Replacement-Glass.com sells wood-burning stoves, flues, and custom-cut replacement stove glass across the UK. Every piece of glass is a different size, so pricing each one accurately used to be a real challenge. With WooCommerce Product Options, the team now calculates exact prices on the fly - right on the product page.
The challenge: pricing thousands of custom sizes
The cost of each piece of glass depends on far more than just its dimensions. Material costs, staffing time, packaging, wastage, and board margins all play a role. However, the team previously relied on basic custom code on a different platform. "It wasn't doing half the things that we're doing now," said Richard Fewings, who manages the site.
As a result, pricing was inconsistent. Some sizes were overpriced while others were sold at a loss.
The solution: Excel-style formulas on the product page
WooCommerce Product Options allowed Richard to replicate the company's Excel pricing model directly on the website. Customers enter their glass dimensions, and the formula engine calculates an accurate price instantly.
One especially useful feature is the ability to break complex calculations into smaller, reusable components. Individual variables hold the cost of each material - glue, foam, box sizes, staffing time. When a cost changes, anyone on the team can update that one value and the whole formula recalculates. "You can take the complexity out," Richard explained. "It's a really simple way of just repricing."
Because the price goes straight to the basket, customers get a seamless experience with no quoting step.
You would not believe how complicated the formula is that we've got. But if we can do it, you can pretty much achieve anything.
Richard Fewings, Replacement-Glass.com
The results: consistent margins and growth
With accurate pricing in place, Replacement-Glass.com now maintains a consistent profit margin on every conceivable size of glass. The business has become more competitive as a result.
"We've been pushing into this replacement glass area and it's literally taken off," said Richard. "Certainly part of that is that we're able to price accurately and competitively." For any business selling made-to-order products, this shows how a pricing formula can become a real competitive advantage.