.
  2. Hover over the product name and click Edit to open the product’s editing page.

3. Update Product Details

Once in the product editing screen, you can modify various aspects of the product:

  • Product Name: Edit the name as desired.
  • Product Description: Update the long and short descriptions under the “Product Description” and “Short Description” sections.
  • Product Data:
    • General Tab: Adjust price, sale price, and tax status.
    • Inventory Tab: Update stock levels and stock status.
    • Shipping Tab: Edit the product’s weight, dimensions, and shipping class.
    • Linked Products Tab: Add upsell or cross-sell items.
    • Attributes Tab: Update product attributes (like size, colour).
    • Variations Tab: For variable products, you can edit variations like size or colour options.
  • Product Image & Gallery: Click Set product image to change the main image or Add product gallery images to add or remove gallery images.

4. Update and Save

  1. After making changes, click Update on the right side of the screen to save.
  2. Check your store to ensure the updates appear as expected.

5. Bulk Edit (Optional)

If you need to update multiple products at once:

  1. Go to Products in the dashboard.
  2. Check the boxes next to the products you want to edit.
  3. From the Bulk actions dropdown, select Edit and click Apply.
  4. You can then update general information like sale price, stock status, or categories for all selected products.

6. Import and Export (Advanced)

For larger updates, WooCommerce offers a Product CSV Import Suite:

  • Go to Products > Import or Export for a CSV file, make your changes in bulk, then re-import.

Following these steps will keep your WooCommerce store up-to-date with accurate product information, helping ensure a smooth experience for your customers.

Let’s add a Simple product. You’ll need: 

  • Product name
  • Product’s regular price
  • Product image (from your Media Library)

The following example results in a basic product listing, without a description, assigned to the default “Uncategorized” product category:

  1. Go to WooCommerce > Products > Add Product. 
  2. Enter a Product name. 
  3. In the Product data > General section, the Product type should default to Simple product. 
  4. Enter an amount in the Regular price field.
  5. In the Product image panel in the right-hand column, click the Set product image link. 
  6. Select the image you want to use and click  the Set product image button.
  7. Click the Publish button in the Publish panel.
  8. Click the View product link at the top of the screen to view the newly created product.
Remember to categorise your products so they appear in the correct area of your website

Grouped products are used to list several different products together on one product page. Shoppers can add as many of the listed products as they like from the Grouped product page to their cart all at once. Grouped products do not have their own prices or stock numbers since they are essentially lists of other products in your shop.

Adding a Grouped product works in two steps:

  1. Create the Grouped product.
  2. Add products to the group.

Create the Grouped product

  1. Go to WooCommerce > Products > Add New.
  2. Enter a Title for the Grouped product, e.g., Back to School set.
  3. Scroll down to the Product Data panel and select Grouped product from the dropdown. The price and several other fields disappear. This is normal because a Grouped Product is a collection of other products that already contain this information.
  4. Click the Publish button in the Publish panel (or move on to adding products to the group before publishing).

Add products to the Group

After creating a Grouped product, and until you add products to it, it is just an empty group.

To complete the Grouped product, you need to:

  • Create products to add to the Grouped Product (if they don’t exist already).
  • Add existing products to the group.

You have the flexibility to build a Grouped product in the order you prefer by having the choice to either first create Simple products and add them to a Grouped product later, or first create a Grouped product and add Simple products later. You can also add the same products to more than one Grouped product.

Select External/Affiliate product from the Product type dropdown. This changes the Product data panel a bit. It first removes the shipping section from the left side and then adds two new fields in the General section; the Product URL and Button text fields. The Product URL field is the destination where users can purchase this product. Then the Button text lets you change the normal Add to cart button text to your preferred text.

Variable products in WooCommerce let you offer a set of variations on a product, with control over prices, stock, image, and more for each variation. You can use them for a product like a t-shirt, which you can offer in large, medium, and small sizes, all in different colors.

To add a new variable product:

  1. Navigate to “Products” in WP-Admin (the site’s admin area). 
  2. Click Add New Product at the top of the page.
  3. Enter the product name. 
  4. Choose “Variable Product” from the “Product data” dropdown menu.
  5. Click on the “Attributes” tab on the left hand side under the Product data dropdown. 
  6. Add either a global/existing attribute or create a new one(specific to the product):
    • Adding a Global Attribute:
      1. If you’ve already created global attributes, select the one you want to use from the “add existing” dropdown menu at the top of the settings.
      2. Select the variations/values you’d like to use from that attribute. You can add them all by clicking the “Select All” button below the values box or you can select specific ones you want to use by clicking on the “Select Values” box and selecting them one by one. 
    • Adding a new Attribute:
      1. Click the “Add New” button at the top of the settings. 
      2. Add a name for your attribute (examples: size) 
      3. Add the values (variations) you need. Separate each variation/value with |  (i.e.: Medium | Large | XL | XXL )
  7. Click “Save Attributes”. 
  8. Click on the Variations tab on the left. 
  9. Click either:
    • Generate variations to add all possible variations from all attributes values/variations.
    • Add manually to specify which variables will be available for the product. 
  10. Click on each variation to expand to its product menu. 
  11. Enter product information: Price, stock status, weight, dimensions, shipping class, and description. Add Linked Products if needed. Repeat for all variations. 
  12. Optional: Use the “Bulk Actions” dropdown at the top of the “Variations” menu to set product information for all variations at once. 
  13. Click Save changes at the bottom of the variations menu. 
  14. Click “Publish” in the top right of the screen to publish the product.

Each variation can have the following properties:

  • Image – Click the placeholder to add an image. See below
  • SKU – Enter the SKU or leave blank. Note: If you set an SKU at the product level but leave it blank at the variation level, SKU will default to product level SKU. 
  • Enabled – Enable or disable the variation.
  • Regular Price (required) – Set the price for this variation. Variations without prices don’t show in your store.
  • Sale Price (optional) – Set a price for this variation when on sale.
  • Downloadable – If this a downloadable variation. Adds the following download fields:
    • Downloadable Files – Add file(s) for customers to download.
    • Download Limit – Set how many times a customer can download the file(s). Leave blank for unlimited.
    • Download Expiry – Set the number of days before a download expires after purchase.
  • Virtual – If this product is not physical or shipped. Marking a product as virtual removes the following shipping settings:
    • Weight – Weight for the variation, leave this blank to use the main product’s weight.
    • Dimensions – Height, width and length for the variation, leave this blank to use the main product’s dimensions.
    • Shipping class – Shipping classes can affect shipping. Set a variation specific shipping class here.
  • Manage Stock? –
    • Stock quantity – if selected. Allows to set the current stock level for the variation.
    • “Allow backorders?” – Enables allowing backorders for the variation; if enabled, stock can go below zero.
    • Low stock threshold – When the stock for the variation reaches this level, the system will send you a notification email. If you haven’t configured it, WooCommerce uses the product-wide threshold (see Inventory Management below).
  • Tax class – Use tax classes to charge different tax rates for a specific variation. Read more about tax classes

WooCommerce categories are organisational labels for grouping products within an online store.

They work similarly to categories in blogs, providing a structured way to organise and display related products together, making it easier for customers to browse and find what they need.

Categories help streamline the shopping experience, especially in stores with a large inventory, by simplifying product navigation and improving overall site usability.

For example if I categorise a product as “table” it will appear on the table page. 

How to Create and Assign Categories in WooCommerce

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Products > Categories.
  2. Add a new category by entering its name, slug (URL-friendly version), description, and optionally setting a parent category if it’s a subcategory.
  3. To assign a category to a product, edit the product, scroll down to the Product Categories section, and check the box next to the relevant category.

Differences Between Categories and Tags

  • Categories are more structured and hierarchical, providing primary product groupings (like “Men’s Shoes” or “Electronics”).
  • Tags are flexible, descriptive keywords that can cross categories (like “Eco-friendly” or “On Sale”) and are typically used to capture specific product details.

Examples of WooCommerce Tags

Consider a fashion store that sells a wide range of clothing and accessories. Tags might include:

  • Seasonal tags: “Spring Collection,” “Fall Essentials”
  • Material tags: “Leather,” “Cotton,” “Recycled”
  • Occasion tags: “Casual,” “Formal,” “Outdoor”

Each product can have multiple tags, and these can be used across different product categories to allow customers to find products based on these unique characteristics.

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