When you first begin setting up your WordPress products you may be wondering what the difference is between a Simple, Grouped, External/Affiliate and a Variable product, and when you should be using each of the product types. Below we will be covering what each of the products types are and when you should use them.
WooCommerce is one of of the most downloaded WordPress Plugins, with over 28,917,246 downloads (figure taken from WooCommerce on 19th July 2017) WooCommerce powers over 28% of E-Commerce stores.
Simple Products
As the name does suggest, Simple products are the easiest products to understand and get to grips with. A simple product is a product that comes without any options or additional pricing associated with the product. For example, a Google My Business Guide, this product has no other options available to choose.
When should I use a simple product?
As mentioned above you should use a simple product type when a product doesn’t have any options related to the product and has one standard price.
Grouped Products
A grouped product type will allow you to link more than one product into one product page, making it a product bundle or product combination. Which will allow you to sell more than one product at a time at a optional discounted price.
When should I use a grouped product?
As mentioned above you should use a group product type when you wish to have more than one product sold at one purchase.
Example: You have a stationary store but wish to sell a stationary kit which includes a pencil case, calculator, notepad and a set of pens for a cheaper price if the customer was purchasing them individually, you would select it as a group product.
External/Affiliate Products
An external/affiliate product is a product type that you have listed on your website but will be purchased on another website, this is usually used for commission based sellers.
When should I use a External/Affiliate Product?
You should use the option of an External/Affiliate product type when you will be listing a set product on your site but when the customer continues to check out they will be pointed to another site where they will have to make the payment, depending on the company you may get a commission for each sale.
Variable Products
A Variable product is a product with additional options made from attributes, such as size and colour. For example, a t-shirt is available in 3 different colours (Black, Red and Yellow) and 3 sizes (Small, Medium and Large). So you will have a total of 9 products;
- Small Black
- Medium Black
- Large Black
- Small Red
- Medium Red
- Large Red
- Small Yellow
- Medium Yellow
- Large Yellow
Each of the product variations have their own product settings so you can set different prices, images and SKU’s for each of the variation if you need to. For example, the Small Black top may be £5.99 but the Large Black top is £9.99.
When should I use a Variable Product?
As mentioned above you should use a Variable product type when you wish to sell an item that a customer can choose set options that are associated with the product.
