Variable product is one of those features that you are going to use extensively if you are running an eCommerce site using the WooCommerce platform.
In this article we are going to show how you can set up the WooCommerce Variable Product and also share a list of plugins that will help you enhance how the product variations look and create them easily.
What is a variable product in WooCommerce?
A variable product is a product type in WooCommerce that lets you set different attributes for a product. These attributes can be size, colors, SKU or anything. A customer selects a combination of these attributes for a product which is known as a variation.
For example, if you run a cloth store then you can set different colors of a t-shirt and add different sizes to these colors. A customer can then select a color and the size for a t-shirt. This final selection is known as a variation.
Steps to set up WooCommerce Variable Product
- Before being able to create a variable product we will first need to create attributes that we are going to use for the product.
Visit Products -> Attributes from your admin dashboard. - Under the Add new attribute section on the left hand side add a name of the attribute in the Name field. Add the same word in the Slug field and click on the Add attribute button.
- Now you will need to add values also known as attribute terms to the Color attribute that we created. These values are going to be the colors of our products such as red, orange, black, etc.
Click on the Color attribute from the table on the right hand side.
On the left hand side under Add new Color, enter the name of the first value in the Name field. Add the same word in the Slug field and click on the Add new Color button.
You can now repeat the process for all the attributes and their terms. - Once you have configured the attributes it’s time to create the variable product.
Visit Products -> Add New from your admin dashboard. - Scroll down to the Product data box and select the Variable product option in the Product Type dropdown next to it. Now select the Attributes tab.
- Click on the Custom product attribute dropdown and select the attribute you want to add to the product. We are going to select the Color attribute that we created earlier. Click on the Add button next to it.
- Now in the values box select the terms you want to add to this attribute and select the Visible on the product page and Used for variations checkboxes. Click on the Save attributes button.
- Now we will need to add variations to the attributes that we added.
Select the Variations tab in the Product data box. - Click on the Go button next to the Add variation dropdown box. Now select the term for the attribute and click on it to expand for further options.
- You will need to add price for every variation and the rest details are optional.
You can also create all the variations in a single click by choosing the Create variations from all attributes dropdown option and click on the Go button. Once clicked all the variations will be created and you can configure them separately. - Click on the Save changes button once done. Also save the whole product once everything is filled. The variable product is now created.
Plugins to create variable product
While the default WooCommerce option to create a variable product works well. Showing a dropdown for selecting the variations is not the best design choice. Below are some plugins that will help you create variable products.
With over 200,000 active installations Variation Swatches is a great plugin to display beautiful swatches for variations on your WooCommerce store.
2. YITH WooCommerce Color and Label Variations
YITH is a premium plugin that costs $69.99 for a single store. It helps you show a complete overview of the variations available to your customers in a clear and easy to understand manner.