WooCommerce Catalog Visibility Options is a powerful feature that gives you the ability to control the visibility of your products and store content in your WooCommerce store. Whether you're running a wholesale business, a members-only store, or just want to hide certain products for any reason, these options allow you to customize how products are displayed or hidden from your customers. This feature is particularly useful if you want to:

• Show products to specific customers (e.g., logged-in users only)
• Hide prices for non-registered users
• Create a private or wholesale store that limits access to certain customers
• Restrict access to the cart, checkout, or product categories

Let's break down the Catalog Visibility Options in WooCommerce and explore how to use them effectively.

Key Features of WooCommerce Catalog Visibility Options:

1. Hide Prices for Non-Logged-In Users:

• Price Visibility Control: You can choose to hide product prices for users who are not logged in. This is useful if you have a wholesale store or if you want only registered customers to see pricing.
• Pricing Options for Members/Customers: For stores offering membership or wholesale products, hiding prices can encourage customers to create an account to view prices or make purchases.

2. Hide "Add to Cart" Button:

• Disable Purchases for Certain Users: If you want to display products but prevent certain users from purchasing them, you can hide the "Add to Cart" button for specific customers or groups.
• Product Visibility Without Purchase Option: This option allows you to display products in a catalog (such as a product showcase) without the ability to buy them. It’s useful for businesses that only want to showcase products or run a catalog-style site without online sales.

3. Catalog Mode:

• Turn Your Store into a Catalog: WooCommerce provides a catalog mode that completely disables the ability to purchase products while still showing them in the catalog. This allows you to run a purely informational site where customers can browse products but cannot add them to their cart or checkout.
• Customizable for Specific Products: You can enable catalog mode for specific products, categories, or for your entire store. This is useful for seasonal promotions or when you're not accepting new orders.

4. Hide Specific Products or Categories:

• Product Visibility Settings: WooCommerce allows you to hide individual products or entire product categories from the public. This can be set in the product or category settings.
• Private Products for Specific Users: You can create private products that are only visible to certain users or user roles, such as registered customers or wholesale buyers. This way, sensitive or exclusive products are kept hidden from general visitors.

5. User Role Based Visibility:

• Target Different User Roles: You can set different visibility rules for users based on their role (such as administrators, customers, or guests). For example, you might want certain products to be visible only to logged-in customers or members of a specific group.
• Dynamic Content Access: You can dynamically show or hide content based on the user's role. This is ideal for membership-based stores or for businesses that have different pricing or visibility settings for wholesale vs. retail customers.

6. Allow or Block Access to Cart and Checkout Pages:

• Restrict Access to Cart/Checkout: You can disable or redirect users from the cart and checkout pages if they aren’t logged in, or if they don't meet specific criteria (such as being part of a membership).
• Control Checkout Permissions: For example, you may want to prevent users who haven’t purchased a certain product or who aren't registered from proceeding to checkout.

7. Price Based on User Role:

• Role-Based Pricing: You can assign different prices based on the user’s role. This allows you to offer discounted pricing to wholesale customers, for example, while retail customers see the standard price.
• Custom Catalog Visibility for Specific Roles: You can control visibility settings like pricing, "Add to Cart" button, and product access based on the customer's role.

8. Out of Stock Visibility:

• Show or Hide Out of Stock Products: If you prefer, you can hide out-of-stock products from the catalog altogether. This helps to maintain a cleaner, more streamlined catalog by only showing products that are available for purchase.

Common Use Cases for WooCommerce Catalog Visibility Options:

1. Wholesale and B2B Stores:
   • Many wholesale businesses or B2B (business-to-business) stores will want to hide product prices or prevent non-registered users from accessing the products. This feature is ideal for restricting catalog access to certain customer groups, ensuring that only verified customers can view products and make purchases.
2. Seasonal or Temporary Catalogs:
   • For businesses that offer seasonal products or limited-time offers, you can use catalog visibility options to display a product during a particular season but hide it at other times. This can also help you maintain privacy during product development.
3. Membership Sites:
   • If you're running a membership-based store, you might want to hide prices or products from non-members while providing exclusive access to certain products or discounts for members. You can also use role-based visibility to assign different access levels to different membership tiers.
4. Pre-Sale and Teaser Campaigns:
   • Catalog visibility can also be used to show teaser content, new products, or upcoming items while hiding prices and "Add to Cart" buttons. This helps to create anticipation before launching a product or sale.
5. Special Offers:
   • Hide specific products from your regular store catalog while making them visible to customers through private offers, discount codes, or through special promotions. Only selected customers would have access to the offer.

How to Set Up Catalog Visibility Options in WooCommerce:

1. Hide Prices for Non-Logged-In Users:

• Install a plugin such as "Catalog Visibility Options" or use custom code (if your theme supports it).
• Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products.
• Under the General tab, look for a setting that controls price visibility (this may vary depending on the plugin you're using).
• Set it to “Hide prices for non-logged-in users.”

2. Enable Catalog Mode:

• Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products.
• Look for the option to enable Catalog Mode.
• Turn it on to disable the "Add to Cart" button and the checkout process, making your store view-only.

3. Hide "Add to Cart" Button:

• For specific products, you can disable the "Add to Cart" button by going to the individual product settings and selecting "Catalog Visibility" or "Disable Add to Cart".
• You can also apply this to entire categories or specific user roles using plugins.

4. Hide Specific Products or Categories:

• In the product or category settings, you’ll find an option to change the visibility of a product or category. You can set the visibility to "Hidden" or choose to make it available to specific user roles only.

5. User Role-Based Visibility:

• Use a plugin like "WooCommerce Role Based Pricing" or "Catalog Visibility Options" to configure visibility based on user roles.
• After installing the plugin, configure which roles can view prices, add products to their cart, or access checkout.

6. Hide Out of Stock Products:

• Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory.
• Enable the option to "Hide out of stock items from the catalog" to keep them from appearing on the front end.

Popular Plugins for WooCommerce Catalog Visibility Options:

• WooCommerce Catalog Visibility Options:
  • This plugin allows you to customize visibility settings for products, categories, prices, and "Add to Cart" buttons based on user roles and other conditions.
• WooCommerce Role Based Pricing:
  • This plugin allows you to set different prices for different user roles and customize product visibility for various user roles.
• WooCommerce Wholesale Prices:
  • This plugin helps you create a wholesale store with catalog visibility options for non-logged-in users and role-based pricing and product visibility.

Conclusion:

WooCommerce Catalog Visibility Options is a great way to control the user experience on your store. Whether you're running a B2B wholesale store, a members-only shop, or simply need to hide out-of-stock items, these options give you complete control over who can see what on your site. You can fine-tune your store's visibility for different user groups and ensure that your products are only available to those who meet specific criteria. If you need assistance with configuring these visibility options or have any further questions, feel free to ask!