Wondering How to Add WooCommerce Digital Products? Here's Our Guide

Following up on our previous tutorial on adding physical items, now it’s time to tackle WooCommerce digital products. The WooCommerce platform makes a distinction between two different types of non-physical products: virtual and downloadable. On this tutorial, you’ll learn how to add intangible products of both kinds!

Following the WooCommerce digital products understanding, intangible items can be virtual or both virtual and downloadable. To make it a little clearer, here are three examples to help set them apart:

• Subscriptions aren’t downloadable, but they are virtual. The same applies to online services such as consulting hours.
• A song, an eBook or an embroidery pattern are virtual and downloadable products.

Now that we’ve cleared the difference between virtual and downloadable items so let us get to it!

Requirements

Here’s what you’ll need to add WooCommerce digital products:

• Working and updated version of WordPress. Whoever is adding products will need to have Admin access.
• An installed,?activated and configured version of the WooCommerce plugin.

Adding WooCommerce Digital Products

• The first step to adding new WooCommerce digital products is by going to Products > Add New.
• Fill the title, description and product image.
• Head to the Product Data meta box, where we’ll cover the General, Inventory, and Advanced tabs.

General

• Go to the product editing screen to configure the Product Data meta box.
• Define the type of product by ticking Virtual. The Shipping tab will disappear from the options.
• Proceed to add the same information you would if it were a physical product: SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), tax rate. If you’re offering a free service, it’s possible to set the price as 0.

Inventory

Naturally, WooCommerce digital products don’t necessarily require stock management. If you want virtual items to be accessible to an infinite number of people, all you need to do is unselect Manage Stock?

However, if you want to limit how many people access virtual content, you can check the box and specify how many people can access. One example where this might prove useful is access to an exclusive webinar.

Advanced

Here, you can:

• Add notes for the customers. In these, you can thank them for purchasing your WooCommerce digital products or add further information. If the product requires a further step, you can also add a relevant link, like an authentication for a subscription.
• Select whether you’ll allow product reviews on the item.
• Choose if you want the products to follow a specific order in archive pages.

Finish up by clicking Update, so all the changes you’ve made will be saved.

A few useful tips to further improve a subscription offer:

• WooCommerce Subscriptions allows you to take regular payments on products.
• Groups, which in its free version lets you manage the way visitors access the site’s different pages.
• The premium Groups for WooCommerce add-on can integrate both add-ons.
• Another option is creating a user account for those who purchase subscriptions.

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