WooCommerce provides a set of basic inventory managementTools to track product availability and avoid overselling or running out of stock. For stores with complex inventory needs, WooCommerce's built-in functionality may not be fully sufficient. This article will detail how to manage inventory through WooCommerce's built-in functionality, as well as how advanced plugins Attribute Stock Plugin Further optimize inventory control.

Configuring WooCommerce's built-in settings to manage out-of-stock products

WooCommerce provides basic inventory management features for the average online store. These features help merchants monitor the inventory status of their products and alert them when a product is about to sell out. To configure WooCommerce's inventory management features, follow these steps:

1. start using WooCommerce Inventory Management

• Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory, find the inventory management tool.

• Check the box "Enabling inventory management" option so that WooCommerce can track inventory separately for each product.

2. Setting Inventory Shortage and Out-of-Stock Thresholds

• Thresholds for insufficient stock and out-of-stock can be set according to the actual situation of the store. For example, the threshold for stock-out can be set as 5 pieces, the out-of-stock threshold can be set to 0 Pieces.

• When a product's stock reaches these thresholds, WooCommerce automatically sends an alert notifying you to take replenishment action.

3. Enabling inventory notifications

• In the Notifications section, email alerts can be set up to receive timely notifications when inventory levels are low or products are out of stock. This helps in timely replenishment when inventory is critical and prevents popular items from going out of stock.

4. Hide out-of-stock products

• In order to keep the catalog tidy, you can choose to hide out-of-stock products. Simply check the "Hide out-of-stock products" option and out-of-stock products will not be shown on the store page, avoiding a bad shopping experience for customers.

Illustration:

Assuming you run a store that sells T-shirts, you can enable inventory management on the product edit page and set different stock quantities for each T-shirt. For example, for a size M T-shirt, you could set the stock quantity to 10 pieces, and set the low stock threshold to 3 pieces and the out-of-stock threshold to 0 pieces. This way, when the stock of a size M T-shirt drops to 3 pieces, you will receive a low stock alert to prevent out-of-stock situations.

While WooCommerce provides these basic features, in more complex inventory management scenarios, especially when your products have different sizes, colors, or materials, WooCommerce cannot track inventory at the attribute level. More advanced tools are needed to manage inventory.

II. Use Attribute Stock Plugin Perform advanced inventory control

If you find that WooCommerce's built-in inventory management features are insufficient for your needs.Attribute Stock Plugin is an excellent choice. It allows you to have more detailed inventory management of products with multiple attributes, thus avoiding problems such as overselling and out-of-stocks.

1. Attribute-level inventory management

The Attribute Stock Plugin makes it possible to set stock quantities individually for each product variant. For example, if you sell T-shirts in different colors and sizes, you can set stock quantities for thevariant of each(e.g. Red T-Shirt in size Medium) to set stock quantities. This allows for more accurate inventory management and ensures that each variant has its own inventory tracking.

2. Shared inventory management

If you sell products with similar attributes, you can manage their inventories together. For example, selling T-shirts of different colors, but they use the same inventory, the plugin can manage the inventory of these products as a combined group. This will simplify inventory control and avoid unnecessary inventory double counting.

3. Inventory tracking for attribute combinations

The Attribute Stock Plugin allows stock tracking for each combination of attributes, ensuring that each variant has its own stock management and avoiding incorrect displays "unavailable goods"The situation.

4. Intelligent Inventory Deduction

Attribute Stock Plugin also supports inventory deduction based on unit of measurement. For example, selling items by the pack or by weight, the plugin can help you manage your inventory based on a specific unit of measurement (e.g. a pack, meters, etc.). This is especially useful for selling items in bundles, boxes, or in units of measure.

summarize

In WooCommerce, inventory management is a key part of e-commerce operations that cannot be ignored. With the built-in inventory management feature, merchants can easily track product inventory status and set low inventory alerts. For stores with many product variants and complex inventory management, it's easy to use the Attribute Stock Plugin More possibilities can be opened for inventory control.