How to set up conditional logic for WooCommerce product variations

Do you want to show or hide certain options on your product pages based on a shopper’s selections? WooCommerce conditional variations can be an incredible way to keep your product pages clean and simple, only showing relevant options to each customer. Let’s see how you can set this up.

Offering customizable product options is a great way for online merchants to meet their customers' unique needs and preferences. However, managing a large number of variations can be a challenge for store owners, especially if they want to avoid overwhelming their customers with too many choices. This is where WooCommerce conditional variations comes in.

Adding conditional logic to variations allows store owners to show or hide specific product options based on their customers' previous choices, making the shopping experience more streamlined and user-friendly.

In this article, we'll explore how to set up conditional logic for WooCommerce product variations, step by step. We'll also discuss how it can benefit both store owners and customers, and offer full instructions on how to set up this powerful feature effectively. Whether you're a seasoned WordPress user or just starting out, read on to discover how to boost customer satisfaction with WooCommerce conditional variations.

We'll do it using the WooCommerce Product Options plugin, which lets you add a huge range of conditional variations to your products.

What is the difference between variations and product options?

Before we start, we need to make an important distinction between variations and other types of product options.

People often use the word 'variations' to refer to any type of option which customers select from. However, in WooCommerce, product options and product variations are two different ways to offer customers multiple options for a product. They form a key component of product pages.

Product variations are a default feature you get with WooCommerce. They are different versions of a certain product with different characteristics, such as size, color, or price. Each variation is treated as an individual product. It's created based on product attributes. When a customer selects a variation, the product page updates to show the specific information for that variation.

On the other hand, product options add even more choices to the product pages. They allow you to create more complex pages and are often referred to as product add-ons. When you use a plugin like WooCommerce Product Options, you offer buyers an unlimited number of variations. You can display your product options as dropdown menus, checkboxes, or a wide range of other styles like text fields and clickable images.

In addition, a product options plugin also supports conditional logic. The feature allows you to create more complex product pages that are tailored to your customer's needs and preferences. This way, you can improve your store’s shopping experience significantly.

Instead of using just variable products, this article will show you how to use the WooCommerce Product Options plugin. This way, you get to add unlimited options to your WooCommerce product variations. Even better, you get to decide which options to show or hide using conditional logic that relies on the user's selections.

Let’s get to it!

What is a conditional variation?

Conditional logic is one of the several features for setting up products in WooCommerce. It refers to the ability to show or hide certain elements or sections of the product pages based on specific conditions. This works for the checkout process and order emails as well.

For example, you can use conditional logic to display different shipping options based on the customer's location. You can also show or hide certain payment gateways based on the product the user is buying. It may also make sense to show different product options based on the customer's previous selections.

This allows you to enhance your customers’ personalization experience and make it more relevant to their needs and preferences. So, what do Woocommerce conditional variations mean?

WooCommerce conditional variations refer to the use of conditional logic in WooCommerce. You can use conditional variation to show or hide specific product variations based on certain conditions. This allows you to offer customers a tailored experience by presenting them with only the variations that are relevant to them.

An example is using conditional variations to show different product sizes based on the customer's color choice. It could also mean offering a specific gift-wrapping paper option only if a particular ribbon color is selected. This helps streamline the customer experience and makes it easier for them to find the right product for their needs.

WooCommerce conditional variations in action

Another practical example is shown in our business card demo for the Product Options plugin. Visit the page and try your hands on the demo to see how it works. All you need to do is to click on different options to see how the options change depending on your selections, as you'll see in the screenshots below:

When you select Use pre-built template under the Type of design, a set of options appear:

When you scroll down, you'll also see other options. These include information fields and font selection image swatches:

On the other hand, the page displays another set of options when you select the Upload my own design option:

Even when you choose the Upload my own design option, the custom fields displayed may also vary. This depends on the number of sides you want the design to appear on.

So, if you choose 1-sided, you’ll have a set of options with one file upload field. And if you choose 2-sided, an additional file upload field will be displayed:

The good thing about this is that the conditional variations appear above the Add to cart button. This makes it hard for customers to ignore the various buying options. It's important to note that using conditional logic and conditional variations typically requires custom coding or a plugin that supports this functionality.

But in this article, we’ll be going the much easier and more beginner-friendly way with WooCommerce Product Options. We'll also be using product options instead of variations. However, we'll use the terms interchangeably because they effectively do the same thing. They both give customers a chance to get products with a wide variety of customization options.

What are the benefits of using WooCommerce conditional variations?

As a business owner, using Woocommerce conditional variations has the potential to help you improve customer satisfaction while boosting sales and revenue. Some specific benefits of using WooCommerce conditional variations for your e-commerce business are:

So, we've shown you what your business stands to gain from using WooCommerce conditional variations. Now, let's take a look at the best plugin you need to get it working on your WooCommerce store.

Setting up Barn2's WooCommerce Product Options plugin

Barn2's WooCommerce Product Options plugin is a WordPress plugin that adds WooCommerce extra product options to your online store. With this plugin, you can add extra custom fields, checkboxes, and dropdowns to your product pages. This allows customers to personalize products to suit their needs. All without any PHP or HTML code!

The plugin works with simple and variable products and is designed to work seamlessly with the WooCommerce plugin. WooCommerce Product Options is easy-to-use, with a user-friendly interface that allows you to set WooCommerce conditional variations for a single product in seconds. So, how can I use conditional variations to show a different variation based on the product color?

Using WooCommerce Products Options to do this is quite simple when you follow these steps.

Step 1: Install and activate the plugin

To install and activate WooCommerce Product options, get your copy of the plugin here. After that, you'll receive an email with a downloadable ZIP file and license key.

Next;

1. Log into your WordPress admin area and go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
2. Select the plugin ZIP file. Click Install Now then Activate Plugin.
3. Use the setup wizard to apply the basic settings and activate your license key.

Now that the plugin is active, let's set up our WooCommerce conditional variations.

Step 2: Create a new product option group

Next, go to Products → Product Options → Add Group. An options group is a collection of customization options. These options apply to the same product or set of products.

On the next page, set the group name. And select the products or product categories you want the product options to apply to. Then click Add option.

Step 3: Add new WooCommerce options/variations

Now, enter the option name and select the option type. Since we want to be able to switch between product colors, we'll choose Color swatches. There are other option types to create text fields or text areas, dropdown lists, and other types of input fields.

Next, go to the Choices tab. Here, insert the labels, which are the color names. Click the color box to display the color palette, and select the color in line with your label. Use the + sign to add more color options.

The next step is the set a fee for this variation under Price type. You get to choose from a flat or quantity-based fee or a percentage increase or decrease. You can also choose No cost, leaving the default product price. This means there’ll be no extra charge added when the buyer selects the option.

Fill in the description. Next, choose Display color swatches only or Display label and color swatches in the Display section. Whichever one you prefer. Then check the Required box if you want the option to be selected compulsorily. Ignore this if you want the variation to be optional.

Step 4: Enable WooCommerce conditional variation logic

To enable conditional logic for your WooCommerce variation, toggle on the Advanced settings button under the color option. This allows you to show or hide color options only if the necessary conditions are met.

In our t-shirt color example, we’ll choose our Option as Size. This allows you to set this t-shirt color option to appear only when the buyer selects a certain size.

Under the Comparison condition, we’ll choose Equals. Finally, we’ll set the Value to be Large. This means that the color option will only be displayed if the Size customer chooses is Large. To add more conditions to the same variation, use the + sign.

For instance, we can choose that the color option will only show when a customer uploads an image. This is in addition to choosing a large size. This means that the Size and Image conditions must be met before the color option is displayed. Or it could be if either condition is met.

Similarly, you can hide these variations using conditional logic. Simply select Hide in the Conditional logic dropdown. Remember to save your changes once you’re done.

Step 5: Test the conditional variation on your site’s front end

We've seen what the back end looks like. Let's now take a look at what we have on the front end with these two conditions set. On your WordPress dashboard, go to Products → All Products. Click View after hovering over the product you want to preview.

Without indicating the size or uploading an image, we have the product image and other information not based on conditional logic. But the color options will not be displayed.

Even when you select only one option, for example, the Large size, the color option will still be hidden. You must upload an image and choose the large size to see the color option because that is the condition set.

Start using conditional variations for your WooCommerce products

Using Woocommerce conditional variations is an excellent strategy for enhancing customer experience in your eCommerce store.

In this article, we’ve explained all you need to know about conditional variations. We’ve also shown you practical examples of how they work for various products, especially using our business card demo.

We then demonstrated how you can configure conditional options for products on your online store using Barn2’s WooCommerce Product Options. We recommend this plugin because it’s simple to use and gives your store a clean and organized appearance.

Are you ready to add WooCommerce conditional variations to your store? Then you should get your copy of WooCommerce Product Options now.

If you have any questions, we’d love to hear from you in the comments section.