WooCommerce variation prices plugin

If a product has variations with different prices then WooCommerce always displays the price as a range. This could be losing you sales. That's why you need the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin.

Imagine that a product has variations that are priced between $10 and $25. WooCommerce will display the price as $10.00 – $25.00 throughout your store. The problem is that this often isn’t the best way to sell your products and can put customers off, resulting in lost sales.

Keep reading to discover the easy way to take control over how variation prices are displayed in your store. You'll learn how to list all variation prices separately, replace the price range with a "From" or "To" price, or even create your custom variation price format.

What's the best way to set different prices for product variations in WooCommerce?

Out of the box, if a product has variations that have different prices then WooCommerce will always display the price as a range. There's absolutely nothing you can do to change this, short of writing custom PHP code. It doesn't matter that displaying a price range might not be the best way to attract customers - that's the only option.

Fortunately, you can easily fix this by installing the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin. This lets you replace the default variation price range with an alternate price format of your choosing.

You can choose to display the minimum variation price only, maximum variation price only, list all variation prices, or choose a custom format. Here's a list of all the different variation price formats that you can choose from:

  • Price range e.g. $50 - $100.
  • Starting price (long) e.g. From $50.
  • Starting price (short) e.g. $50+.
  • Maximum price e.g. Up to $100.
  • List all variation prices at once.
  • Hide the price at the top of the product page until a variation is selected.
  • Create your own custom variation price display format, with whatever wording you choose. As part of this, you can also change the price range separator from a dash to anything else, such as colon or other symbol.

As you can see, this variation price plugin for WooCommerce gives online store owners complete flexibility in how to display variable prices. You can even hide the price for variable products on the front-end. It also has extras such as automatically updating the main product price when the customer selects a variation.

Step-by-step: How to set up variable prices in WooCommerce

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you exactly how to change how your variable product prices are displayed. The new price format will be used wherever WooCommerce normally displays the default price range. This includes on your main Shop page, category pages, related products, and on individual product pages.

1. Set up the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin

To start using WooCommerce Variation Prices straight away, watch the video at the start of this article. Alternatively, follow the step-by-step instructions below:

  1. Get the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin. You’ll receive the plugin files and license key in a confirmation email. Install the plugin on your WordPress website and activate it.
  2. Once that’s done, the plugin setup wizard will open automatically. Activate your license key on the first page.
  3. Next, you can start changing the format for your variation prices. You can do this in the setup wizard, or do it later on the settings page at WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Variation prices.

2. Set the price display format

Use the Options dropdown to select a price format. The available options include:

  • Price range
  • Starting price (short)
  • Starting price (long)
  • Maximum price
  • List all variation prices
  • Hide the price until a variation is selected
  • Custom

If you choose the Price range option, you'll see the Price range separator field.

WooCommerce Variation Prices range separator

Here, you can enter a character to use as the price range separator. By default, this is set to a hyphen/dash character.

And, if you choose the Custom option, you'll see a Custom format field.

Custom variable product price format in WooCommerce

You can add any text you'd like to display here. It supports %min% and %max% tags. For example, from %min% to %max% + VAT would display the price as: "from $50 to $100 + VAT".

3. Choose product types

The option lets you choose the products types you want to apply the variation price format to.

Grouped product variation price format

You can choose to apply it to variable products, grouped products, or both.

4. Show selected variation price

Normally, the price range at the top of the WooCommerce product page remains visible even after the customer selects a variation. That's pretty limited, so you can use the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin to change this.

When the Show selected variation price option is enabled, the main price of the product page is updated to show the price of the selected variation. This is much more user-friendly than always showing the low and high prices.

5. Bonus: Change the variation price format in the WordPress admin

So far, we've only looked at how to change the variation price format in the front end of your e-commerce store. You can also choose to show the modified variation price formats in the WordPress admin dashboard. This option is enabled by default, but you can disable it if you prefer.

Custom format preview in admin view

When is it a good idea to change the variation price format?

To help you decide whether you need the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin, let’s take a look at some use case scenarios. These are examples of products that can benefit from displaying variation prices in a different type of price format:

Show the lowest variation price instead of the range

Online courses and other subscription products that have plenty of add-on option fields might want to show the lowest price (the base cost) only on the front-end. This is especially useful for anyone that has add-ons that significantly increase the cost of the base product.

For example, if the online course costs $99 and you give customers several add-ons such as:

  • A one-on-one session for $39 per month.
  • Access to the Discord community for $9.99 per month.

Then you wouldn’t want to display the online course’s price in a range like $99 – $147.99. That’s a huge difference. Potential learners might be put off by the highest price thinking they can’t afford the online course.

Using a WooCommerce variation prices plugin, you can instead use wording like ‘Starting at $99’ or ‘Starts from $99’.

Show the highest variation price instead of the range

Restaurants might want to display the highest price instead of the range for each item. This is particularly useful for pizzerias that sell single slices, half pies, and full pies as options. This way, the customer won’t be led to believe that a full pizza pie costs $5 when that’s the price of a single slice.

In this sort of scenario, you’d be better of displaying the prices using a separator like ‘$5 / $11.99 / $23’ to display the prices of single slices, half pies, and full pies.

Sell variations by weight

Stores that sell products by weight might want to list all variation prices or choose a custom format depending on the product. For example, meat shops that sell meat in pre-packaged variations might want to display the cost of each variation.

You can list prices on the front-end:

  • 500 grams - $5.40
  • 1 kilogram - $10.20
  • 1.5 kilogram - $15.99
  • 2.0 kilograms - $20.00

You can list the prices of all variations on the single product page.

List all variation prices WooCommerce

This is particularly useful if you want to sell product variations at different prices or offer a discount on specific variations.

Display the maximum price

Some stores might want to display the maximum price because the lowest variation price might be the price of a sample rather than the actual, full-size product. In this scenario, only the highest price matters.

For example, bakeries that sell cookies by the dozen might want to display the price of a full dozen instead of a price range that shows the price of one cookie and a dozen cookies. You could show the price as ‘Up to $25’ indicating that lower price options are also available.

Hide the WooCommerce variation price display

Other store owners want to hide or remove the WooCommerce variation price display from the product page. For example, maybe you want to hide the variation price range when customers first visit the product page. The price of the selected variation then appears when they choose a variation.

WooCommerce variable price FAQs

What's a WooCommerce variable product?

So far in this article, I've assumed you already know what is a product variation. Sorry about that!

In case you don't already know, WooCommerce comes with a choice of product types. One of these is called 'Variable product'. It allows you to create two or more options for customers to choose from.

WooCommerce product variations are useful for any type of product that is sold with a defined list of choices. For example, a t-shirt might be sold in a range of sizes and colors - so you would create a variation for each combination.

What’s wrong with the way WooCommerce normally displays variation prices?

As I mentioned earlier, WooCommerce displays product variation prices in a range that lists the lowest and the highest price. Here’s what’s wrong with this:

Showing the highest possible price

The problem with showing a range that includes the highest possible price is that it can be bad for buyer psychology. This is because you’re drawing attention to the highest possible price.

As a result, it can lose you sales and reduce your conversion rate – a disaster for any store owner!

Think of it this way: if the top of the range is above budget, the customer is likely to leave your store. Unless they select a variation with a lower price, they’ll never know which options are within their budget.

The solution is to use the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin to change the variation price format into something more buyer-friendly.

Select a variation to see the actual price

WooCommerce requires customers to select a variation to see the actual price. If you sell products that have lots of variations, customers might be clicking around for a long time to find one with a price they’re happy with.

The solution is to use WooCommerce Variation Prices to list all variation prices at once.

Not suitable for all types of products

The default way WooCommerce displays variable product prices may simply not fit with the nature of the products you sell. For example, the lowest or highest price may be the norm and you only want to display this. Or, you might sell products by weight and need to add a ‘per KG’ price or something similar.

In this case, you’re better off using the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin to create a custom price format that meets your exact requirements.

How many variations are allowed in WooCommerce?

WooCommerce works with unlimited numbers of variations. Once you get above a certain number of variations, they are loaded using AJAX to ensure fast load times regardless of the number.

However, I find that variations can be a pain to work with if you have a lot per product. That's because to create variations, you need to add your product attributes first (e.g. size and color). Next, you create a separate variation for every possible combination of attributes, and add a price, image, stock level etc. for each one. The number of variations quickly multiplies up exponentially if you have lots of attributes and variations.

In some cases, it's easier to use the WooCommerce Product Options option instead of variations. This provides an alternative way of adding options to products, and is much simpler than working with variations. It's also more flexible because instead of just displaying the options as dropdowns, you can choose from a wide range of styles such as checkboxes, file upload fields and clickable image buttons.

How to set different prices for product variations in WooCommerce?

When you create a variation for a WooCommerce product, it will have its own price field. Use this to add a different price for each product variation.

If you have lots of variations, then consider using the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin to bulk-select variations and set the price in bulk. For example, you can select all products with a 'Large' size attribute and set the price for all the large variations at once.

Next steps: Take your WooCommerce variation pricing to the next level

WooCommerce Variation Prices is perfect for store owners that don’t want to display variable product prices in the default range. It lets you choose from different options including displaying the minimum (or maximum) price only, listing all variation prices, and choosing a custom format.

Like all Barn2 plugins, WooCommerce Variation Prices comes with a full 30-day money back guarantee. This lets you try it risk-free on your store and get a refund if you're not happy for any reason.

This super-simple plugin only takes a few minutes to set up. Install it on your WordPress site and follow the simple instructions in the setup wizard to improve the way variable product prices are displayed in your store. It's a simple but important change that will change how customers perceive your pricing, helping to generate more sales for you 🔥

WooCommerce product bundles

By the end of this article, you will have a clear understanding of how to create product bundles for your WooCommerce store, using the Woocommerce product bundles feature.

When using WooCommerce for your online store, you may have noticed that each product is treated individually by default, with no built-in option for customers to purchase multiple products together as a bundle. This can be a major issue if you want to offer product bundles in your store.

However, there is no need to worry! In this comprehensive guide, we'll show you how to create WooCommerce product bundles for your store using three different methods. By the end of this guide, you'll have a good understanding of the various methods available to bundle your products, and you'll be able to choose the one that works best for your store.

Creating WooCommerce product bundles might seem overwhelming, but with our guidance and professional advice, you can create attractive bundles that enhance your customers' shopping experience. Crafting WooCommerce product bundles is a great way that can aid in achieving your business goals.

So, let's dive in and learn how to bundle your WooCommerce products using our tutorial.

How to create product bundles for your WooCommerce store

There are 3 different ways to create WooCommerce product bundles:

  1. WooCommerce Product TableLet customers create their own bundle by listing products individually so that they can mix and match. Perfect for complete flexibility. Setup instructions →
  2. WooCommerce Product BundlesSell fixed regular price product bundles. Perfect for pre-defined bundles. Setup instructions →
  3. WooCommerce Bulk VariationsCreate one product for each bundle you want to upsell and add a range of variations so that customers can choose the items they require. Perfect for converting individual products into a create-your-own bundle. Setup instructions →

And the best part is that we’ll also show you how to set up each method step-by-step. It’s super quick and easy and there’s absolutely no technical knowledge needed to follow this tutorial. You can start selling WooCommerce product bundles today!

What are the benefits of a product bundle in WooCommerce?

WooCommerce product bundles offer several benefits for both online store owners and customers. Here are some of the advantages:

  1. Increased sales: Bundling products together can encourage customers to purchase more items and cross-sells for the store.
  2. Higher average order value: Since bundles typically offer a discount, customers may be more likely to spend more on the bundle than they would on individual items.
  3. Improved customer experience: Bundles can provide a more convenient shopping experience for customers by grouping related products together and subscription products in one place.
  4. Cost-effective marketing: Product bundles can be a cost-effective marketing tool for online stores by promoting products together instead of individually.
  5. Greater flexibility: WooCommerce product bundles offer greater flexibility in terms of the types of products that can be bundled together, and the pricing, coupons, and discount options available.
  6. Easy inventory management: By bundling products together, inventory management can be simplified and streamlined., reducing the likelihood of out-of-stock or overstocking.

What type of products can be bundled together?

The types of products that can be bundled together in WooCommerce are quite diverse and largely depend on the nature of the online store and the products it offers. Here are some examples of product bundles that are commonly used:

  1. Complementary products: Products that are related to or complement each other, such as a coffee machine and a pack of coffee pods.
  2. Accessories and main products: Accessories that are designed to be used with a main product, such as a phone case and a smartphone.
  3. Multiple variations of the same product: Different variations of a product that are bundled together, such as a set of different colored markers.
  4. Seasonal products: Products that are typically used during a specific season or event, such as a bundle of winter clothing or holiday decorations.
  5. Products from the same brand: Products from the same brand can be bundled together to promote brand loyalty or encourage customers to try new products.
  6. Starter kits: A bundle of products that provides customers with everything they need to get started with a particular hobby or activity, such as a yoga starter kit or a cooking bundle.

These are just a few examples of the types of products that can be bundled together in WooCommerce. The possibilities are virtually endless, and WooCommerce product bundles can be tailored to the specific needs and preferences of an online store's customer base.

WooCommerce product bundles use cases

As an online store owner, there are tons of ways you can benefit from creating WooCommerce product bundles plugin for your e-commerce store.

Selling bundled products

Here are some use-case scenarios for which you might consider creating bundles:

  1. Artisan soaps, lotions, and balms.  With the WooCommerce Product Table plugin, handmade product sellers like those offering soaps, lotions, and balms can create a front-end table layout that lists all their products. For example, you can bundle three soaps and one lotion for $2.50 with a single artisan soap sold for $1, allowing customers to choose which ones to include in their custom product bundle before proceeding to the checkout page.
  2. Sports gear. You can sell related products (like sports gear) in product kits or grouped products using the WooCommerce Product Bundles plugin. For example, you can create a fixed-price product bundle that contains two badminton rackets, two bags, and four nylon shuttlecocks sold at $55.99.
  3. Candies, teas, and coffees. If you want to give customers the option to mix and match their own product bundles, you can use WooCommerce Bulk Variations to create a single product bundle and list the different items as product variations. For example, you can create a Bundle of Candies product and list a variety of candies as variations to let customers pick and choose the ones they want to purchase.

Of course, there are tons of different ways to use the WooCommerce product bundles plugin with variations depending on the product types you sell. For example, the WooCommerce Product Table plugin is perfect for selling downloadable products and composite products, as well.

By now, you know the 3 ways for creating WooCommerce product bundles and should have chosen which method is best for you. Next, here’s how you can set up each bundle type:

Method 1: Create 'Build Your Own' bundles with WooCommerce Product Table

WooCommerce product bundles in product table

If you sell a variety of products and want to give customers the option to choose which ones they’d like to add to their product bundle, we recommend using the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.

This is the best option if you want a flexible way to suggest product bundlings while allowing customers to choose which products to order and in which quantities.

Setup Instructions

  1. Get the WooCommerce Product Table plugin and install and activate it on your WordPress site.
  2. Head over to WooCommerceSettings ProductsProduct tables to configure the plugin’s settings from the backend. We recommend the following configuration:
    1. Enter image,name,description,price,add-to-cart in the Columns option. You can also display additional product details such as SKU.
    2. Set the Add to cart button option to Checkbox only using the dropdown.
    3. Set Product filters to Disabled and Search box to Hidden using the dropdown. These elements aren’t relevant for selling specific bundled products.
      WooCommerce Product Table settings
  3. Click the Save changes button to proceed.
  4. Create a new page and add the shortcode [product_table] to it. Edit the shortcode as needed to choose which products to include, and much more.

Method 2: Sell fixed price bundles with WooCommerce Product Bundles

WooCommerce Product Bundles plugin on the front-end

The Product Bundles WooCommerce add-on lets you display bundles of multiple WooCommerce product bundles with variations on a single product page.

There are two ways to sell product bundles: with one add-to-cart button for a fixed price or with separate prices and quantity boxes for each product in the bundle. The first option is recommended if you want to offer a fixed selection of products for a fixed price.

This is particularly useful for more expensive WooCommerce product bundles with variations like tech products (e.g. laptops with accessories), furniture (e.g. mattresses with bed sheets and pillows), or sports gear (e.g. ping pong table, rackets, and ping pong balls).

Setup instructions

  1. Get the WooCommerce Product Bundles plugin and install it on your site.
  2. Create a new product. This will be your product bundle.
  3. Scroll down to the Product data section and use the dropdown to select the Product bundle option.
  4. Click on the Bundled Products tab to configure the WooCommerce bundled product options.
WooCommerce Product Bundles settings

Method 3: Let customers pick and choose product variations to create their own bundle

WooCommerce Bulk Variations matrix preview

Method 3 uses the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin. It lets you create one product for each product bundle you want to sell. You can then add all the individual items that you want to allow users to bundle as variations. This is perfect for online stores that sell low-cost products like candies, sweets, teas, or coffees.

Using this plugin, you can display these variable products in a matrix on the single product page. You can also use the shortcode included in the plugin to show the product matrix on any page, such as a central Bundles page or in a widget. This allows customers to select the number of each variation they want to purchase and create their bundle.

Setup instructions

  1. Get the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin and install and activate it on your WordPress site.
  2. Go to Products → Attributes from the WordPress dashboard. Add attributes for the items you’d like to sell as bundle products. For example, if you’re selling candies you could add Flavor and Weight as attributes.
  3. Create a new WooCommerce product. This will be the product bundle.
  4. Scroll down to the Product data section and select Variable product using the dropdown.
  5. Click on the Bulk Variations tab and configure the following settings:
    1. Tick the checkbox next to the Enable variations grid option.
    2. Set the Horizontal and Vertical attributes.
    3. Tick the checkbox next to the Display variation images option.
      WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin settings
  6. Click the Publish button.

On the product page, customers can choose how much of each variation they’d like to purchase and complete their WooCommerce product bundles with variations. The total price is displayed directly under the matrix before they add everything to the cart.

If you don't want to display your bundle on the single product page, then you can insert the variations matrix elsewhere using a shortcode.

Moreover, thanks to its deep integration with WooCommerce Subscriptions and the All Products for WooCommerce Subscriptions add-on, Product Bundles can also be used to offer personalized subscription boxes.

What is the difference between grouped products and bundled products in WooCommerce?

In WooCommerce, a grouped product and a bundle product are two different types of product options that allow you to offer related products to your customer. Here is the main difference between the two:

  1. Grouped product: A grouped product is a collection of individual products that are sold separately, but grouped together on a single page, allowing customers to choose which individual products they want to buy and add them to their cart individually, for example, a camera, lenses, and accessories can be grouped together as a camera kit.
  2. Bundle product:  A bundle product is a set of products sold as a single unit, where customers cannot choose which individual products they want to purchase from the bundle but must buy the entire bundle altogether. For example, you can bundle a laptop, mouse, and keyboard together as a single laptop package.

How do I create a grouped product in WooCommerce?

Creating a grouped product in WooCommerce involves a few simple steps. Here's how to do it:

  1. Log in to your WooCommerce account and navigate to the WordPress dashboard.
  2. Click on the "Products" tab and then click "AddNew" to create a new product.
  3. Choose "Grouped product" as the product type from the dropdown menu.
  4. Give your grouped product a name and description, and set the price for the group (if applicable).
  5. Under the "Grouped Products" table, click the "Add Products" button to add the individual products that make up the group.
  6. Search for and select the products you want to include in the group. You can add as many products as you like.
  7. Rearrange the order of the products if needed, using the drag-and-drop functionality.
  8. Save your changes, and your grouped product is now ready to be published.

Customers can view a list of individual products included in the group with their prices and the option to add them to their shopping cart through this feature. This provides them with the flexibility to purchase multiple products at once while choosing which products they want to buy.

How do I create a product list in WooCommerce?

Print WooCommerce product list preview

You can create a product list in WooCommerce by using the built-in functionality of the WooCommerce Product Table plugin. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Navigate to the Products section in the left-hand menu.
  3. Click on the Add New button to create a new product or edit an existing product.
  4. Fill out the necessary product details, such as the product name, description, price, and product image.
  5. Set the product categories or create a new one if needed.
  6. Publish the product or update the existing product.
  7. Repeat steps 3-6 for all the products you want to include in your product list.

To create a product list page using WooCommerce Product Table plugin, just follow these steps after adding all your products:

  1. Go to Pages in the left-hand menu.
  2. Click on the Add New button to create a new page.
  3. Give your page a title, such as "Product List."
  4. Add the [product_table] shortcode to the content area of the page.
  5. Publish page.

This shortcode will automatically display a list of all of your products on the page you created. You can also add additional parameters to the shortcode to customize the product list, such as the number of simple products per page, the order in which products are displayed, and more.

Quantity rules and discounts

Many WooCommerce websites set rules around their product bundles. For example, you might want to restrict how many items can be ordered from a bundle. You might want to automatically apply a bulk bundle discount depending on the number of products or variations ordered.

You can add these features using some excellent WooCommerce plugins, which work with all the methods in this tutorial:

  • WooCommerce Discount Manager - Add quantity-based bulk discounts for specific bundles (e.g. based on category or product).
  • WooCommerce Quantity Manager - Set minimum and maximum quantity rules for your bundles. You can either set these rules globally, per category, per product, or per variation.

Want to create WooCommerce product bundles?

There are a number of user-friendly plugins that can help you create and sell WooCommerce product bundles with variations the way you want. We encourage you to check each of them out:

  1. To suggest product bundlings to customers and sell different products, you can use the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.
  2. However, if you want to sell fixed product bundles at a fixed bundle price, check out the WooCommerce Product Bundles plugin.
  3. And the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin is perfect for you if you want to let customers choose how much of each product to add to their product bundle.

Be sure to make your product bundles relevant and attractive to your target audience, and promote them efficiently across your website and marketing channels. Providing a personalized and convenient shopping experience with product bundles can increase your revenue and profit margins.

Ready to create and sell WooCommerce product bundles with variations? Choose a plugin from the list above, and set it up today! With the right tools and strategies in place, you can take your E-commerce business to the next level and achieve greater success.

Create WooCommerce Bulk Variations Forms

One of the most effective ways to boost sales on your e-commerce store is by making it easy for customers to browse products, select a variation, and add it to the cart. For this, you need a WooCommerce bulk variations form. This acts as a quick order form, allowing people to buy variations more easily.

A WooCommerce bulk variations form allows customers to choose quantities and add multiple variations to their shopping cart at once. This way, they don't have to spend time adding each WooCommerce variation one at a time or searching for the precise combination they want: every option is easily visible at a glance. For this reason, using a WooCommerce bulk variations plugin is a better way to sell variation products.

WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin
An example of a WooCommerce bulk variations form for a single product

In this article, we’ll show you how to create three different types of bulk variations forms for your WooCommerce store without any complicated messing around with PHP code. You'll learn how to list WooCommerce product variations in either a variations grid or table layout, depending on your requirements.

The benefits of using WooCommerce bulk variations forms

Some online stores sell multiple variations of the same product. For example, clothing stores generally sell items in more than one size. Color and material are two other common variations. You might even consider offering e-books, albums, games, or movies as variations on a generic product.

By default, WooCommerce forces you to select each variation individually. This takes ages for customers wanting to buy variations in bulk!

For example, imagine you wanted to buy lots of different sizes and colors of a t-shirt. Would you rather add each variation individually by using the size and color dropdowns and clicking the 'Add to cart' button lots of times? Or would you rather enter the required quantity for each variation from a bulk variations form and click the 'Add to cart' button once?

As you can see, the default variation dropdowns provided by WooCommerce can make the process long and complicated for customers buying lots of variations.

Displaying product variations in a WooCommerce bulk variations form offers many benefits to both you and your customers. As well as being able to buy variations in bulk more quickly, they can see all the variations at once and bulk edit their orders.

This way, customers can still see all the available variations in the order form and quickly add the ones they want to their cart in bulk from a single page.

3 ways to list WooCommerce product variations

We'll explain three different ways to list WooCommerce product variations so that customers can select quantities and buy them quickly and easily:

  1. Variations grid Lets customers quickly select multiple variations of a single product and add them to cart at once.
  2. List variations in a table List product variations for one or more products on separate rows in an order form layout. This is great for SEO.
  3. List variable products in a table with dropdowns List product variations in dropdowns in a table layout, with a different product on each row.

Jump straight to whichever method you'd like to implement, or keep reading to learn more about each one.

Types of bulk variations forms

Creating a user-friendly WooCommerce bulk variations form allows customers to view and select the product variations they’d like to purchase. This is essential for online stores that sell variable products.

Here are a few different types of bulk variations forms that you might consider creating for your WooCommerce store:

#1: Variations grid

You need a variations grid if you want to enable customers to quickly enter quantities for multiple variations of a single item and add them to cart all at once. This is a must-have if you sell variable products to wholesale buyers, such as t-shirts. It's also useful if you sell by weight, with each weight option as a variation.

For this, you will need the WooCommerce plugin and the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin. It lets you list the variations for a specific product in a matrix-style grid layout. Each variation has a quantity box and price. It works for variable products with either 1 or 2 product attribute terms, which are used for variations.

WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin

In this way, the WordPress plugin works as a WooCommerce bulk variations manager. Customers can simply:

  1. Enter the quantity they’d like to purchase of each variation.
  2. Click a single Add to Cart button to add the selected WooCommerce product variations (in the correct quantities) to their shopping cart.
  3. Proceed to the checkout page.

Here's how you can set up a bulk variations grid in WooCommerce.

A WooCommerce bulk variations form created in a matrix-style layout simplifies the purchasing user flow and can help you boost sales. It also lets you bulk add variations to your WooCommerce store. Setting up WooCommerce bulk variations forms is the easiest way to implement differential pricing.

#2: List variations in a table

Another way to list WooCommerce product variations on the front-end is by listing them in a table layout with each variation on a separate row. The easiest way to create this sort of layout is by using the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.

Product variations on separate rows.

Whereas the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin is designed to list the variations for one product in each order form, this is the best option for you if you’re looking for a way to create an order form containing variations for multiple variable products. Customers can browse through all the product images, filter products according to their needs, and then simply tick the checkbox next to the product variation they’d like to purchase, set the quantity, and add it to their shopping cart.

Another key benefit of using this approach is that it gives you the flexibility to display extra information about each product variation (such as the SKU and variation description). With WooCommerce Product Table, you can choose which columns to include in the table.

Here's how you can list product variations in a table layout.

#3: List variable products in a table with dropdowns

If you sell both variable products and simple products, you might consider listing them in a table layout with dropdowns. This is also ideal if you want the compatibility to sell the variations for multiple products in the same table - this time, each product takes up one row in the table regardless of the number of variations or extra product add-ons.

You can do this using the WooCommerce Product Table plugin. It's an easy way to list more than one variable product in the same order form with a single row per variable product.

Product variations in drop-down menus.

This method also makes it easy for customers to identify variable product types as they’re the only ones with dropdowns next to them. Customers can browse the products, use the dropdown to select the variation they’d like to purchase, set the quantity, and add the variation to their shopping cart. When you add new products to your WooCommerce store, update products, or update prices, they will automatically appear in the product table.

Here's how you can list product variations in a table layout with dropdowns.

Option 1 instructions - How to create a WooCommerce bulk variations grid

Creating a WooCommerce bulk variations grid makes it quick and easy for customers to:

  • See the different variations available for a variable product.
  • View the regular price of the variation.
  • Enter the quantity they’d like to purchase of each variation.
  • Add multiple variations to the cart at once.

To get started, get the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin. Once you have it installed and activated on your WordPress website, head over to the variable product you’d like to enable bulk purchasing for. Or, to do it globally for all your variable products, enable it on the plugin settings page.

Scroll down to the Product data section on the Edit Product screen and click on the Bulk Variations tab. Tick the checkbox next to the Enable bulk variations grid option, as shown in the screenshot below.

WooCommerce Bulk Variations settings

Next, select the variation attributes you’d like to display in the Columns and Rows of the price matrix using the dropdowns.

Finally, tick the checkbox next to the Display variation images option if you’d like to have product variation images appear in the matrix layout.

That’s it! When you preview the single product page on the front-end, it should look something like this:

WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin

Option 2 & 3 instructions - How to list variations in a table layout

Using the WooCommerce Product Table plugin, you can list variable products in two different ways in a front-end table layout with search, sort, and filter options. You can either list each variation on a separate row or list variable products in the table with dropdowns.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WooCommerce Product Table plugin to your WordPress website. Once that’s done, head over to WooCommerceSettingsProductsProduct tables from the admin panel to configure the plugin’s settings.

Use the Columns option to enter the columns you’d like to include in the table layout.

Scroll down till you reach the Variations option and select the:

  • Separate rows in table (one per variation) option using the dropdown if you want to list each variation on a separate row.
  • Dropdown lists in add to cart column using the dropdown to display a dropdown menu for variable products.

Click the Save changes button at the bottom of the screen to proceed.

For details, be sure to check out this in-depth tutorial on how to create a WooCommerce product variations table using the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.

Create your bulk variations form today

A WooCommerce bulk variations manager makes it easy for online store owners to display WooCommerce variable products on the front-end in an intuitive way. It also makes it easy for customers to:

  • View product prices and details of variations.
  • Enter the quantity they'd like to purchase.
  • Quickly add variations to their shopping cart.

This is a simple way to encourage customers to buy more, increase your average order value, and boost sales. And with no coding required, you don't have to mess around with PHP files - the plugin will create the table automatically for you.

Need to list WooCommerce product variations in an intuitive way? Get the WooCommerce Bulk Variations or WooCommerce Product Table plugin today!

As an online business owner, there are many scenarios where you might need to sell products by weight in WooCommerce. For example, you might sell fruits and vegetables from your farm, purchase dry fruits and nuts in bulk for resale, or grow various herbs to sell by weight through your online store.

The only problem is that it’s not immediately obvious how to use WooCommerce to sell by weight. The good news is that, with the right WooCommerce plugins, you can easily start selling products by weight.

In this article, we’ll walk you through two different ways to use WooCommerce to list products in a way that allows you to sell by weight. The methods we cover in this tutorial work equally well if you’re selling by other units of measure such as volume, size, width, length, or dimensions.

Why you might need to sell by weight in WooCommerce

There are several different types of products that store owners typically sell by weight. Here are a few examples:

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Dry fruits
  • Nuts
  • Flour, lentils, and beans
  • Meat

Store owners set the products up in a way that each product has a price per unit weight. For example, this could be in grams, ounces, or pounds. Customers can simply select the number of, say, grams they’d like to purchase of the product and proceed to checkout to place their order.

As an e-commerce store owner, you can sell by weight in WooCommerce with the right combination of plugins.

Two ways to sell by weight in WooCommerce

There are two different ways to sell by weight in WooCommerce:

  1. Add weight options as product variations
  2. Price your products by weight

If you choose Method 1, you can add each weight option as a separate variation. This is particularly useful for store owners that sell items at different weight quantities. For example, if you have three different weight options – 500 grams, 1 kilogram, and 5 kilograms. You would add products as variable products in WooCommerce.

Alternatively, you can go with Method 2 if you’d rather price your products by weight. For example, if you want to sell different types of flour by the kilogram, you could simply add your product prices by weight instead of selling in units.

Here's what each option might look like in your WooCommerce store:

Keep reading to learn more about each method and how to set it up.

Method 1: Add weight options as variations

You can use the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin to add each weight option as a product variation. The plugin lets you list all the variations in a matrix layout directly on the single product page.

This way, customers can enter the required quantity of each option and get the exact amount they want. They can mix and match multiple variations to get the weight volume they require.

For example, let’s say you’d like to sell sweets online. You might set up the following weight options as variations to sell by weight in WooCommerce:

  • 500 grams
  • 1 kilogram
  • 2 kilograms

So, if a customer would like to purchase 1.5 kilograms of sweets, they could add the 500 grams variation and the 1-kilogram variation to their shopping cart at the same time and proceed to the checkout page. In this way, the plugin supports custom weight measurements.

WooCommerce Bulk Variations price matrix

How it works

To implement this using the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin, create a WooCommerce product with two attributes that will be used for variations. For example, in the case of sweets, this may be flavor and weight.

On the front-end, the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin will automatically display the variations along two dimensions in the price matrix, along with the different available weight options. This gives customers full flexibility to customize their orders.

Once you've entered the correct information for each variation, go to Product data →Bulk Variations and configure the following settings:

WooCommerce Bulk Variations settings
  • Make sure the Enable variations grid checkbox is ticked.
  • Set the Horizontal option to the attribute you want to display in columns for the variations grid.
  • Set the Vertical option to the attribute you want to display in rows for the variations grid.
  • Make sure the Display variation images checkbox is ticked.

Click the Publish button to proceed.

Method 2: Price your products by weight

If you want to sell by weight in WooCommerce, then there's a simple method for replacing the standard quantity field with a weight input field. This lets you sell products by weight unit instead of per unit, like this:

How to add decimal quantities to WooCommerce products
A product sold by the kilogram

The great thing about this method is that it also supports decimal quantities, and minimum and maximum quantities. For example, you can allow customers to order coffee in any decimal unit value between 1 and 10kg.

You can do this with the WooCommerce Product Options plugin, which lets you replace the standard quantity field with custom product options. These offer more flexibility, such as the ability to order decimal quantities and display the unit of weight on the product page.

How to add a product weight field to the product page

It's simple to use WooCommerce Product Options to replace the usual quantity picker with a weight field. We've described this step-by-step in our tutorial about How to allow decimal quantity inputs in WooCommerce.

Alternatively, if you want to use it to create more advanced weight and measurement fields, then you might like our article about WooCommerce measurement price calculators.

Bonus: Selling by weight on the main Shop page

The screenshot above shows how pricing by weight looks on the single product page. For even more convenience, you can use WooCommerce Product Options with our other plugin, WooCommerce Product Table. This displays products in a much clearer layout on the main Shop page, like this:

WooCommerce Product Table to sell by weight

This makes it very clear to customers that they are ordering by weight, without having to visit a separate page for each product.

For example, if you were selling different types of flours, you might price them as:

  • All-purpose flour for $5.00
  • Cake flour for $6.50
  • Bread flour for $6.50
  • Whole-wheat flour for $8.00
  • Buckwheat flour for $8.50
  • Gluten-free flour for $10.00

You wouldn't want to do this with the default WooCommerce store layout because it wouldn't be clear that you are selling by weight. Instead, you can use the product table layout to display whichever columns you’d like in the table such as product image, name, description, category, and product price (clearly labelled as the price by weight).

WooCommerce Product Table lets you rename the column headers to increase usability. So, you can easily rename the heading of the Price column to say Price (per kilogram) or something similar. This way, customers can easily compare products in the table layout, knowing that they need to select the quantity according to the required weight.

WooCommerce Product Table column settings

Case study: Provenance Meat

Selling by weight is particularly useful if you’re selling meat. It gives customers full flexibility to place orders based on the exact amount they’d like to purchase whether it’s 1.5 kilograms or 1.675 kilograms. Here's an example of how Provenance Meat uses WooCommerce Product Table:

Provenance Meat WooCommerce food order form

Display product variation prices by weight

Whichever of the above methods you use, you need to think carefully about the best way to display prices by weight on your site. If you're selling variable products then the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin makes this easy.

Normally, WooCommerce displays the price of your variable products as a low-high price range. This can be confusing when you're selling by weight.

The solution is to install the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin:

  1. After installing the plugin, go to the settings page and select the 'Custom' price format. Enter the required format. For example, you might set it to "$10 per kg" (as in the example screenshot above). This will appear at the top of the product page for your variable products.
  2. I also recommend enabling the 'Update the main price when a variation is selected.' option. This is more user-friendly because when a customer chooses a variation, the exact price will appear above.

The custom variation price format will appear on the single product page, and anywhere else that the variation price range normally appears (e.g. in WooCommerce Product Table if you're using Method 2).

Can I sell some products by unit and others by weight in WooCommerce?

Yes, this is entirely possible using either of the above-mentioned methods to sell by weight in WooCommerce. However, keep in mind that it is important to make it clear to customers what type of unit each product is being sold in.

For example, if you’re using Method 1, you should include the unit (e.g. 500 grams) in the attribute name so it appears in the front-end matrix layout. And, if you’re using Method 2, you should use different product tables for products that you sell by unit and those that you sell by weight. That way, you can rename the Price column accordingly in each table.

Start selling WooCommerce products by weight

In this tutorial, we've looked at several methods for selling by weight in WooCommerce. Read about each one, and choose the combination of plugins that best suits your needs:

  • WooCommerce Bulk Variations - Create a variation for each weight option, and display them in a user-friendly order form on the single product page.
  • WooCommerce Product Options (with or without WooCommerce Product Table) - Replace the standard WooCommerce quantity field with a purpose-built weight field. It supports decimal quantities, min/max quantities and more, making it ideal for selling by weight.

All these plugins come with a full 30-day money back guarantee. Try them out and start selling by weight today!

magnifying glass on a tutorial page

Discover everything you need to know about WooCommerce product variations. Learn how to set them up, manage them more easily, and maximize your sales of variable products.

WooCommerce product variations let online store owners sell products with multiple options. For example, you can use variations to sell t-shirts in different colors, pizza in different sizes, or subscription boxes with different capacities. This way, customers can choose whichever version or variation of the product they want.

In this ultimate guide to creating and using WooCommerce variations, we’ll explain what product variations are and how to use the product variations that come with WooCommerce. We’ll also share some fantastic plugins you can use to display your WooCommerce product variations in more effective ways, manage them easily, and ultimately sell more of each variation:

  1. WooCommerce Bulk Variations - add/edit variations in bulk, and display them in a grid-style variations matrix.
  2. Product Table - list products in a one-page order form, so that customers can quickly select variations and add to the cart.
  3. WooCommerce Quick View - sell variations from a quick view lightbox.
  4. WooCommerce Variation Prices - take control over how variation prices are displayed.
  5. WooCommerce Product Options - An alternative to variable products, add flexible product options instead.

What are WooCommerce product variations?

Most online stores sell at least a few products that are available in different variations. For example:

Product with variations
  • Apparel that comes in different colors or sizes (like t-shirts, trousers, or shoes).
  • Food items that have different sizes (for example coffee cup size options or pizza base diameters).
  • Subscription boxes or build-your-own products that are available in different sizes (for example small, medium, and large).

As an online store owner, you should use WooCommerce product variations when selling products that have different options you want to let customers choose from. For example, if you were Starbucks, you would offer coffee cup sizes (Short, Tall, Grande, Venti Hot, Venti Cold, and Trenta) as variations.

Out of the box, the free WooCommerce plugin lets you add as many “options” (i.e. variations) as you’d like to each WooCommerce product. Customers can select the variation they’d like to purchase from the single product page and add it to their cart.

How to create and manage variations using WooCommerce

In WooCommerce, the product variations feature comprises of two aspects – attributes and variations.

  • Attributes. These are product descriptors like color, size, material, and capacity.
  • Variations. These are the options available for each attribute. For example, the color attribute might have Red, Blue, and Gray variations or the size attribute might have Small, Medium, and Large variations for customers to choose from.

Here, we’ll show you how to create and manage variations using WooCommerce.

Step 1: Create attributes

To create WooCommerce product variations, you need to first create attributes and then create variations for each attribute.

Attributes in WooCommerce

Here’s how:

  1. Navigate to Products → Attributes from the WordPress admin panel.
  2. Enter a name and slug for the attribute and click the Add attribute button.
  3. Click the Configure terms link from the list of attributes on the right.
  4. Add as many values as you’d like for the attribute.
Configure terms

Step 2: Assign attributes to WooCommerce products

By now, we’ve created attributes for the product variations we want to offer through the online store. Next, we’ll set products up as variable products (i.e. products that have variations) and assign attributes to them.

WooCommerce product data section
  1. Open up a WooCommerce product that you’d like to add variations to and scroll down to the Product data section.
  2. Select the Variable product option using the dropdown.
  3. Click on the Attributes tab and use the dropdown to select the attribute you’d like to assign to this product. Click Add.
  4. Choose all the values that apply to the product.
  5. Tick the checkboxes next to the Visible on the product page and Used for variations options.
  6. Click the Save attributes button to proceed.

Step 3: Add WooCommerce variations to products

The final step is to add WooCommerce variations to the product. These will be the product variations that appear on your site’s front-end.

  1. Go to the Variations tab, use the dropdown to select the Add variation option, and click on the Go button.
  2. Select whichever attribute values apply to the product.
  3. Customize the settings for each variation you created. You can:
    1. Upload a separate image for each variation.
    2. Set the product SKU, regular price, sale price, and stock status.
    3. Set the weight and dimensions of the product.
  4. Click the Save changes button.

Repeat these steps to add as many WooCommerce product variations as you’d like.

How to add variations in bulk

The above steps let you add each variation individually. But what if you want to add lots of variations at once? It would take forever to do it individually for each one.

To save time, you can install the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin. This adds the following features to let you add and edit variations more easily:

  • A set of filters which you can use to narrow down the list of variations. You can then use the bulk actions dropdown (which appears above the filters bar) to apply the same changes to all the filtered variations. For example, you could filter for all the variations with a 'Large' attribute and set the price of them all together.
  • An extra option letting you set variation images in bulk. For example, if all your variations with a particular color attribute need the same image, then you can set the images together. This is much faster than setting images for each variation individually.

WooCommerce Bulk variations manager plugin

Once you've finished setting up the product variations, click the Save changes button. It will look something like this on your site’s front-end:

Front-end preview of WooCommerce product variation

Let customers buy WooCommerce product variations in bulk

We've already seen how to use the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin to add and edit variations in bulk. But that's not its main feature!

The most important part of the plugin is the way it displays WooCommerce product variations on the front end of your website. Yep - it also provides a quick way for customers to buy product variations in bulk.

WooCommerce Bulk Variations does this by letting store owners list products in a WooCommerce variations grid layout. It also adds a quantity picker for each variation and a bulk add to cart button, like this:

WooCommerce Bulk Variations grid

Allowing bulk variation purchases is particularly useful for e-commerce stores that sell to wholesale buyers. Customers can simply use the WooCommerce variations grid layout to enter how many units of each variation they’d like to purchase and click the Add to Cart button to add all selected variations (in the correct quantities) to their shopping cart at once. This is also the easiest way to showcase variable products with two attributes.

Display WooCommerce product variations in a product table

By default, WooCommerce product variations only appear on the single product page. What this means is that customers have to click through to the single product page from the main shop page to view and select variations. This makes the main purchasing user flow unnecessarily long.

The good news is that the WooCommerce Product Table plugin provides superior ways to display product variations on the front-end. This way, you can allow customers to select and add variations to their shopping carts from just about anywhere in your store, not just on the single product page.

More specifically, you can choose to list variations in two different ways:

Let customers select variations from a quick view lightbox

Another way to let customers select product variations away from the single product page is by displaying them as dropdowns in a quick view lightbox. This is possible with the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin.

You can use the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin together with the WooCommerce Product Table plugin to add quick view buttons directly to the table layout. The key benefit of this is that you can display additional product details in the table layout while giving customers the option to use the quick view lightbox to select variations.

In addition, you can use the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin to add quick view buttons directly to your main shop page. This way, instead of navigating to the single product page to select and add variations to the cart, customers can simply use the quick view lightbox. The key benefit of this approach is that they can continue where they left off once they’ve added a variation to their shopping cart.

Change the variation price format

WooCommerce Variation Prices cropped

Have you noticed that if a product's variations are different prices, then WooCommerce displays them as a range? (E.g. $50 - $100.) This is ok for some products, but can lose you sales by putting customers off. For example, showing the top and bottom price makes it difficult for customers to predict what they will pay, and can make the product look more expensive.

The solution is to install the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin. This easy-to-use plugin lets you change the variation price format to anything you like. This might be "From $50", "Up to $100", or replacing the dash between the low-high price with another word or symbol. You can list the price of each variation individually. Maybe you need to create a completely bespoke variation price format with your own format, such as "$10 per kg".

As well as replacing the variation price range, there are further options for changing how prices are displayed:

  • Hide the main price for the variable product until the customer selects an option.
  • Update the main price on the WooCommerce product page when a variation is selected.

Variation Prices is a very simple plugin, but it adds a very important feature to your WooCommerce product variations. The ability to control how variable product prices are displayed can make a big difference to your sales. After all, customers are more likely to buy products when the prices are displayed in a way that emphasizes what good value they are.

Use product add-ons instead of variations

The final plugin on our list isn't strictly a WooCommerce product variations plugin. Instead, it's an alternative to variable products.

Product variations are great, especially if you supercharge them using the plugins listed above. However, they do have limitations and some stores benefit from having a different way to sell product options. And that's where WooCommerce Product Options comes in.

Product variations vs. add-ons

A product add-ons plugin provides a completely different way of adding multiple options to your products. Instead of using variations, the plugin adds its own interface for adding product options. Typically, this is more flexible and easier to use than the interface for creating variations.

You can choose from a much wider range of display options than variations. For example, you can display the add-on options as checkboxes, text boxes, clickable images, file upload fields, and so on.

This opens the door to selling types of options which simply aren't possible using WooCommerce product variations. For instance, imagine that you want to add gift wrap options to a product where the customer can choose a wrapping paper by clicking on a picture and type a message to be printed on the gift card. That's impossible using WooCommerce product variations, no matter which plugins you use to enhance them. However, it's unbelievably simple with WooCommerce Product Options!

Wrapping paper options 2
Use the WooCommerce Product Options plugin to sell options which would be impossible using variations

Product add-ons also bring lots of other types of flexibility that you don't get with WooCommerce variations:

  • Assign a much wider range of price options to each option - e.g. flat fee, percentage increase or decrease, and so on.
  • Set minimum and maximum quantities.
  • Use conditional logic to show/hide options based on the customer's other selections.
  • Create advanced price formulas, for example, to build a WooCommerce measurement price calculator.

How to filter by product variation

When it comes to WooCommerce product variations, filtering by specific attributes can greatly enhance the shopping experience for your customers. By using the WooCommerce Product Filters plugin, you can easily add attribute filters to your store, allowing customers to quickly find products that match their preferences.

The WooCommerce Product Filters plugin offers a wide range of product filters, including categories, attributes, color, tags, custom taxonomy, price, ratings, and stock status. With the ability to display filters such as dropdown lists, checkboxes, radio buttons, labels/tag clouds, images, or color swatches, you can create a user-friendly shopping experience that increases the time customers spend in your store. Ultimately, this leads to increased conversion rates and customer loyalty.

Add user-friendly filters for attributes like size and color

Here's how you can filter by product variation using the WooCommerce Product Filters plugin:

  1. Purchase and install the WooCommerce Product Filters plugin: First, buy the plugin and install it on WordPress.
  2. Create attribute filters: After installing the plugin, navigate to Products → Filters and click on the default filter group or create a new one. Use the "Add new filter" form to enter your filter's information, and repeat as many times as needed. You can choose the filter type, such as dropdown lists, checkboxes, or color swatches, to create a user-friendly shopping experience.
  3. Select the product variation attribute: In the filter settings, choose the attribute you want to filter by, such as color or size. This will allow customers to filter products based on their specific preferences.
  4. Place the product filters on your site: Finally, place your product filters anywhere on your site using the automatic display option, sidebar widget, or shortcode placement. This will allow customers to quickly find products that match their preferences and increase conversion rates.

Looking to learn more about how the WooCommerce Product Filters plugin can help you filter by product variation? Check out this helpful article on How to filter by variation using different methods. Here, you'll find detailed instructions on how to use the plugin to filter by variation, along with other useful information on this powerful tool.

Set up WooCommerce product variations and start selling!

WooCommerce product variations make it easier for online store owners to sell different versions of the same product without having to add it as a separate product. It also makes it easier for customers to make purchases.

To take things to the next level, you can use different WooCommerce plugins to make your WooCommerce product variations sell better:

Ready to maximize WooCommerce product variation sales on your e-commerce store? Choose your plugins and get started today!

Displaying WooCommerce product variations in a table layout using WooCommerce Product Table

It may seem like a struggle, but it can be quite easy to add product variations in WooCommerce. As it comes, WooCommerce doesn’t offer the most intuitive user experience to either customers or store owners. Thankfully, there are multiple WooCommerce product variations plugins that can help create and customize product variations.

As an online store owner, you might want to offer multiple variations of the same product to your customers. For example, you might want to sell a notebook in different colors, a cake with toppings of your choosing, a table in different types of wood etc. WooCommerce has an easy way to let customers view and select the product variation of their choice.

In this article, we’re going to learn how to set up product variations, understand the limitations of WooCommerce, and explore a viable way to:

  • Let the store owner add and edit variations more quickly and easily.
  • Let customers view and select product variations from other parts of your shop - not just on the single product page.
  • Change the way that variable product prices are displayed.
  • Use extra product options as an alternative to WooCommerce product variations.

Finally, we will also explore the best WooCommerce product variations plugins and understand what else they have to offer.

But first, I'll show you how to set up product variations in the first place.

How to set up product variations in WooCommerce

You probably already know that WooCommerce is one of the best (and easiest) ways to create an e-commerce site using WordPress. It lets you add all of your products to your store and creates an individual product page for each of them.

For each product you add to your online store, WooCommerce gives you the option to add product variations. WooCommerce products have variations whenever they come in multiple options. For example, this may include, sizes, colors, patterns, flavors, toppings, or materials – depending on the types of products you’re selling.

In order to set this up, we’ll be using attributes and variations. Let's first understand the difference between them. 

Product attributes vs variations

  • Product attributes are essentially details about the product like weight, size, color etc. They give the customer a better understanding of the product before purchase.
  • Product variations on the other hand are actual choices that you’re offering the customer between variations of the same product. 

Let’s understand with an example:

WooCommerce Quick View Demo

Here, the product variations are the color and size that a customer can choose. The product attributes are details like the category, description, SKU etc. 

With that in mind, let’s look at how to set up product variations in WooCommerce using the example of a stationery store.

#Step 1: Create your product attributes

  1. The easiest way to create product attributes is by navigating to Products → Attributes and adding an attribute. Let’s say you’re selling a notebook in multiple colors and with ruled/unruled options. You could set up attributes with the name “Color” and “Line” and then click “Add Attribute”.The WooCommerce Product Attributes section.
  2. Next you’ll need to click on “Configure Terms” to add details about the variations. You could add terms like “yellow”, “green” and “black” for the Color attribute and terms like “ruled” and “unruled” for the Line attribute.
  3. You can set up as many attributes as you’d like in the same way.

Step 2: Assign attributes to your products

Once your attributes are created, you need to allot them to their respective products. Open your Product and navigate to “Product Data”. Click on the drop down menu next to it (it is set to “simple product” by default). Here you need to choose “Variable product”.

The Product Data section of a WooCommerce product.

Now click on “Attributes” from the right side menu and add your attributes one by one.Adding a product attribute in WooCommerce.

You can see the terms that you added in the previous step listed under “Values”. Make sure to select both “Visible on the product page” and “Used for variations”.

Customizing a product attribute in WooCommerce.

Step #3: Create your variations

  1. Now click on “Variation” from the left side menu. Select “Add Variation” from the dropdown menu and click on “Go”.
  2. Now all you have to do is choose your attributes and configure settings like price, size, weight, SKU etc - as per your preference.Adding a variation in WooCommerce.
  3. Hit “Save Changes” once you’re done. You can then create as many variations as you’d like.

2 problems with product variations

Problem #1: Difficult to edit multiple variations at once

If you follow the instructions above, you'll see that the process is absolutely fine for adding one variation.

But what if you want to add lots of variations to a product? That's when it starts to get really time-consuming.

Problem #2: Limit ways to display variations to customers

Although WooCommerce lets customers view and select product variations on the single product page, that's the only place you can display them. And the only option is to display them as variation dropdown lists (e.g. one dropdown for Size and one for Color). This isn’t the best possible solution for most store owners.

Here are a few reasons why:

  • Product variations aren’t as prominent as they can be.
  • Comparing the variations on offer with different products is difficult.
  • Customers have to navigate to the individual product page to be able to view the available variations.
  • Dropdown lists don't offer great visual experience for selling most types of product variations.

The good news is that you can easily address these problems by adding a WooCommerce product variations display plugin. Keep reading for our selection of the best.

An easier way to add and edit product variations

To speed up the process of creating multiple variations, simply install the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin. This handy plugin adds some extra features . These allow you to filter the list of variations and apply bulk actions to them:

  1. Install WooCommerce Bulk Variations.
  2. Open the 'Variations' tab on the 'Edit Product' screen.
  3. You will see a new 'Filters' bar above the list of variations. Use this to select all the variations that you want to edit at once.
  4. Next, use the bulk actions dropdown above the filter bar (which normally says 'Add variation') to select a bulk action. For example, you can bulk-edit variation prices or set the same image for all the selected variations.
bulk edit woocommerce variation prices with woocommerce bulk variations plugin

In this screenshot, we have used WooCommerce Bulk Variations to select all variations with a 'Blue' attribute. We have then quickly changed the variation price for all the blue items only.

This is much faster than setting prices and other data for each variation individually. You can do the same with other types of variation data, such as adding variation images in bulk.

The top 3 WooCommerce plugins to display product variations

As we saw earlier, the other problem with WooCommerce product variations is the limited way in which they are displayed.

Unfortunately, WooCommerce's default single product page isn't always the best option for displaying product variations. Let's explore the best WooCommerce product variations plugins to present product variations to customers:

  1. Product table view (as dropdowns and on separate rows)
  2. Quick view lightbox with product details and purchasing options
  3. User-friendly grid or price matrix with quantity selectors and purchasing options

Method #1: List variations in a searchable table

WooCommerce Product Table lets you list variable products in a searchable, sortable, and filterable table layout.

Customers are able to view and select the exact product and variations they’re looking for using its extensive filtering options. In this way, it can be used as a WooCommerce product variations plugin.

The WooCommerce Product Table plugin enables you to

  1. List variable products on your main shop page, category pages or any other page in your online store.
  2. List variable products in two different formats in your table layout. You can choose to display them as either:
    • Dropdowns in the Add to Cart column (perfect for businesses that sell clothes, shoes, or food)

WooCommerce product variations dropdown plugin

    • Separate rows in the product table layout (perfect for businesses selling spare parts or large products like furniture or mattresses)

WooCommerce product variations dropdown plugin

Creating product tables with proper variable products enables customers to view and select variations from any of the pages you choose to display the variation on instead of having to navigate to the individual product pages. This significantly improves the user experience your site delivers.

WooCommerce Product Table an ideal solution for creating product catalogs, restaurant menus, order forms, and wholesale stores.

Method #2: Display product variations in a quick view lightbox

Woo Quick View Pro is a different type of WooCommerce variations plugin. It lets you present product variations in a lightbox view. In addition to the variations, you can also display product images and galleries, details, and purchasing options.

Customers are able to open the lightbox either by clicking on the product's name (or image) or by using the Quick View button. If you choose to enable the option to launch the lightbox by clicking on the product name or image, links to the single product page will automatically be disabled.

The WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin is ideal for variable products that are best presented with images and galleries e.g. fashion items, food, and tech products. It's also perfect for products that don't require images, but have multiple variations.

Either way, the plugin lets you replace the single product page with a lightbox. What this means is that you can display the information customers need to make a buying decision and choose variations directly in the quick view lightbox. So, instead of clicking through to the single product page, customers can select product variations and make a purchase directly from the main shop page or category pages. There's no need to visit a separate page for each product.

What information can I display about my variations?

With the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin, you can display the following information in the lightbox:

  • Product name
  • Product image (and full gallery)
  • Reviews
  • Price
  • Quantity selector
  • Product variation dropdowns
  • Add to cart button (including variation dropdowns and quantity picker)
  • Product details (such as SKUs and categories)

Method #3: List variations in a bulk ordering grid or price matrix

WooCommerce Bulk Variations table

We've already looked at how the Bulk Variations plugin makes it easier to add and manage WooCommerce product variations. It also functions as a variations display plugin on the front end.

The Bulk Variations plugin lists WooCommerce product variations in a user-friendly bulk ordering grid or price matrix.

Bulk variation forms make it easy for customers (particularly WooCommerce wholesale buyers) to quickly see the different product variations available, enter quantities, and add them to their shopping cart. It lets you display all of the attributes and options for a product in a neat grid layout.

Why WooCommerce Bulk Variations is perfect for displaying product variations

The WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin is great for displaying product variations for clothing and apparel, wholesale products, and products that are typically sold in large volumes. It’s also the perfect choice for products that don’t require images but may have several variations such as sweets and candies.

Using the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin, you can replace the single product page with either a bulk ordering grid or a simple price matrix. This is a great way to boost product variation visibility in your online store and make it easier for customers to buy more from you.

Instead of using dropdowns to select the correct product variation and adding items to their cart one at a time, customers can simply choose how much of each product variation they’d like to purchase, set the quantity, and add them to their cart in one go.

The key benefit here is that customers don’t have to spend time adding variations to their shopping cart one at a time. This is the most intuitive way to sell variable products in WooCommerce.

Bonus: WooCommerce Bulk Variations is the only plugin in the market that enables you to display bulk variations with 3+ attributes in the grid, instead of just 2!

Change the variation price format

WooCommerce-Variation-PricesAnother limitation of WooCommerce product variations is that if your variations have different prices, then they are always displayed as a range. For example: "$50 - $100."

That's pretty basic and doesn't give you any flexibility. The solution is to install the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin. This gives you total control over how to display and format variable product prices in your store. For example, you might set the price to display as "From $50" or list all the individual variation prices.

Still hate variations? Use product options instead

WooCommerce extra add-on fields with images, swatches and text field
Using product options instead of variations gives you a much wider choice of styles
The plugins featured above make it easier to edit variations in bulk, and display them in more flexible ways. But what if you want even more flexibility?

If you're looking for a complete alternative to WooCommerce product variations, then it's worth considering a totally different way to set them up. The WooCommerce Product Options plugin offers an interesting alternative.

Instead of using variable products, you add the choices as product options. These are managed using a completely different interface, which is much faster to use than variations. That's because you don't to enter prices, images etc. for every possible combination of options (as you do with variations). Instead, you add each option individually and the plugin calculates the pricing etc.

To help you to visualize this, here's a screenshot of adding product options in the WordPress admin:

WooCommerce Product Options Extra Add-Ons

You can add a wide range of option styles, different price calculation options, and even use conditional logic to show and hide options depending on the user's selections. That's a real bonus because WooCommerce doesn't offer conditional logic for variations.

And in the front end, you can choose many more ways to display options than you get with variants. As well as dropdowns, you can display options as checkboxes, clickable images, text fields, file uploads, and more.

Top 5 Alternative WooCommerce Product Variation Plugins

Now you know how to add product variations in WooCommerce. You've learned how to choose the best WooCommerce variation product plugin to manage and display your variable products. You also know how to add variations in the WordPress admin, with bulk actions to save you time.

Of course, there are other ways to customize WooCommerce product variations too. Here's a selection of some other options to consider.

Other plugins to consider

  1. Variation Swatches for WooCommerce: This plugin is dedicated to making attributes and variations easy to use and customize. It can be used to display products with multiple variations using neat, professional swatches, instead of the regular dropdown box. This significantly improves the UI experience for your customers and reduces the amount of effort needed to place an order.Variation Swatches for WooCommerce
  2. YITH Woocommerce Color And Label Variations: Similar to the previous plugin, YITHs Woocommerce Color And Label Variations plugin enables you to display icons, labels and images instead of the default product variation dropboxes. The free version lets you customize the color, label and image product attributes whereas the premium version gives you further options like customizing entrance animation, creating individual image galleries for product attributes etc.
  3. WooCommerce Better Variations: This plugin aims at making ordering (especially in bulk) easier for customers by displaying product variations in a grid. It particularly focuses on making sure out-of-stock products are styled optimally and accurately.
  4. Product Variations Swatches for WooCommerce: Using this plugin, you can display product attributes in different types of swatches - Colors, Buttons, Images, Variation Images or Radio. You can even customize the details of the swatch design like the name, height, width, font size, padding, mobile mode size color, box-shadow effect, hover style etc.
  5. Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce: This plugin allows users to showcase unlimited additionalimages as galleries for each product variation. It is particularly useful for stores which are selling apparel or food. It allows your site visitors to zoom into images and enables them to visualize your variation product easily. 

The best WooCommerce product variation plugins

In conclusion, it's a shame that WooCommerce on its own doesn't do a better job of managing and displaying variations. Fortunately, there are lots of fantastic WooCommerce variation plugins which can solve this. Use the one that fixes your specific pain-points with variations:

  • Bulk Variations - For adding and editing variations more easily.
  • Product Table and Quick View - For displaying variations away from the single product page.
  • Variation Prices - To customize the way that variation prices are displayed.
  • Product Options - A complete alternative to product variations, with more flexible display options such as checkboxes and text fields.

What else would you like to be able to do with your variable products? Let us know in the comments below.

WooCommerce color variation swatches plugin

Today, I'm going to tell you how to add variation swatches to your WooCommerce product tables and quick view lightboxes.

Our WooCommerce Product Table plugin offers a choice of ways to list product variations. You can list product variation swatches for WooCommerce as dropdowns in the add to cart column, or you can list each variation on a separate row in the table. It lets you do all of this without having to use HTML or CSS code.

WooCommerce wholesale quick view pluginOn the other hand, our WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin adds user-friendly buttons to your e-commerce store so that customers can read more and add to the cart from a quick view lightbox instead of having to go to the single product page. This prevents them from needing to visit a separate page for each product and simplifies the user flow.

You can use it with the default WooCommerce store layouts, or with customizable product tables.

But what if you want to make your variations more visual, so that customers can select variations by clicking on different swatch types, for example, a color swatch or image swatch? Now you can do this by using our plugins with the fabulous free WooCommerce Variation Swatches plugin.

Get Product Table Get Quick View Get Variation Swatches

What does the WooCommerce Variation Swatches plugin do?

WooCommerce Variation Swatches offers an image swatch-based way to select product variations. It makes the WooCommerce product variations more eye-catching, so that customers can see exactly what they're getting when they click on a variation.

This free WordPress plugin comes with a choice of options for adding different variation swatch types:

  • You can use it as a WooCommerce color variation plugin, with each option listed as a color swatch for customers to click on.
  • Create unique variation selectors by uploading your own product image or variation image for each variable product. For example, you can upload photos or other variation images to represent each product attribute.
  • Alternatively, you can list each available variation option as a button swatch. The attribute name appears as the button text.

If you're looking for WooCommerce color and label swatches, then this is the perfect WP plugin for you.

How does the variation color picker work in WooCommerce Product Table?

When you list variations using the WooCommerce Product Table plugin, there's an option to list variations as a dropdown in the add to cart column. If you use WooCommerce Product Table with the WooCommerce Variation Swatches plugin, then the color swatches, custom images, or buttons will appear underneath the dropdown for each variation in the table.

All you have to do is go to Pages → Add New and insert the WooCommerce Product Table shortcode [product_table] to display the product variations. You can also replace the default WooCommerce shop page with the product table. It will look something like this on the front-end:

WooCommerce color picker variations

In this screenshot, you can see a WC product with 2 global attributes - the Color attribute and the Size attribute:

  • The 'color' dropdown has variation color swatches underneath so that customers can click a color instead of using the dropdown.
  • The 'size' dropdown has buttons underneath, making it easier for customers to choose their size.

See it in action on our product table variation swatches demo page!

When you click on a color or size swatch of a variable product, the correct variation is instantly selected in the dropdown i.e. it's an AJAX variation. It works beautifully with the built-in Woo stock control and inventory management. Plus, customers don't have to hover over the image to see the available variations. Out of stock variations are visually crosses out (e.g. 'Large' in the screenshot above), so you can instantly see which combinations are available. The stock indicators update as soon as you select a variation, for example if you select 'Pink' in the above example then Large might be shown as available even though it's out of stock in 'White'.

Once you have selected a variation that is in stock from the shop page, you can add it to the cart and purchase using the WooCommerce checkout.

Does it work with separate variations in the product table?

WooCommerce Product Table also comes with an option to list each variation on its own row in the table. This doesn't work with the variation color swatches plugin because each variation is already separated out onto individual rows. The customer simply needs to use the add to cart buttons to add each variation to the cart, and they don't need to use color swatches or buttons.

How do variation swatches work in WooCommerce Quick View?

When you use variation swatches and WooCommerce Quick View Pro together, the swatches automatically appear in the quick view lightbox. This replaces the default variation dropdowns, so the customer must click on a swatch button, color or image in order to select the variation. They can click the add to cart button as usual.

Do product tables and quick view work with other variation swatches for WooCommerce plugins?

We have tested with Woo Product Table and Quick View with a few other WooCommerce variation swatches plugins and this is the only one that we have found to work nicely in the product table – no HTML code or CSS styling needed.

We therefore recommend using WooCommerce Product Table with the free or premium versions of WooCommerce Variation Swatches, and not similar plugins from other companies. It's incredibly easy to configure the plugin's global settings and get started with.

It's compatible with WooCommerce themes (like Storefront, Divi, and Flatsome) as well as page builders like Elementor. Plus, your product tables will look great on mobile devices.

WooCommerce Quick View Pro also works with the WooCommerce Variation Swatches plugin by Get Woo Plugins, so you can use it with either of these.

Get Product Table Get Quick View Get Variation Swatches

WooCommerce variations table plugin

A WooCommerce variations table makes it easier for your customers to view and select variations. Discover 2 easy ways to list variations in a table or matrix layout - no coding needed!

Typically, WooCommerce stores offer limited variation dropdowns which only appear on the single product page. This is fine for many startups and basic online stores. However, listing variations as dropdowns can make you lose sales:

  • It's a pain for customers to have to select each variation individually and add them to the cart one at a time.
  • Customers can't see the price for each variation if they're hidden within dropdown lists.
  • Only allowing customers to add variations from the single product page adds an extra step to the journey. And everyone knows that a faster e-commerce user experience leads to better conversions.

Fortunately, there's an easy solution. Simply install a WooCommerce variations table plugin and instantly solve all of these problems.

Why a WooCommerce variations table plugin can improve your conversions

As you can see, the default WooCommerce variation dropdowns aren't ideal - especially if you sell the type of products where customers buy several variations at once.

The best WooCommerce variations table plugins make it much easier to view variations and add them to the cart. They list variations as products in a table or grid layout. Customers can see all the variations at once, and enter the quantity they require of each one. Then, they simply click 'Add to cart' to add all the selected variations together.

  • Customers can see all the variations and prices at once.
  • Each variation has its own quantity box, making it easy to enter a quantity for each one.
  • Customers click the single 'Add to cart' button to add everything to the cart in bulk.
  • And even better, they can do this from the shop and category pages (or even from any page or post). There's no need to visit a separate page for each product!

Letting customers select variations on the WooCommerce shop page or category pages can really speed up the buying process. By using a WooCommerce variations table plugin to list product variations, customers can easily compare them alongside one another.

2 ways to list WooCommerce variations as products in a table

In this tutorial, I'm going to give you a choice of 2 ways to create a product variation table for WooCommerce. First, I'll tell you about them both so that you can make a decision. Then, you can skip to the setup instructions and start setting it up!

This is what the 2 types of WooCommerce variations table look like:

As you can see, WooCommerce Bulk Variations lists the variations for a specific product in a grid or matrix. In contrast, WooCommerce Product Table creates a variations table of multiple products.

Here's a comparison of the WooCommerce variation table plugins so that you can decide which one is best for your store:

 

WooCommerce Bulk Variations WooCommerce Product Table
Number of products 1 product per variations table Unlimited products per table
Number of attributes 1 or 2 (e.g. color and size) Unlimited
Layout Each attribute is listed as either rows or columns of the WooCommerce variation table, with a box for each variation Each variation takes up 1 row of the table
Data displayed Enable or disable the image, price, quantity box, and stock information for each variation Choose which columns to include including image, name, product description, stock, price, quantity box, and buy button and/or checkbox
Location Enable the variations grid on the single product page, or use a shortcode to list variations for a specific product on any page or post. You can also use it with a quick view plugin to list variations in a lightbox on the WooCommerce shop/category pages. Enable the table layout on shop/category pages, or use a shortcode to insert variable product tables into any page or post
Bulk editing Edit variations in bulk Not included, but you can achieve this by using both plugins together

What type of WooCommerce variable products table will you choose?

Made a decision? Now it's time to skip to the setup instructions for your chosen WooCommerce variations table plugin:

Option 1: WooCommerce Bulk Variations

WooCommerce Bulk Variations table

Bulk Variations creates a WooCommerce product variations table listing variations for a specific product. For example, it's perfect for displaying the price of all the variations in a WooCommerce variable product price table. Customers don't need to click on a variation to see the price! They can also add multiple products to the cart directly from the pricing table.

WooCommerce variations table - Setup instructions

  1. Get WooCommerce Bulk Variations and install them on your WordPress site.
  2. Head to WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Bulk variations and enter the license key from your order confirmation email.
  3. Use one (or all!) of the following options to set up your WooCommerce product variation tables:
    • Configure everything centrally on the plugin settings page, which will automatically enable it on the single product page for all eligible products.
    • Enable the WooCommerce variation table for each product individually on the 'Edit Product' screen.
    • Use a shortcode to manually insert product variation table for WooCommerce into other pages and posts.
    • Install the WooCommerce Quick View plugin so that customers can open a lightbox containing the product variations table from the shop and category pages. This is important if you want to truly speed up the buying process, as customers don't need to visit a separate page to choose their variations.
WooCommerce Quick View plugin bulk variations grid
An example of a WooCommerce variations table in a quick view lightbox

Option 2: WooCommerce Product Table

WooCommerce product table separate variations per row

This variable Product Table plugin provides a different way to create a WooCommerce variations table. While you can use it to list variations on the single product page, that's not its main purpose. Instead, it actually changes how your products are listed on the main shop and category pages.

WooCommerce Product Table lets you list WooCommerce variations as a table on any page of your website. Conveniently, this can be used for either specific products or for multiple products, whole categories, and more. You might:

  • Enable it on the shop and category pages so that customers can select variations without leaving the page.
  • WooCommerce display variations as list of products in a table on the product detail page, replacing the default dropdown lists.
  • Add WooCommerce variation tables listing specific products on normal pages, or even within blog posts.

How does it work?

The plugin lists variations as products, with each one having its own row in the table. That way, you can list the variations for multiple products in the same table, alongside other types of products.

The table has multiple columns of information about each product or variation. Customers can instantly see all the information about each option and make quick buying decisions. They can then choose quantities and use the buy buttons or checkboxes. This is a great way to change the variation dropdown to a checkbox so that customers can select multiple variations and add them to the cart in a single click.

You can use the product table variations plugin to list variations anywhere on your site. This gives e-commerce stores an excellent way to list variations as products and make shopping easier for their customers.

Find variations more easily

WooCommerce Product Table comes with extra features to help customers to find what they want. As well as an instant search box, you can display filter dropdowns above the table. For example, if you've created a WooCommerce variation table with different options for color and size then you can add them as filters. Customers select their size and color, and the table updates to show variations with these product attributes. Neat!

WooCommerce Product Table can display product variations as a table or dropdowns

Before we start setting it up, it's worth mentioning that the plugin provides two ways to create WooCommerce variable product tables. These are:

  1. Separate variations - list variations as products on their own row of the table.
  2. Variation dropdowns - list products in a table (1 product per row), with variation dropdowns next to the buy buttons.

The benefit of WooCommerce variation dropdowns is that they're compact. You can list large numbers of product options in a small amount of space. As I mentioned earlier, it's a shame that WooCommerce only lets you display variation dropdowns on a single product page. With WooCommerce Product Table, you can add WooCommerce variation dropdowns as part of a product table anywhere on your site.

Which should I use?

For some stores, there are downsides to listing variations as a dropdown - even within a variable product table:

  • Customers can only see 1 variation at a time. They have to select each variation option individually to see the variation price, description, stock, and image. This makes it hard to compare variations and make buying decisions.
  • The buying process is slower, as customers have to select a variation (often from multiple options), then click add to cart. They must repeat the process to buy multiple variations. There's no way to select multiple variations in one go.

This is fine for many stores but causes problems for others. If you have large ranges of product sizes, different colors, weights, or other options, then a WooCommerce variations table with each option on its own row can massively benefit your store. Displaying variations in a table makes it easier for your customers to find and understand the necessary information. They can see all the available variations at once instead of having to select from dropdowns.

How to create a WooCommerce product variations table

Watch this video to discover how to create a WooCommerce variations table with the WooCommerce Product Table plugin:

  1. Install the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.
  2. Activate your license key at WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Product tables.
  3. On the same page, choose all the settings for your WooCommerce variation tables. In particular, pay attention to:
    • Columns - this controls what information is displayed about your product variations. The plugin supports individual variation descriptions, product images, prices, and stock statuses. If this data is available, then it will display in the relevant columns of the table. If you haven't added this data for each variation, then the information for the overall product will be used instead. (This avoids any gaps in your variations table.)
    • Variations - choose 'Dropdown' or 'Separate', as we discussed above.
    • Add to cart button - choose 'Button' or 'Button and Checkbox' to allow customers to add multiple variations to the cart at once. Customers can tick the options they require and click a single 'Add Selected to Cart' button above or below the table of variations as products.
    • Filters - select 'Custom' and add att: followed by the slugs for the custom attributes of your variations, separated by commas. For example, you might add att:color, att:size to let customers filter by color and size.
  4. Now choose where to display the product variation table for WooCommerce. The options are:
    1. Shop and category pages - Tick the relevant boxes on the settings page, and this will enable the WooCommerce variation table layout throughout your store.
    2. Use a shortcode to list one or more products on any page or post (see instructions), or on the single product page.

Check out the full list of features that come with the Product Table plugin, and start planning which ones to use for your WooCommerce variations tables.

Can I automatically add a table of variations to the product page?

The variable product table shortcode lets you list variations anywhere on your site, including in the short or long description on the single product page. However, this won't hide the default variation dropdown menus. This is a bit more technical so we've provided code snippets that developers can use to achieve this.

Alternatively, use the WooCommerce Bulk Variations plugin (see Option 1, above) to automatically replace the dropdowns with a variations table.

Case studies - WooCommerce variations table in action

Before we finish, let's look at some real-life WooCommerce stores that use variations tables instead of dropdowns.

Many store owners use the plugin to list WooCommerce product variations on individual product pages. They do this as an alternative to built-in variations, to make purchasing technical or bulk items more straightforward.

A WooCommerce variation table layout is particularly suited to e-commerce sites that sell equipment and custom machinery, tools, or supplies. It's also ideal for bespoke kitchens, bathrooms, or furniture online stores. This is because customers can configure products to suit their needs, combining multiple choices as needed.

For example, First Kitchens use WooCommerce Product Table on the single product page for this purpose:

WooCommerce kitchen website

Similarly, Mechanical Air Supplies uses the code snippets in the plugin knowledge base to automatically add WooCommerce variations tables to the single product pages:

WooCommerce variations list table

Edit multiple variations more easily

Have you ever noticed how long it takes to edit your variations? For example, if you want to add the same image to multiple variations at once, or set the same price for all variations with particular attribute values?

In WooCommerce itself, you have to do this manually. You can save yourself a lot of time by installing WooCommerce Bulk Variations. As well as displaying variations in a grid (which we discussed earlier), it lets you filter variations on the 'Edit Product' screen and edit the selected variations in bulk. Even if you're using WooCommerce Product Table to list variations in the front end, you can still use WooCommerce Bulk Variations for the bulk management features in the back end.

Change the format of the variation price display

If the variations for a particular product are different prices, then WooCommerce display variations as list for the main price as a range. For example, if the lowest price if $10 and the highest price is $20 then the price range is shown as "$10 - $20".

If that doesn't work for the product types you sell, then you can easily fix this by installing the WooCommerce Variation Prices plugin.

This simple but effective plugin lets you replace the WooCommerce variation price range with any format you like. You can show the lowest price only, the highest price, replace the dash with another symbol, or create a completely custom price format.

The customized variation price range will appear above the variations grid if you're using Method 1. It also appears in the price column of the WooCommerce variable product table if you're using Method 2.

Final thoughts on listing WooCommerce variations

Both the Bulk Variations and Product Table plugins are ideal for creating a WooCommerce variations table. Choose whichever plugin best meets your requirements.

By giving customers extra choice and flexibility in how WooCommerce display variations as list, you can encourage multiple or bulk sales for your WooCommerce variable product table. Customers are no longer limited to a single page for choosing product variations. Instead, they can add different variations to the checkout cart directly from other areas such as product category pages, your main shop, and also any other page on your WordPress site. This reduces the number of clicks - vital for improving your WooCommerce store's conversion rate.

This can have a hugely positive impact on purchasing behavior and increase your sales. The best WooCommerce variations plugin makes it easy to list variations as a table, which isn't normally possible with WooCommerce.

Buy Bulk Variations Buy Product Table

WooCommerce product variations dropdown plugin

In this tutorial, I'll show you two ways to display a WooCommerce variations dropdown on the shop page and category pages. This makes it much faster for customers to add products to their cart, helping to grow your conversion rate.

By default, WooCommerce only shows a variations dropdown menu on the single product page. It's the standard way to choose different options for variable products. But what if your customers need to select variation options from other parts of your shop - such as the main shop page, product category pages, or any other page on your WordPress website? There's where a WooCommerce variations dropdown plugin comes in.

Keep reading to discover two easy ways to add WooCommerce variations dropdowns to other parts of your site. First, you'll learn how to add WooCommerce product dropdown options to your shop and category pages like this:

WooCommerce shop page variations and quantity picker

We'll do this with the WooCommerce Express Shop Page plugin.

After that, I'll tell you how to take this a step further by displaying your products in a one-page order form complete with variation dropdown menus, like this:

Displaying WooCommerce product variations in a table layout using WooCommerce Product Table

We'll do this with the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.

Both plugins are excellent ways to add a WooCommerce product drop down list of variations directly to the WooCommerce shop page. Customers can view products, choose variations from a dropdown, and add to the cart without visiting the single product page.

How does WooCommerce display variations?

WooCommerce product variations dropdownBefore we start, let's look at what you can do with WooCommerce variation dropdowns without any extra plugins. The free WooCommerce plugin comes complete with a variable product type. You can add a choice of options for each product.

For example, you might want to create a WooCommerce variations dropdown for color and another for size.

This type of WooCommerce dropdown menu is listed as product attributes dropdowns on the product detail page. Customers can select any combination of the variation options from the dropdowns before adding the product to the cart. Their choices will add to the cost of the product, and added to the cart with the correct totals.

This is all built into the WooCommerce core, without needing any extra plugins.

So why do I need a WooCommerce variations dropdown plugin?

Now it's time for the bad news. The built-in WooCommerce variations dropdown is perfect if customers only need to select variations from the single product page. The limitation is that the product options dropdown doesn't appear anywhere else on your WooCommerce store.

WooCommerce category page without variations drodown
WooCommerce shop page - no product dropdown options for variations!

The variations dropdown menu doesn't appear in the list of products on the shop or category pages. Instead, the usual add to cart button (which appears for simple products without variation) is replaced with a 'Select options' button linking to the single product page.

This means that customers have to click through to the product details page to buy variable products. They can't view the variation options or prices on the product listings pages at all. This adds an extra click to the process and lengthens the buying process.

No one wants that, as customers are more likely to get frustrated and give up!

It's better to list WooCommerce variations dropdown wherever your products are displayed. You'll get more sales if customers can view all the options and buy straight away, without having to click through to another page.

Case study – variation dropdown menus on OrderAmysFood.com

WooCommerce dropdown menu plugin for variations

OrderAmysFood.com have a food ordering service on their website. Customers can order a whole meal along with entrees, side dishes, drinks and dessert.

OrderAmysFood.com want to accommodate everyone, so there are variations to most menu items. A customer can choose a larger portion size, or ask for their curry to be extra spicy, or even ask that it’s made vegan-friendly. To make this happen, they’ve created WooCommerce dropdown menus for variations using the Woo Product Table plugin.

The order form includes at least one dropdown for each dish. Each time a customer selects a dropdown variation, the cost of the product is recalculated to show how much it’ll cost exactly. It’s extra convenient for the customer to be able make these selections right there and then. And seeing the price change instantly means there’s no surprises around the corner.

Carry on reading to find out how to add your own WooCommerce variation dropdown menus using either the Express Shop Page or Product Table plugins.

Method 1: Add WooCommerce variation dropdowns to the shop page

WooCommerce Express Shop Page plugin

Our first method for creating shop page variation dropdowns is super-simple. After all, the WooCommerce Express Shop Page plugin was designed exactly for this purpose!

This simple plugin takes the variation dropdowns from the single product page, and displays them on the main shop page and category pages. It does the same for quantity boxes. That's why it's the perfect WooCommerce select variation on shop page plugin - customers use the variation dropdowns and quantity fields directly on the main shop and category pages.

Unlike method 2, the overall layout of your shop pages won't change. The only difference is that after installing the plugin, you will have variation dropdowns and quantity fields on these pages - keeping your existing store layout.

Setup instructions

  1. Install the WooCommerce Express Shop Page plugin on your WordPress site.
  2. A quick setup wizard will open when you first activate the plugin.
  3. Use the setup wizard to choose whether you want the WooCommerce product dropdown options and/or quantity fields to appear on your shop and/or category pages.

And that's it! An incredibly simple way to show WooCommerce variation dropdown lists on your main shop pages.

Method 2: How to list attribute options in a table with WooCommerce variations dropdown lists

WooCommerce product variations dropdown plugin
Add a product table with WooCommerce variations dropdowns anywhere on your site

Method 2 takes a different approach to showing variations on the shop page. Instead of just adding the product dropdown options to your existing store layout, it actually improves the display of your products. It does this by creating a fast one-page ordering experience.

The Product Table plugin is the perfect way to create quick order forms complete with WooCommerce variation dropdowns and add to cart buttons.

It's much more flexible than the default Woo shop and category page layouts. You have full control over what's displayed in the table. This includes several ways to list variation options including WooCommerce product dropdown lists. You can choose your columns, show or hide the images, choose the type of add to cart buttons, and much more.

While you can't use it to show the variation price in a dropdown, the price of each variation is clearly displayed when the customer selects a variation. Or to make the variation price even more visible, you can display each variation on its own row in the table instead of as product dropdown options. This keeps the price and other variation data visible all the time.

See the WooCommerce variation dropdowns in action on our demo page.

There's plenty you can do with product tables. But for the purposes of this tutorial, we're looking at how to add the WooCommerce variations dropdown lists for variable products. Now we'll get started!

WooCommerce variations dropdown plugin reviews
Praise for how WooCommerce Product Table lists variation options

Set up Product Table with WooCommerce variation dropdown menus

Before you start, I expect you to have a WordPress website with WooCommerce installed and some variable products added. If you don't know how to do this, then the official WooCommerce documentation will walk you through it.

Then, follow these easy steps to list variation dropdowns on the shop page and other parts of your store:

  1. Get WooCommerce Product Table.
  2. Follow the instructions in the 'Getting Started' email to install and activate the plugin.
  3. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Product Tables. Enter your license key and choose the default options for your product tables. Make sure you include the add-to-cart column in the 'Columns' section, and select the variations dropdown option under 'Variations'. This will show your WooCommerce variations as dropdown lists in the add to cart column. All the other settings are optional. Choose whichever are most suitable for your store.

Now it's time to list WooCommerce variation dropdown menus in a table. There are two easy ways to add variation dropdowns to the WooCommerce shop page:

  1. Use the options on the plugin settings page to enable the product table layout on the shop and/or category pages, replacing the default layouts in your theme.
    WooCommerce add product table to shop and category pages
  2. Use a [product_table] shortcode to add product tables to normal pages in your site, which you can use instead of the default shop page.

Option 1 is ideal for most people because it uses the product table layout for ALL the product lists on your website. Customers will see a variation dropdown for each variable product on all your product lists.

Option 2 is good if you want to create product tables for certain variable products only. You can use the 50+ shortcode options to choose which products to include in each table.

Either way, once you've finished you'll see a WooCommerce table with variations dropdowns.

WooCommerce variations dropdown plugin

Can I create dropdown lists of other types of product option?

So far, we've just talked about how to create WooCommerce variation dropdown lists for your variable products. Everything in this tutorial equally applies to the extra product add-on fields that you can create with the WooCommerce Product Options plugin.

This plugin adds extra options for your products including more flexible dropdown lists, checkboxes, radio buttons, text entry fields for custom messages, and more. You can use it with either the WooCommerce Express Shop Page or WooCommerce Product Table plugin to show the extra product options on the shop page. Here's an example of what it looks like with the Express Shop Page plugin:

WooCommerce show product add-ons on shop page
Use the WooCommerce Product Options plugins to add other types of product add-on on the shop page

That way, you can show all sorts of product options on the shop page - not just WooCommerce variation dropdowns.

How to display WooCommerce variation buttons instead of dropdown

While we're talking about the WooCommerce Product Options plugin, I'll tell you one more thing it can do.

Some store owners don't like the style of the WooCommerce dropdown menu for variations. Instead, they would prefer to display variation buttons instead of a dropdown.

You can do this by using the WooCommerce Product Options plugin to set up your options instead of using variations. This gives you extra styling options instead of just drop down lists. For example, this screenshot shows a charity donation product with the options added using different types of button instead of dropdowns. The "How much do you want to donate?" option displays text buttons for the customer to click on. The "Which charity are you donating to?" option has image buttons. As you can see, these are much more visual than using WooCommerce variation dropdowns:

WooCommerce charity donation choose amount

Bonus tip - Show WooCommerce variation dropdowns in a quick view lightbox

So far, you've learned how to display WooCommerce variation dropdowns within a product table layout. You can also list variations as dropdowns in a quick view lightbox. To do this, you need the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin.

The quick view plugin is super-flexible. Here are some suggestions of how you can use it for your product variation dropdown lists:

Now you're ready to create variation dropdowns in WooCommerce

That wraps up our guide on 2 easy ways to add WooCommerce product variation dropdowns to the shop page:

Either way, this is a great way to improve the shopping experience for your customers. Both options make it easy for customers to select variations on the shop page in WooCommerce - a faster way to shop. Customers no longer have to click to the product detail page to view variation attributes and pricing.

By saving your customers time and making it easier to buy from you, displaying product variation dropdown menus in this way can have a big impact on sales. Get your favorite plugin today, and make life easier for your customers!