If you sell wholesale with quantity-based discounts, you need a way to ensure customers actually buy in the bulk quantities those discounts are designed for. Without minimum order rules, a customer can order a single unit at a wholesale price, which breaks the discount structure you have set up.
WooCommerce Wholesale Prices Premium gives you two tools for this. The first is minimum order quantity and step quantity settings, which you can apply directly on each product or product variation. The second is wholesale-exclusive variations, which lets you create a separate bulk variant that is hidden from regular customers. This article covers both approaches and how to combine them.
Requirements
- WooCommerce Wholesale Prices Premium installed and activated. Get WooCommerce Wholesale Prices Premium here.
- At least one wholesale role configured in your store.
- WooCommerce installed and active.
Setting minimum and step quantity on a product
The Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity field sets the lowest number of units a wholesale customer can buy. The Wholesale Order Quantity Step field sets the increment they must order in above that minimum. For example, a minimum of 12 with a step of 6 means a customer can order 12, 18, 24, and so on, but not 13 or 20.
To configure these fields on a simple product:
- Open the product and scroll down to Product data.
- Locate Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity under the relevant wholesale role section and enter the minimum number of units required.
- Locate Wholesale Order Quantity Step and enter the purchase increment.
- Click Update to save.
When both settings are active, the product page pre-fills the quantity input with the minimum and constrains further input to valid multiples of the step.
Enforcing min/step on the cart page
By default, the minimum and step quantity restrictions are applied on the product page only. To enforce them when a customer updates quantities directly in the cart:
- Go to Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → General.
- Enable Enforce Min/Step On Cart.
- Click Save Changes.
Setting minimum and step quantity per variation
For variable products, the Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity and Wholesale Order Quantity Step fields are available at two levels: on the parent product, and on each individual variation.
- Values set on the parent product apply to all variations unless a variation has its own value set.
- Values set on a variation override the parent product values for that variation only.
To set these at the variation level:
- Open the product and scroll to Product data → Variations.
- Expand the variation you want to configure.
- Locate Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity and Wholesale Order Quantity Step and enter the values for that variation.
- Click Save changes to save the variation, then click Update to save the product.
Creating wholesale-exclusive bulk variations
An alternative to step quantity is to create a separate product variation for bulk purchases and restrict it to wholesale customers only. For example, you could have a “1 Piece” variation available to all customers and a “1 Dozen” variation visible only to wholesale roles. Regular customers see only their permitted variations; wholesale customers see theirs.
- Open the product and scroll to Product data → Variations.
- Add or expand the variation you want to make wholesale-exclusive.
- Locate the Wholesale Exclusive Variation field and select the wholesale roles that are allowed to see this variation.
- Click Save changes to save the variation, then click Update to save the product.
Hiding non-wholesale products from wholesale customers
If you have wholesale-exclusive variations set up and want wholesale customers to see only those variants, enable the Only Show Wholesale Products To Wholesale Customers setting. When active, products and variations without wholesale pricing are hidden from wholesale customer views.
- Go to Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → General.
- Enable Only Show Wholesale Products To Wholesale Customers.
- Click Save Changes.
Troubleshooting
Why isn’t the minimum quantity being enforced for a customer already viewing the product page?
Quantity settings are applied when the product page loads. If you update the minimum or step setting while a customer already has the page open, they need to reload the page for the restriction to take effect.
Do minimum and step quantity settings apply to administrator or shop manager accounts?
Generally, these settings do not apply to admins or shop managers as they do not have the appropriate wholesale customer role or capabilities. It’s also not suggested to give admins or shop managers these roles as they might conflict with one another.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between minimum order quantity and step quantity?
Minimum order quantity sets the lowest number of units a wholesale customer must buy. Step quantity sets the increment they must order in above that minimum. For example, a minimum of 12 and a step of 6 means a customer can order 12, 18, 24, and so on, but not 15 or 20.
Can I set different minimum quantities for different wholesale roles?
Yes. The Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity and Wholesale Order Quantity Step fields are per wholesale role. You can enter different values for each role that appears in the product data panel.
What happens if a wholesale customer tries to add fewer than the minimum quantity?
The product page pre-fills the quantity input with the minimum value and prevents the customer from reducing it below that amount. If a customer enters a lower number directly, the plugin resets it to the minimum before adding to cart.
Does the step quantity restriction apply on the cart page?
Not by default. Step quantity is enforced on the product page. To apply it on the cart page as well, enable Enforce Min/Step On Cart under Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → General.
Can I set min/step quantity at the variation level without setting it on the parent product?
Yes. Variation-level values take precedence over parent product values. You can leave the parent fields empty and configure each variation separately. Variations without their own values fall back to the parent product values if those are set.
Do these quantity settings apply in the WooCommerce Wholesale Order Form?
Yes. The minimum order quantity and step quantity restrictions set on a product apply both on the standard WooCommerce product page and in the Wholesale Order Form.
Can I use wholesale-exclusive variations alongside min/step quantity on the same product?
Yes. You can add a Wholesale Exclusive Variation restriction and also set Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity and Wholesale Order Quantity Step on that same variation. Both rules apply independently.
What if I want to hide non-bulk variations from wholesale customers without using the exclusive variation field?
Enable Only Show Wholesale Products To Wholesale Customers under Wholesale → Settings → Wholesale Prices → General. When active, products and variations without wholesale pricing are hidden from wholesale customer views.
Help & support
We have a dedicated support team for Wholesale Suite who knows our products, WooCommerce, and the industry very well. You’re welcome to make use of their expertise at any time, worldwide.
If you are an existing customer please go to the support ticket request form and send us a message.
If you are a free plugin user, please send us a support request on the forum. We actively monitor the WordPress.org support forums for the free plugin and help our users there as best as we can.
