Are you looking to enhance your WooCommerce store with visually appealing product options? Imagine how much easier it would be for your customers to select a product if instead of dropdown menus, they could click on colorful swatches, images, or clear text labels! In 2024, adding WooCommerce colour swatches to your store is one of the fastest ways to improve the shopping experience, boost engagement, and even increase conversions.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through setting up variation swatches for WooCommerce in a quick and efficient way, using some fantastic plugins that transform the way your products are displayed.
Why You Should Use Colour Swatches in WooCommerce
First, let’s explore why you should even consider replacing the traditional dropdown fields with variation swatches for WooCommerce.
- Improved User Experience (UX): Customers can see options like colors or sizes visually, which is much easier than reading from a dropdown list. This reduces friction and speeds up their decision-making.
- Increased Conversions: A better user experience generally leads to higher conversion rates. Customers are more likely to make a purchase when they can quickly find and visualize their preferred option.
- Professional Appearance: Displaying product variations in the form of swatches makes your WooCommerce store look more modern and professional.
Now that you know why using WooCommerce swatches is a must, let’s get into how you can set it up in just a few steps.
Step 1: Choose the Right Plugin for WooCommerce Variation Swatches
The easiest and quickest way to set up WooCommerce colour swatches is through a plugin. One highly recommended tool is “Variations as Radio Buttons for WooCommerce” by Extendons. This plugin offers a wide array of customization options and simplifies the process of displaying product variations as radio buttons, images, colors, and text labels.
Key Features of the Plugin:
- Display swatches as radio buttons, color swatches, images, or text labels.
- Customize the size and shape of your swatches.
- Set different swatch types for the product and shop pages.
- Blur, hide, or cross out out-of-stock options.
- Highlight product variations with images or colors on hover.
Extendons is a trusted name in the WooCommerce space, and their plugin delivers a feature-rich solution for store owners looking to enhance their product pages. Let’s now see how you can use it effectively to implement variation swatches in your store.
Step 2: Install and Activate the Plugin
To get started:
- Go to your WooCommerce Dashboard.
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for “Variations as Radio Buttons for WooCommerce by Extendons”.
- Click Install and then Activate the plugin.
Once the plugin is activated, you’ll see a new settings option in your WooCommerce settings, specifically for variation swatches.
Step 3: Configure WooCommerce Colour Swatches
Now, it’s time to configure how your product variations will appear.
General Settings:
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Variation Swatches.
- From here, choose the global settings for your swatches. You can set them to be radio buttons, images, text labels, or colors.
Customize for Each Product:
- You also have the option to customize swatches at the product level. This means you can decide on different settings for different products.
- Go to the product page where you want to apply swatches.
- Under Product Data, find the Attributes tab.
- For each attribute (like color, size, etc.), choose whether to display it as a color swatch, image, radio button, or text label.
By customizing swatches at the product level, you have more control over how each variation is presented on both the product and shop pages.
Step 4: Map Attributes to Swatch Types
The real power of the Extendons WooCommerce Variation Swatches plugin comes into play when you map specific product attributes to particular swatch types. For example, if you’re selling t-shirts in different colors and sizes, you can map the color attribute to color swatches and the size attribute to text labels or radio buttons.
Here’s how to do it:
- Go to Products > Attributes.
- Create an attribute like “Color” or “Size”.
- Click Configure Terms to add the specific options like Red, Blue, Medium, Large, etc.
- Once added, head back to the Product Data section and assign these attributes to your product.
- Under the Variations tab, you can now assign different prices, stock levels, or images to each variation.
This will now allow customers to choose the product variation via swatches instead of dropdowns.
Step 5: Display Variation Swatches on Shop and Product Pages
The next step is ensuring your variation swatches appear both on product pages and shop pages. This is a great way to provide customers a seamless experience across your site.
Product Pages:
- Swatches will automatically display on product pages as per your settings. Whether you choose colors, radio buttons, or images, they’ll replace the standard dropdowns.
Shop Pages:
- You can also display swatches on your shop page to allow customers to see variations before they even click into a product listing. This feature can be enabled in the plugin settings under Shop Page Options.
You can further customize the size and shape of the swatches on both product and shop pages, ensuring they fit well with your overall store design.
Step 6: Customize Swatches for Out-of-Stock Products
One of the most user-friendly features of this plugin is its ability to handle out-of-stock variations seamlessly. Instead of simply hiding unavailable options, you can choose to either blur, cross out, or hide out-of-stock variations. This helps manage customer expectations and reduces frustration from trying to select unavailable options.
Step 7: Style Your Variation Swatches
You have a ton of flexibility when it comes to styling your swatches to match your WooCommerce theme. Some of the customization options include:
- Shape: Choose between round or square swatches.
- Size: Define custom swatch sizes for both product and shop pages.
- Borders: Add borders to your swatches or adjust border radius to better fit your store’s style.
- Tooltips: Enable tooltips for your swatches, providing extra information when customers hover over them.
These styling options ensure that your swatches not only improve UX but also look great on your site.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What are variation swatches for WooCommerce?
Variation swatches for WooCommerce replace traditional dropdown fields with clickable swatches like color blocks, images, or radio buttons, making it easier for customers to select product variations.
2. Can I customize swatches for individual products?
Yes, with the Extendons plugin, you can set different swatches for each product based on its attributes.
3. Can I use this plugin to display WooCommerce colour swatches on the shop page?
Absolutely! You can display swatches on both product and shop pages, making it easier for customers to browse product variations.
4. How does the plugin handle out-of-stock variations?
The plugin allows you to blur, cross out, or hide out-of-stock variations, improving customer experience by making it clear which options are unavailable.
Conclusion
Setting up WooCommerce colour swatches in your online store is a simple but powerful way to enhance customer experience and drive more sales. By using the Variations as Radio Buttons for WooCommerce by Extendons, you can display product variations in a more engaging and user-friendly manner. With customization options that fit seamlessly into your WooCommerce theme, your customers will appreciate the visual clarity and ease of shopping.
Useful Resources
Speed Up Checkout with Extendons’ WooCommerce Side Cart in 2024
Create Dynamic WooCommerce Product Bundles with Extendons in 2024