Creating Variable Products with Attributes and Variations in WooCommerce

Let's learn how to create variable products in your WooCommerce store using attributes and variations.

Offer more choices to your customers with a set of variations on a product all while having control over prices, stock, images and more.

Some examples:

  • Different sizes and colours of clothing (small, medium, large)
  • Selection of material used for handcrafted goods (sterling silver, copper, gold)

A few definitions that may be helpful along the way:

  • Variable Product: A product with multiple variations, each that may have a unique SKU, price, stock, image, etc.
  • Attributes: Descriptors for a product that let customers know important details about a product’s size, colour, dimensions, material, etc.
  • Variations: Choices that customers can make regarding the specifics of a product, example: medium vs large t-shirt, blue vs red mug.

Let’s start by working with the following product:

Product: Elev8 Web Studio Hoodie
Available Sizes: Small, Medium, Large
Available Colours: White, Black, Grey

1

Set Up Attributes

  1. From the menu on the left, go to Products > Attributes
  2. Enter the attribute name and slug, then click Add attribute.
    • Example: Size, Colour.
  3. Next to the Attribute name, select Configure Terms.
  4. Enter the term name and slug, then click Add new.
    • Example: Size: Small, Medium, Large
  5. Repeat the above steps for as many different attributes as you like.

2

Create the Product in WooCommerce

  1. From the menu on the left, go to Products > Add new
  2. In the Product Data section, select Variable product from the dropdown menu.
  3. Define your tax status.
  4. Fill out your product details: name, short description, product tags/categories, image.

3

Set Up Product Variations with Previously Created Attributes

  1. In the Product Data section, go to Attributes on the left hand side.
  2. Select one of the attributes you previously created from the dropdown menu and click Add.
  3. Make sure “Used for variations” is checked.
  4. To enter the values for that attribute, click the Values field and select the terms you previously configured.
  5. Click Save attributes.
  6. Next, go to Variations on the left hand side.
  7. Select Create variations from all attributes and click Go.
  8. You will be prompted to confirm this action, click OK.

4

Fill Out Variation Product Data

You can now fill out product data for each variation, i.e: SKU, price, stock, image, weight & dimensions, shipping class, etc.

  1. Click the arrows on the right hand side to expand / close and edit details for each variation individually.
    • Note: Make sure to check off Manage Stock to fill out individual stock numbers.

  1. Remember to click Publish or Update to make the variations visible on the front end of your shop.