Do you sell products that you cannot offer for sale directly through the online store due to the difference and diversity of prices? In this case, it is better for customers to contact you to obtain price quotes instead of purchasing directly using the ( Add to Cart ) button, which can be implemented by converting the WooCommerce store into a product catalog.
The product catalog is an online store with full features, so you can display the products inside it, divide them into different sections, and add complete product data such as address, size, pictures, and other data, but there is no (Add to Cart) button.
In this article, we will discuss how to convert a WooCommerce store into a product catalog and adjust the process of displaying products within it, as well as the possibility of showing the ( View Details ) button instead of the ( Add to Cart ) button and other important additions to the product catalog.
Convert your WooCommerce store into a catalog to display products
First, we will assume that you already own an online store, and you can review the guide to creating an integrated online store using WooCommerce if you do not want to create your first online store.
Inside regular stores, you will find products displayed with a button appearing that helps the visitor add the product to the shopping cart to complete the order and purchase it:
However, when the store is converted into a product catalog, the ( Add to Cart ) button can be hidden or replaced with any other button, such as More Details, or even a button to contact the store manager to obtain more details about the product and purchasing instructions:
Therefore, the process of converting the store into a product catalog does not mean that you cannot add products naturally, but there is no option to directly purchase the products within the exhibition or catalogue, and at any time the customer can contact you or communicate through the store to obtain the product and know the details of the special prices. with it.
Use the Catalog Mode add-on to turn the store into a product catalog
There are some add-ons that help activate the catalog option within the WooCommerce store easily, and the Catalog Mode add-on is considered one of the most famous and easiest of those add-ons specialized in this regard.
After installing and activating the plugin on your site, you will notice that the plugin’s tab appears within the WordPress control panel tabs, where you can access it to open the plugin’s settings page, in which you will find the first option for activating the catalog mode within the store:
Now, after activating the add-on and making sure that the catalog option is activated within the settings page, when you go to the store page, you will notice that the ( Add to Cart ) button has disappeared from within all store pages as well as product pages:
Then, returning to the settings page for the addition, you will find an option to specify where to hide the ( Add to Cart ) button, where you can choose to have the button hidden within all pages of the site, hidden within the store page only, or hidden within the individual products page:
However, if you wish to completely deactivate the store and hide all its pages, such as the shopping cart page, the payment completion page, and other store pages, you can activate the disable shop option from within the special settings page. In addition, this option cancels the appearance of all store pages so that the site is configured as a catalog. To display products only without any online store features:
When the option to cancel the store is activated, the visitor will not be able to access the ( shopping cart ) page, which can be accessed through the link: www.example.com/cart by replacing example with the site link, as he will be redirected to the main page of the site, as the cart page Purchases will have no benefit after converting the store into a catalog to display products only.
Now your online store will become a catalog to display the available products, where the customer can enter the product page and view the product description, pictures, and other details that you write or add from within the product editing page, and there will be no option to purchase or add the product to the shopping cart. While the customer can contact you to find out prices or the appropriate purchasing method:
WordPress plugins for efficient product catalog management
After converting the store into a catalog to display products, there will be no direct purchasing options for customers, and therefore there must be a way through which the customer can obtain price offers or how to purchase products. Therefore, we will show you the most important additions that you can use for your product gallery for easy customer communication. With you and providing them with a distinctive user experience within the product catalog.
1. Add Request a Quote to show the (Request a Quote) button
The Request a Quote add-on is considered one of the important additions for you as a product catalog store owner, as this add-on provides the ability to show the ( Request a Quote ) button instead of the ( Add to Cart ) button that is hidden inside the catalog, so that the customer can send you a request for a quote. The product or get more details about the possibility of completing the purchase process for the product.
After installing the add-on directly on the site, the Settings tab appears within the control panel, which you can access to easily customize the Request a Quote button. You can enter the Settings tab, then enter the ( Buttons and Labels ) tab, and you will find a field containing the text of the button where you can change it to Any text you want:
Now, go to any product and you will notice that the ( Request a Quote ) button appears inside the product page and all products in the catalog, instead of the ( Add to Cart ) button previously:
When clicking on the Request a Quote button, the visitor is directed to a page that contains a form in which he sends a request for a quotation and requests any additional details he needs about the product. The message reaches the site manager, where he can inspect it and write to the customer to inform him of more details about the product and how to purchase:
2. Add Quick View to show the (Quick Look) button on the products
The Quick View add – on quickly displays a button to view product details within the product catalog page or store without entering the product page to view all its details. Customers can easily browse products and view product details one by one without having to open the page for each product separately. .
Once the add-on is installed directly on the site, a clickable ( Quick Look ) button will appear below each of the products in your store or product catalog:
Once you click on the Quick Look button, a tab or window containing all the product details will open without having to leave the current page:
You can change the text that appears on the button or control all of its settings from within the add-on settings tab from within the control panel:
3. Add Badge management to show a sticker on the product image
Using the Badge management add-on , as you saw in the picture, a sticker containing some text appears above the product image inside the store, and of course you can show any text you want, such as (40% discount) or any other text you want that you can actually show using this add-on.
After installing the add-on and activating it directly on the site, you can start creating labels to display on any products within the store or catalog, by entering the add-on settings tab from within the control panel and clicking on the Add a new label button:
The Add a New Sticker page will open in front of you, which consists of 4 main parts as follows:
- The first part is for the title of the label. You can write a title that appears inside the control panel only.
- The second part is specific to the text you want to appear in the poster. You can write any text you want.
- The third part is for the poster background, where you can change the poster background color as well as its dimensions.
- In the fourth part, you can choose the subject in which you want to display the poster, such as the right or left of the product image, or other places available to you.
After you finish customizing the sticker with exactly the shape, text, and appearance that you want, you can now go to the edit page for the product on which you want to display the sticker. You will find a new tab that has appeared inside the product edit page for stickers. When you click on it, a list of all the stickers that you have previously created will appear. Choose Suitable label for the product:
Now refresh the product page and visit it from the user interface. You will notice that the label appears exactly as you chose:
In the end, when converting a WooCommerce store into a product catalog, you must know well that there will not be any purchasing or adding to cart options for the store’s customers, and therefore it is very important that there be more than one method of communication between you and the visitors, so that it will be easy for them to contact you for information. For details of the products you are interested in, or request quotations, etc.
