WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress sites. If you run an online store with WordPress, there’s a good chance that you’re using WooCommerce.
This user-friendly plugin makes it easy for you to set up your store and add products. But did you know that you can sell different types of goods in your store? In addition to physical items, you can also offer virtual or variable items.
To better understand WooCommerce product types and how they work, let’s take a look at them in this article.
6 different WooCommerce product types
Working with WooCommerce is extremely easy, as it only takes a few minutes and you’ll understand how the plugin works and how you can create multiple products easily.
WooCommerce offers six different product types to help you categorize the products you offer in your online store. Let’s take a look at these WooCommerce product types to create the right products.
Simple products
As the name suggests, simple products are unique items that can be placed anywhere in your online store. These products are very easy to create and manage and have a single price and SKU.
They are often single physical goods. For example, if you sell a book, it can be categorized as a simple product.
Grouped products
If you want to display multiple products on one simple page, grouped product can be a helpful option. This is a collection of simple products in your online store.
A grouped product does not have a price or SKU, but it is linked to several other products and serves as a parent product. With this WooCommerce product type, you can group multiple items together on a single product page.
A group product includes at least one child item. Customers have the right to buy either an entire group or all items in the group individually. In contrast to simple products, you do not need to specify a price for your parent product, as this depends on the prices of the child items.
For example, you can add several items of clothing to a grouped product page called “Baby Boy Set 1.” This parent product page can contain a T-shirt, pants, socks, etc. for a little boy, which can be mixed and matched.
Virtual products
Virtual products are simply not physical units and do not require shipping. These products can be services offered by you.
Digital products are also virtual products as they do not require shipping and you can receive the product immediately via email. You also don’t have to worry about other details such as the dimensions and weight of the product.
Downloadable products
With downloadable products, customers receive a link to download the product after purchase. Similar to virtual products, this product type does not ask for the shipping method.
If you are selling a magazine, WordPress plugins, themes or anything else that can be downloaded, then you can use this WooCommerce product type.
Variable products
Variable products are different from all other WooCommerce product types. You can use variations and product attributes to sell different items on a product page.
A perfect example is T-shirts. People can choose a t-shirt, but they also have to choose the size, color and different attributes you set.
External/affiliate products
External or affiliate products allow you to sell goods from other sellers in your online store. You can collaborate with other sellers and promote their products on your website. In this case, you can link the “Add to cart” button to the actual product page.
If you run an affiliate program, this type of WooCommerce product can be very useful. Once users click on an affiliate link in your content, they will be redirected to the website that sells the product to complete the order. This information is carefully tracked and you receive the commission based on the number of items sold.
How to add different product types in WooCommerce
If you’ve just started working with WooCommerce, then we’re going to help you add your first product to your online store. Here’s how to do it.
First, you need to determine what type of WooCommerce product you want to add. There are different product types in WooCommerce, which we mentioned above. Once you have decided on the right product type, you can go ahead and select that product type before publishing the product.
To add your first product, you need to go to WooCommerce > Products > Add New. After clicking on this option, a new window will open where you can enter the name of the product and other details.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see a Product Data section for multiple product settings. On the Product Data tab, select the correct type of product you want to create from a drop-down menu. For a simple product, you can check the “Virtual” or “Downloadable” option.
The Product data drop-down menu also contains Grouped product, Variable product and External/connected product.
In addition to “Simple product,” there are 2 checkboxes for creating a “virtual product” and a “downloadable product.” Now you can start creating a product title and product description.
We have selected a simple product type in WooCommerce for better understanding. On the “Product Data” tab, you have several options available, including inventory management, where you can enter the SKU value and manage the inventory.
You can then edit the shipping details, including the weight of the product and the dimensions. In another tab, you can link products and create product attributes. For example, in apparel stores, you can add product attributes such as size and color of items.
At the end you will see a tab for the “Product short description.” Enter a short description of the product and you’re done. Now, select the correct category for the product you have just created, add the product image and then publish it.
WooCommerce product attributes
When you create a product in WooCommerce, you can always create custom WooCommerce attributes to help your customers find the right product.
If you sell clothing items, then these product attributes can help you a lot. Let’s say you sell a T-shirt in your online store. You need to specify options to choose from, the right size and color. You can then add the product attribute “color” and specify all the colors that are available for the T-shirt. The same applies to the sizes.
WooCommerce product variants are often confused with product attributes. However, they are not the same thing. Product variations contain product attributes. The size and color of a T-shirt are the variations of this product. The colors red, blue, yellow are the attributes of the product variation “color.”
Protect WooCommerce products
Knowing the types of your WooCommerce products is important, but protecting them from unpaid users is also necessary. What if customers share their product links in social groups? Are you sure they are not giving shopping accounts to their relatives and friends?
Depending on the products you offer, there are 2 ways to effectively protect your products. You can password protect single products or secure downloadable items.
Password protection for WooCommerce product pages
PPWP Pro is a simple but powerful plugin to lock your WooCommerce products. If you are planning to create customized products or private wholesale stores, this plugin would be the ideal solution.
Once the products are protected, users will be presented with a password form when browsing your private products. They will need to enter the correct passwords to view the product page and make purchases.
Secure downloadable WooCommerce products
WooCommerce offers you the option of setting download limits for your digital products. After a few clicks, customers can no longer download your files.
The truth is that this method is not effective enough to protect your digital goods. Your file can be indexed and show up in search results. You need a complete solution to restrict your customers’ downloads while preventing search engines from indexing your files.
This is where PDA Gold comes into play. The plugin allows you to protect WooCommerce digital products by securing the original URL of the file. You can create an unlimited number of private download links that allow customers to download them within a certain time or only with a certain number of clicks. It also stops search engines from indexing your files to prevent users from finding them randomly in the SERPs.
PDA Gold also comes with a useful WooCommerce extension that allows you to stop digital products from being shared based on IP addresses. When a customer purchases an item, their IP address is recorded. Any user from a different IP address who logs in with the same username and password will be blocked immediately.
Conclusion
WooCommerce has been helping small businesses for a long time. You can easily create a custom product type for WooCommerce and start offering your products within minutes. Whether you are creating a small online store or a large online store, WooCommerce can help you manage it easily.
Before you get started with WooCommerce, this guide to WooCommerce product types will be of great help to you.
