Managing your wholesale store’s inventory can be tricky. This is especially true if you have custom or out-of-stock items. However, it’s important to set clear expectations with your customers. By showing stock availability and learning how to use WooCommerce custom stock status, you can keep your business running smoothly!
In this tutorial, we will guide you step-by-step. First, you’ll learn how to manage inventory in WooCommerce. Next, we’ll show you how to add stock statuses to your wholesale store. This will help customers see which of the items are in stock, available for backorder, or out of stock.
With these simple steps, you will manage your inventory better and give customers a smooth shopping experience.
Ready to learn more? Let’s get to it!
WooCommerce Custom Stock Status: Overview And Importance
According to Investopedia, stock management is the process of tracking and controlling a store’s inventory. It helps make sure you have the right amount of products available. This means avoiding having too much or too little stock.
With good stock management, you can meet customer demand while reducing extra costs. It helps you keep popular items in stock and avoid wasting money on products that don’t sell.
It is important to have WooCommerce custom stock status because it helps keep your customers informed. WooCommerce custom stock statuses also help set clear expectations. When customers know the availability of a product, they won’t be surprised by delays. This leads to fewer complaints and better customer satisfaction.
As a wholesale store owner, you know that inventory ties up capital. Managing stock effectively helps free up that capital and improve cash flow.
Efficient stock control means understanding different types of stock and their demand. This helps keep the right balance between surplus supplies and reducing tied-up capital.
Good stock management ensures you have the products customers want. It also helps you forecast product needs and order the right quantities. On the other hand, poor stock management can lead to lost sales due to low stock levels.
Additionally, using WooCommerce custom stock statuses can improve your store’s efficiency. It makes it easier for you to manage your inventory and keep track of stock levels. As a result, your business runs smoothly, and your customers stay happy.
Want to learn how to effectively manage your wholesale inventory? Read our article here:
Managing Stock In WooCommerce
Let’s walk you through how to manage stock in WooCommerce in 3 easy steps.
Step 1: Turn on stock management in WooCommerce
To manage stock in WooCommerce, start by turning on stock management. Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory. Here, you can turn on the stock management feature. This helps WooCommerce keep track of your inventory automatically.
Step 2: Set stock amounts for each product
Next, you need to set stock amounts for each product. Go to Products > All Products, select a product, and click the Inventory tab. You can enter the number of items you have in stock, choose whether to allow backorders, and set a low stock warning. This helps you manage stock for each product.
Step 3: Get notified for low stock
Lastly, WooCommerce lets you get email alerts when stock is low or out. You can set it up so the system sends you an email when stock is running out. To enable notifications, scroll down to the Notifications section by going to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory. Make sure the Enable low stock notifications box is checked.
Enter the email address where you want to receive low stock alerts in the notification recipient box. Once you’ve made these changes, click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
This way, you’ll know when to order more and keep your popular products available.
How To Display WooCommerce Stock Status
WooCommerce only shows the stock status on the product’s single page. This is not ideal for a few reasons.
First, customers find out an item is out of stock only after they click on it. They might leave the site and look elsewhere instead of going back to choose another product.
Second, customers don’t know how long it will take for the product to arrive. Some items, like custom or made-to-order products, may take longer. WooCommerce doesn’t provide this information upfront.
The solution is to show the stock status and other stock details on your main shop pages. You can do this easily with the WooCommerce Wholesale Order Form.
Wholesale customers can see stock levels upfront without needing to click on individual products. This saves time, reduces frustration, and improves the shopping experience.
This provides wholesale customers with clear information on product availability, making it easier for your wholesale customers to plan their purchases. This feature can help wholesale buyers make better decisions and prevent lost sales due to a lack of stock information.
Assuming in the following steps that you have already installed the plugin in your WooCommerce store, here’s how you can display the WooCommerce stock status and other information:
Step 1: Configure order form settings
After activating the plugin, go to Wholesale > Order Form in your dashboard. Click on the Add Form button to generate your order form.
Step 2: Put in stock amount tab as additional element
You can drag the In Stock Amount tab into the order form to create an additional table element. This feature allows you to easily view the stock levels of your products at a glance. By adding this element, customers will immediately see whether a product is in stock, out of stock, or has limited availability without having to click on each item.
Step 3: Show or hide zero stocks (optional)
In the settings tab, scroll down to the Zero Inventory option. When you enable this setting, all products with zero stock will be automatically hidden from your product catalog. This means that any item currently out of stock will no longer be visible to customers browsing your store.
When done, click Publish.
Step 4: Add the wholesale order form to your shop page
Start by copying the shortcode of your order form:
Then, create a new page by navigating to WordPress Pages > Add New. Then, paste your shortcode and click Publish.
Now, your wholesale customers will see a product listing with stock statuses directly on this page, simplifying the ordering process.
Step 5: Test your wholesale order form
Finally, visit your store and check the newly created wholesale order form page. Test to see that customers can easily view stock information without having to click on individual products.
Doing WooCommerce custom stock statuses makes shopping easier for your customers. They don’t have to click on each product to find out if it’s available. Instead, they can see the stock status right on the product page or order form, which saves them time and improves their overall experience.
Wholesale Order Form is part of Wholesale Suite, a set of plugins for improving wholesale shopping in WooCommerce. It lets wholesale customers quickly order in bulk using a simple form, which makes the process faster and easier.
Another plugin in the suite is Wholesale Prices Premium, which allows you to set different prices for wholesale customers without changing retail prices. This helps you manage discounts for large buyers and attract more wholesale customers.
Wholesale Lead Capture helps you register and approve wholesale customers separately. It automates the approval process, and ensure that only qualified buyers access your wholesale prices.
Lastly, Wholesale Payments provides flexible payment options tailored for wholesale transactions. You can set up special payment methods, like offering payment terms or using specific gateways for bulk orders.
Together, these plugins create a complete wholesale solution in WooCommerce, making it easy to manage bulk orders, pricing, customers, and payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get the stock status in WooCommerce?
To find the stock status of a product in WooCommerce, go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Products > All Products. The stock status for each product will be displayed in the product list, showing if it’s “In Stock,” “Out of Stock,” or on “Backorder.”
What are the stock status options in WooCommerce?
WooCommerce has three main stock status options: In Stock, Out of Stock, and On Backorder. These options help customers understand whether a product is available to buy, out of stock, or available for backorder with delayed shipping.
How do I add custom status to WooCommerce?
To add custom statuses in WooCommerce, use the Wholesale Order Form from Wholesale Suite. This plugin allows you to display stock statuses directly on the order form for wholesale customers. Wholesale buyers can see stock statuses without clicking on individual products, making it easier for them to shop in bulk efficiently.
Conclusion
WooCommerce custom stock status helps your wholesale business stay organized by keeping customers informed about product availability. By displaying clear stock statuses, you set accurate expectations for your customers, which leads to a smoother shopping experience.
In this article, we discussed how stock statuses in WooCommerce can help your online store thrive:
Managing stock in WooCommerce
- Turn on stock management in WooCommerce
- Set stock amounts for each product
- Get notified for low stock
How to display WooCommerce stock status
- Configure Wholesale Order Form settings
- Put in stock amount tab as additional element
- Show or hide zero stocks
- Add the Wholesale Order Form to your shop page
- Test your Wholesale Order Form
By using the full Wholesale Suite—Order Form, Prices Premium, Lead Capture, and Payments—you can efficiently manage stock, pricing, and customer interactions. This complete solution ensures your wholesale store runs smoothly, which helps you meet customer demand while optimizing your business operations.
Have questions regarding this topic? Let us know in the comments section below!
