WooCommerce products combine WordPress’s flexible content editing with ecommerce-specific fields — price, stock, variations, shipping, tax class. This guide covers product types, the product editor, UK VAT pricing, variable products, stock management and daily operations.
Product types in WooCommerce • Creating a simple product • UK tax-inclusive pricing • Stock management • Images and gallery • Variable products (size/colour) • Bulk actions • FAQ
Four built-in types:
Plus Virtual and Downloadable checkboxes for digital goods and services.
Products › Add New:
Configured under WooCommerce › Settings › Tax:
Now the Regular price field accepts the shelf price (£29.99 inc. VAT). WooCommerce handles the breakdown.
Under Product data › Inventory:
Global stock preferences under Settings › Products › Inventory: whether to hide out-of-stock from catalogue, low-stock email thresholds, notifications.
Main image + gallery shown on product page. Upload at 1,000px or larger (WooCommerce generates sizes). WebP support for smaller file size — Astra and Storefront handle WebP.
Image alt text: fill in Media Library for SEO and accessibility. Empty alt is a missed opportunity.
For products with size or colour variants:
Products list › filter › tick rows › Bulk Actions:
For bulk price updates across many products, CSV export/edit/import is faster. Covered in Importing and Exporting Products.
WooCommerce hosting for large catalogues
Redis Object Cache and NVMe SSD on SmartXHosting WooCommerce plans keep product management fast even at 10,000+ SKUs.
See WooCommerce plansQ: How many variations can a variable product have?
A: Technically unlimited. UX limit: 50+ combinations become unwieldy in the variation picker. Split into multiple products if you exceed this.
Q: Can I price variations differently?
A: Yes — each variation has its own regular and sale price. The parent product shows a price range (£19.99–£24.99).
Q: How do I duplicate a product?
A: Products list › hover over product name › Duplicate. Saves time on similar products.
Q: Why isn’t my product showing on the shop page?
A: Six checks: Publish status, visibility (catalog + search), category assignment, stock (if “hide out of stock” enabled), cache cleared, theme visibility.
Q: Can I sell downloadable files?
A: Yes. On the product edit, tick Downloadable. Upload file, set download limits and expiry.
Q: How does WooCommerce handle large images?
A: WordPress generates thumbnails automatically. Configure sizes under WooCommerce › Settings › Products › Display.
Q: Can I schedule a product to publish later?
A: Yes — WordPress publish date. Set future date; product appears at that time.