How to apply discounts to WooCommerce variable products

Managing discounts for variable products in WooCommerce can be frustrating. You might want to move specific inventory, like clearing out last season’s small-sized shirts, or target particular customer segments with tailored promotions.

But with WooCommerce’s default settings, you’re stuck applying basic, product-wide discounts without the flexibility to get specific.

In this guide, you’ll learn two easy ways to apply discounts to WooCommerce variable products:

• WooCommerce Discount Manager for setting up a wide range of scheduled discounts and advanced offers at the variation level.
• Setary for bulk-editing and scheduling sale prices using WooCommerce’s built-in sale price field.

By the end, you’ll have the tools you need to create smarter, more targeted discount strategies that move inventory faster and maximize your margins.

Why you should implement discounts for variable products

Offering discounts on variable products can be a smart strategy to boost sales, clear inventory, and strengthen customer loyalty. However, WooCommerce’s default discounting options fall short for stores that want to run more sophisticated promotions.

By default, WooCommerce applies discounts to entire products, not individual variations. There’s no variation-level control, no way to create user roles or attribute-specific discounts, and no automation features.

This lack of flexibility can make it difficult to run targeted promotions, optimize your inventory, or boost sales efficiently. Many store owners are forced to either skip discounting altogether or waste time manually adjusting sale prices for each variation.

Implementing variation-specific discounts offers powerful benefits:

• Target specific variations without discounting an entire product.
• Selectively reduce excess inventory.
• Boost order values with bulk or tiered discounts.
• Promote seasonal or time-limited offers.
• Attract price-sensitive customers.
• Reward loyal customers with exclusive variation-based deals.

For example, a specialty food store might discount all "Organic" coffee blends to make them more competitive without lowering prices across their entire coffee line.

Flexible discounting of product variations can significantly impact customer behavior and therefore your store's revenue. It uses the laws of supply and demand to increase demand for specific variations, helping to guide customers to purchase specific variations.

Katie KeithFounder & CEO

Pro tip: If you’re new to setting up variable products, read our guide on how to set up WooCommerce variable products.

Setting up variable product discounts with WooCommerce Discount Manager

WooCommerce Discount Manager makes it easy to apply discounts directly to specific product variations without the manual workarounds or limitations of WooCommerce’s default options. Its intuitive interface helps you create targeted promotions, manage inventory more effectively, and meet customer preferences with precision.

Here’s how to create discounts for specific variations:

1. Navigate to Marketing → Discounts in your WordPress dashboard. Create a new discount by clicking Add Discount.
   

   

2. Choose your discount type (percentage, fixed amount, BOGO, bulk pricing, etc…).
3. Define your discount parameters like the amount and any conditions you want to apply.
   • Name your discount to keep your offers organized.
   • Select specific products for the discount.
   • Choose the variable product(s) from your catalog. A variations table will appear. Simply select the specific variations to which you want the discount to apply to.
   • If you don’t select any variations, the discount will automatically apply to all variations of the product.
     

     

4. Next, set the discount details:
   • Discount amount. Specify either a percentage or fixed discount.
   • Conditions. Define any conditions for the discount, such as minimum quantity or required cart total.
   • Applies to. Limit discounts to all customers, certain user roles or groups, or specific users.
   • Availability. Schedule the discount to run indefinitely or within a custom date range.
5. You can also promote the discount by adding:
   • A custom message on the product page.
   • Reminder messages in the cart to show customers the savings they’re getting.
     

     

Keep in mind that simple discounts are applied immediately when a customer selects a discounted variation. Other discount types (like bulk or BOGO) are calculated on the cart page based on the variations added to the cart.

Choosing the right advanced discount strategy

With WooCommerce Discount Manager, you’re not limited to simple percentage or fixed-amount discounts. You can create advanced, custom discount strategies that fine-tune your pricing and maximize your promotions’ impact.

Tailored discount pricing strategies help you:

• Incentivize larger purchases with bulk or tiered pricing.
• Reward specific customer groups (like wholesalers or loyal buyers) with user-role based discounts.
• Clear out seasonal or slow-moving inventory with time-limited offers.
• Drive urgency with BOGO (Buy One, Get One) or cart subtotal discounts.

Choosing the right strategy depends on your goals, whether it’s boosting average order value, moving specific variations faster, or rewarding your best customers.

WooCommerce Discount Manager gives you the flexibility to match the right discount to the right audience at the right time. Here are some discount strategies you might implement:

Simple percentage and fixed price discounts

Simple percentage (e.g. 20% off) and fixed price (e.g. $10 off) discounts are the most straightforward discount types you can apply to variable products.

Why simple percentage and fixed price discounts work:

• Simplifies your discount messaging, making it easy for customers to understand the deal.
• Offers a clear, direct value proposition that encourages quicker purchase decisions.
• Can be flexibly applied to specific variations, such as particular sizes, colors, or styles.

Example: A clothing retailer offers 20% off all XL-sized shirts or $10 off specific color/size combinations to clear out seasonal inventory.

Flash sales

Flash sales are short-term, high-intensity discounts applied to specific variations for a limited time. They might last just a few hours or a single day.

Why flash sales work:

• Creates a sense of urgency, driving immediate purchases.
• Helps clear slow-moving or seasonal inventory quickly.
• Encourages customers to buy now instead of waiting and risking missing out.

Example: A sneaker brand runs a 24-hour flash sale on the "Limited Edition Blue" version of a popular shoe to create buzz and boost sales.

Bulk discounts and tiered pricing

Bulk discounts and tiered pricing offer customers lower prices when they purchase larger quantities of specific product variations.

Why tiered pricing works:

• Boosts average order value by incentivizing customers to buy more.
• Appeals to wholesale customers and bulk buyers.
• Enhances the perceived value by rewarding higher quantity purchases.

Example: A home decor store offers tiered discounts on certain candle variations, encouraging customers to buy more candles at a lower per-item price.

BOGO deals

BOGO (Buy One, Get One) deals reward customers with a free or discounted product variation when they purchase a qualifying item.

Why BOGO works:

• Increases the number of units sold through bundled discounts.
• Moves seasonal or slow-moving inventory by offering deals on specific variations.
• Encourages customers to discover and try related product variations they might not have considered.

Example: “Buy a shirt in any color, get a second blue shirt 50% off.”

Loyalty-based discounts

Loyalty-based discounts offer exclusive savings to repeat customers or members of a loyalty program, often based on user roles or purchase history.

Why loyalty-based discounts work:

• Strengthens customer loyalty by rewarding repeat shoppers.
• Drives repeat purchases, increasing customer lifetime value (CLV).
• Segments the customer base effectively, allowing for more personalized promotions.

Example: A premium clothing store gives "Gold Members" (a specific user role) an exclusive 20% off on select variations.

Best practices for WooCommerce variable product discounts

When setting up discounts for variable products, it’s crucial to be strategic to protect margins and maximize long-term value.

Avoid over-discounting

Frequent discounts can train customers to wait for sales, which will ultimately hurt your revenue. Instead, focus on targeted discounts for slow-selling variations rather than running site-wide markdowns.

Use discounts to drive sales without hurting perceived value

Deep discounts can sometimes lower the perceived quality of your products. Instead, consider using product bundles, BOGO deals, or adding free gifts to enhance value without heavy price cuts.

Time-sensitive promotions create urgency, encouraging customers to act quickly without permanently slashing prices.

Use conditional pricing

You can use WooCommerce Discount Manager to set conditional pricing in different ways to offer discounts. Here are some ideas with examples for inspiration:

• Apply discounts only when customers meet specific criteria. For example: "Spend $75, get 10% off".
• Create variation-specific conditions such as "Buy any three variations of our t-shirts to unlock premium color discounts".
• Implement cross-selling conditions like "Buy any dress variation and get 30% off accessory variations".

Target the right customers

Segment your discounts based on user roles. For example, you might offer wholesale pricing on bulk purchases only to B2B customer roles. Seasonality can also guide which variations you discount, such as lighter clothing in summer, warm products in winter, and so on.

Monitor discount performance and optimize regularly

Use analytics to track which variations underperform and apply discounts strategically. Regular A/B testing can help fine-tune which discount types and structures drive the best results.

Setting variation sale prices in bulk with Setary

If you prefer to set standard WooCommerce sale prices on variations without creating complex rules, then Setary offers a fast, easy solution.

Setary is a bulk product editor built specifically for WooCommerce. It allows you to quickly edit product data – including variation sale prices – through an intuitive spreadsheet-style interface.

To set sale prices in bulk using Setary:

1. Open Setary from your WordPress dashboard.
2. Filter your products to show only variable products or specific categories/attributes.
3. Edit the sale price fields directly in the table for each variation.
4. You can also schedule sale prices in advance by setting both the sale price and the start/end dates.

Because Setary writes directly to WooCommerce’s built-in sale price fields, your discounts will appear immediately on your product and shop pages without any additional setup.

This is a great alternative if you want to:

• Quickly clear inventory.
• Set scheduled sales without creating discount rules.
• Bulk-edit hundreds of variations in just a few minutes.

You can view a screenshot of bulk-editing sale prices with Setary below:

Pro tip: Combine Setary with WooCommerce Discount Manager for maximum flexibility. Use Setary for bulk-editing sale prices across variations, and then use WooCommerce Discount Manager to apply targeted discounts and promotions. This combination gives you full control over pricing and helps maximize sales without manual price adjustments.

Start offering WooCommerce variable product discounts

WooCommerce variable product discounts give you granular control over pricing, allowing you to target specific variations instead of applying blanket discounts to entire product lines. This precision helps you clear slow-moving inventory without impacting the profitability of your bestsellers.

Your next steps:

1. Audit your current inventory to identify which variations could benefit from strategic discounting.
2. Define clear goals for each discount campaign.
3. Select the appropriate discount type based on your goals and margins.
4. Set up your discounts for variable products easily with WooCommerce Discount Manager and/or Setary.

WooCommerce Discount Manager unlocks the ability to implement sophisticated discount rules that go beyond the limitations of WooCommerce's default settings, giving you complete control over your promotional strategy.