12 Hidden WooCommerce Tips and Tricks for your Online Store

Simple WP Hacks will reveal 12 hidden WooCommerce Tips and Tricks that can help you make the most of your online store. WooCommerce is packed with features, but some of them aren’t immediately obvious, so let’s have a look if we have some advice you did not know before.

Hidden Feature #1: Screen Options

WooCommerce’s Screen Options feature allows you to customize your dashboard view. For instance, if you’re managing a large inventory, you might want to view more products per page. Alternatively, if you’re using a plugin that adds additional columns to your product list, you might want to hide these to reduce clutter. Here’s how to use it:

1. Navigate to Products > All Products in your WooCommerce dashboard.
2. Click on ‘Screen Options’ in the top right corner.
3. Here, you can adjust the number of products displayed per page and enable or disable columns.

Hidden Feature #2: Adding Categories to Menus

Adding product categories to your menus can improve navigation on your site. For example, if you’re selling clothing, you might want to add ‘Men’, ‘Women’, and ‘Children’ categories to your main menu. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Appearance > Menus in your dashboard.
2. Click on ‘Screen Options’ in the top right corner.
3. Check the ‘Product Categories’ box.
4. You can now add product categories to your menus.

Hidden Feature #3: WooCommerce Shortcodes

WooCommerce shortcodes allow you to add various WooCommerce elements to your posts, pages, and widgets. For example, if you’re writing a blog post about a new product, you could use a shortcode to add an ‘Add to Cart’ button directly in the post. Here’s how:

1. Copy the shortcode [add_to_cart id="99"] (replace “99” with your product ID).
2. Add a Shortcode block to your page and paste the shortcode into it.
3. Update your page. The product price and ‘Add to Cart’ button for the specified product will now be displayed.

Hidden Feature #4: WooCommerce Blocks

WooCommerce blocks are a set of special blocks for the Gutenberg editor that allows you to display WooCommerce products and categories in various ways. For example, you could use the ‘Featured Product’ block to highlight a product on your homepage. Here’s how to use them:

1. Add a new block to your page.
2. Scroll down to the ‘WooCommerce’ section in the block library.
3. Select a block, such as ‘Featured Product’, and customize it as needed.

Hidden Feature #5: Catalog Visibility

You can control whether a product is visible in your catalog, in search results, or not visible at all. This can be useful if you want to offer exclusive products that are only available to customers who have the direct link. Here’s how:

1. Open a product in your WooCommerce dashboard.
2. Under ‘Product data’, go to the ‘Advanced’ tab.
3. Under ‘Catalog visibility’, select the desired option.
4. Update your product.

Hidden Feature #6: Out of Stock Visibility

You can choose to hide out-of-stock items from your catalog. This can help keep your store looking fresh and full, even if some products are currently unavailable. Here’s how:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory.
2. Check the ‘Out of stock visibility’ box to hide out-of-stock items.
3. Save your changes.

Hidden Feature #7: Price Display Suffix

You can display prices including or excluding tax using the Price Display Suffix feature. This can be useful if you’re selling to both consumers and businesses, and want to clearly communicate how much tax is included in the price. Here’s how:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Tax.
2. Under ‘Price display suffix’, enter {price_including_tax} or {price_excluding_tax}.
3. Save your changes.

Hidden Feature #8: Customizing Account Endpoints

You can customize the endpoints in the My Account page. For example, if you don’t offer downloadable products, you might want to remove the ‘Downloads’ endpoint to simplify the page for your customers. Here’s how:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced.
2. Under ‘Account endpoints’, remove any endpoints you don’t need.
3. Save your changes.

Hidden Feature #9: Limiting Shipping Methods to Specific Postal Codes

You can limit shipping methods to specific postal codes. This can be useful if you’re only able to offer certain shipping methods in certain areas. For example, you might offer local pickup only in your city’s postal code. Here’s how:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping.
2. Edit a shipping zone and a shipping method within that zone.
3. Under ‘Limit to specific ZIP/postcodes’, enter the postcodes you want to allow.
4. Save your changes.

Hidden Feature #10: Manual Orders and Customer Payment Page

You can create manual orders and send a customer payment page link to customers. This can be useful if you’re taking orders over the phone or in person, and want to allow your customers to pay online. Here’s how:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Orders > Add Order.
2. Fill in the order details and create the order.
3. Copy the ‘Customer payment page’ URL and send it to your customer.

Hidden Feature #11: Testing Beta Features

You can enable beta features for testing. This can be a great way to get a sneak peek at upcoming features and provide feedback to the WooCommerce team. However, remember to disable these features before going live, as they may not be stable. Here’s how:

1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features.
2. Enable any beta features you want to test.
3. Remember to disable them before going live.

Hidden Feature #12: Using Filters

You can use filters in WooCommerce to help customers find what they’re looking for. For example, if you’re selling clothing, you might add a ‘Filter by Size’ widget to your sidebar. Here’s how:

1. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
2. Add the ‘Filter Products by Price’ and ‘Filter Products by Attribute’ widgets to your sidebar.
3. Customize the widgets as needed.

Conclusion of our 12 Hidden WooCommerce Tips and Tricks

WooCommerce is a robust platform with a wealth of features, many of which are not immediately apparent. By exploring these hidden features, you can optimize your online store to better meet your business needs and provide a superior shopping experience for your customers. Remember, the key to using WooCommerce effectively is to