Meet my friendβan ambitious entrepreneur who poured her heart and soul into listing her entire inventory and setting up product options using a handy WooCommerce product options plugin. But despite her efforts and a decent number of site visits, the response has been underwhelming.
Sound familiar? If you’ve ever felt like you’re spinning your wheels despite doing everything ‘by the book’ in your online business, you’re not alone.
Today, we’ll dive into a game-changer: WooCommerce product filter plugins. These little tools can make a big difference, helping your customers find what they need faster and boosting your sales.
Understanding the Importance of Product Filters in WooCommerce
What Do WooCommerce Product Filters Do?
Product filters play a crucial role in enhancing the user experience. When your customers show up on your e-commerce site, they often have specific requirements.
Product filters allow them to efficiently narrow down their search based on criteria such as price, brand, size, color, and more. This saves time and makes customers happy.
Why Use WooCommerce Product Filters?
Implementing WooCommerce product filters on your online store can significantly improve the browsing and shopping experience for your customers. Here are reasons why you should use them:
- Enhance User Experience: Product filters streamline the search process, making it quick and effortless for customers to find what they need.
- Increase Conversions: By helping customers find products that match their specific criteria, filters can lead to higher conversion rates and sales.
- Competitive Advantage: Offering advanced filtering options can set your store apart from competitors, attracting and retaining more customers.
- Customer Satisfaction: When shoppers can easily locate the products they want, they are more likely to have a positive perception of your store and return for future purchases.
Top WooCommerce Product Filter Plugins: A Comparative Review
Barn2 WooCommerce Product Filters
Barn2 Plugins offers an intuitive and feature-rich solution for WooCommerce product filtering, catering to the diverse needs of online store owners.
Features:
The WooCommerce Product Filters plugin stands out for its comprehensive feature set, enabling customers to filter products effortlessly. Here are some notable features:
- Filtering Options: Customers can filter products by various parameters such as price, category, attributes, color, stock availability, taxonomy, and more.
- Mobile Optimization: The plugin ensures a seamless shopping experience on mobile devices, allowing different filter options for desktop and mobile users.
- Ajax-Based Filtering: Instant results are provided through Ajax-based filtering, enhancing user experience by eliminating page reloads.
Pricing:
- One Plugin (Product Filters): Β£69 per year for single-site usage.
Premmerce WooCommerce Product Filter
The Premmerce Product Filter for WooCommerce is another comprehensive and flexible solution for managing product filters within WooCommerce-powered online stores. It offers a range of features geared towards enhancing user experience and optimizing site performance.
Features:
- Single Widget Management: With a single widget, users can conveniently manage the display of all available filters, simplifying the navigation process for shoppers.
- Fastest Product Filtering: The plugin boasts fast filtering capabilities, outperforming standard WooCommerce filters.
- Ajax Filtering: Users have the option to load filtering results dynamically using Ajax, improving the overall responsiveness of the filtering process.
- Deferred Loading: Deferred loading of filters, ensuring that filtering functionality doesnβt slow down initial page rendering.
Pricing:
Premmerce WooCommerce Product Filter offers flexible pricing plans to cater to different business needs:
- Single Site: $69.99/year
- 5 Sites: $179.99/year
- Unlimited Sites: $459.99/year
AJAX Products Filters
AJAX Products Filters is a plugin that enables customers to filter products by attributes and refine searches visually with sliders. You can add unlimited filters with just one plugin.
Features:
- Layout Options: Choose from sliders, images, and colors.
- Space Optimization: Display filters above products for a clutter-free experience.
- Include/Exclude Values: Customize attribute display.
- Price Ranges and Sliders: Refine searches visually with sliders.
Pricing:
The AJAX Products Filter Plugin for WooCommerce offers a range of pricing options to cater to different user needs:
- Single Site License: $44
- Up to 3 Sites License: $69
- Up to 5 and 10 Sites License: $109 / $169
HUSKY β Products Filter for WooCommerce Professional
Husky, or formerly known as WOOF is a developer-friendly plugin designed to make product filtering a breeze. With this handy tool, you empower your customers to easily sort through your products based on various criteria like price, categories, attributes, tags, and custom taxonomies.
Features:
- SEO-Friendly Links: Boost your site’s visibility with SEO-optimized filter links, contributing to higher search engine rankings.
- Dynamic Product Recount: Automatically update product counts in search results, providing real-time feedback to users.
- Meta Data Product Filter: Utilize meta data for precise filter tuning and product searches, enhancing search accuracy.
- Search by SKU: Enable quick and accurate product searches using SKU numbers, facilitating streamlined navigation.
Pricing:
Husky offers both free and premium versions:
- Free Version: Available on WordPress.org, offering essential filtering functionalities.
- Premium Version: Priced at $42
JetSmartFilters
JetSmartFilters is a versatile plugin designed to enhance the filtering capabilities of your WooCommerce store. It offers a range of standout features that make it a compelling choice for online retailers looking to improve user experience and boost sales.
Features:
- Dynamic Filtering: All filters are AJAX-powered, ensuring smooth on-page operation and enhancing user experience by instantly reloading filtered results.
- Customization: The plugin offers extensive customization options, allowing you to customize filter bar designs and settings to suit your website’s aesthetics and functionality requirements.
- Compatibility: JetSmartFilters is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Gutenberg, and Bricks, making it easy to integrate into your existing website design.
- Stylish Design: With the Style Manager feature, you can make your filters look stylish and seamlessly integrate them into your website design.
- Integration: JetSmartFilters seamlessly integrates with other JetPlugins like JetEngine and JetWooBuilder, ensuring optimal performance for your WooCommerce projects.
Pricing:
JetSmartFilters offers two subscription options:
- Custom Subscription ($43 per year): Includes 17 widgets, 1-year product updates, and 1-year of Zoom & Chat support.
- All-Inclusive Subscription (from $199 per year): Includes 150 widgets, 20 JetPlugins, 1-year product updates, and 1-year of Zoom & Chat support.
Woo Product Filter
WooCommerce Product Filter by WBW is a tool that helps customers find products easier by giving them different ways to filter their searches, like price, categories, tags, and other details.
Features:
- Comprehensive Filtering: Create custom filters for price, categories, tags, and attributes to streamline product discovery.
- AJAX Live Search: Provides real-time search results as users type, improving search efficiency.
- Elementor Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with Elementor for easy implementation and customization of filters.
- Drag-and-Drop Builder (Pro): Easily customize filters with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
Pricing:
- Free Version: Basic filtering for a single site.
- Single Site License (Lifetime): $89 for premium features, updates, and support.
- Five Site License (Lifetime): $149 for use across five websites.
- Unlimited Site License (Lifetime): $299 for unlimited sites.
Themify Product Filter
The Themify Product Filter plugin is a free tool designed to enhance the shopping experience for users browsing WooCommerce stores.
Features:
- Advanced Filtering: Enables users to refine searches based on price range, categories, attributes, and tags.
- Multiple Filter Combinations: Allows users to select multiple options simultaneously for precise search results.
- Live Search Results: Provides instant updates as filters are applied, eliminating the need for page reloads.
Filter Everything
Filter Everything is a comprehensive WordPress and WooCommerce product filter plugin designed to streamline the process of product discovery on your e-commerce website.
Features:
- Effective Filtering: Covers 99% of filtering needs, including taxonomies, custom fields, and post author.
- Individual Filter Sets: Tailor filters for specific pages on your site for a targeted experience.
- Mobile-Friendly: Optimized for mobile with a special bottom widget for easy navigation.
- SEO Optimization: Clean URLs for filter results pages and auto-filled SEO meta data for better search visibility.
Pricing:
- Free Version: Essential filtering features.
- PRO Version: $40 for single site.
Installation and Configuration Guide for WooCommerce Product Filter Plugins
To enhance the filtering capabilities of your WooCommerce online store, we recommend using the powerful WooCommerce Product Filters plugin from Barn2. Follow the below steps to get started.
1. Download the Plugin
- After purchasing the plugin, download the zip file from the Order Confirmation page or your confirmation email.
2. Upload and Activate
- In your WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins β Add New β Upload Plugin.
- Choose the downloaded “woocommerce-product-filters.zip” file and click ‘Install’.
- Once installed, click ‘Activate’.
3. Enter License Key
- Upon activating the plugin for the first time, a setup wizard will open, prompting you to enter your license key. You can find this key in your order confirmation email.
4. Filter Settings
- Configure filter behavior and appearance in Products β Filters β Settings or through the setup wizard.
- You can customize options such as filter visibility, filter mode (instant or button-based), toggle filters, product count display, and more.
5. Create Filters
- Access the filter management interface in WordPress admin under Products β Filters.
- Create, edit, and manage filter groups and individual filters easily.
6. Using Filters
- Insert filter groups anywhere on your site using the [product_filters] shortcode, specifying the desired group ID and layout options.
For more details, you can read this step-by-step guide on adding a WooCommerce filter by category in WordPress.
Optimizing Your WooCommerce Product Filters for Better Performance
To enhance the performance of your WooCommerce product filters, consider the following tips:
- Limit Filter Options: Avoid overwhelming users with too many filter options. Focus on the most relevant attributes to streamline the filtering process.
- Optimize Images: If your filters include image options, ensure that image sizes are optimized for fast loading times without compromising quality.
- Implement Caching: Use caching plugins or server-side caching to reduce server load and speed up page loading times, especially for pages with intensive filtering functionality.
- Minimize AJAX Requests: Limit the use of AJAX requests for filtering whenever possible to reduce server load and improve responsiveness.
- Opt for Lazy Loading: Implement lazy loading for filter options or products to ensure that only necessary data is loaded initially, improving overall page speed.
Selecting the Right WooCommerce Product Filter Plugin for Your Business
We reviewed some top WooCommerce Product Filter plugins that offer a wide range of features to enhance the filtering experience on your e-commerce website. However, selecting the right WooCommerce Product Filter plugin is crucial for optimizing the filtering experience on your e-commerce platform.
When selecting a WooCommerce product filter for your business, here are some of the factors my friend considered and you should too:
- Features: Evaluate the features offered by each plugin, such as filter types, customization options, compatibility with themes and plugins, and support for advanced functionality like price ranges or sliders. Do they fit with what you are looking for? Barn2 Plugins and Premmerce WooCommerce Product Filter are good choices. If you want both product filters and an order form, Barn2 Plugins is a good choice.
- Affordable Pricing: Themify WC Product Filter is ideal for startups and freelancers who don’t want to invest in a plugin yet. As your business expands, you can easily integrate additional features or upgrade to a paid plugin with premium features.
- Scalability: If you are an agency working with e-commerce businesses and need to expand your license, choose a plugin that can scale your business as it grows. Premmerce WooCommerce Product Filter and Woo Product Filter plugins offer licenses for unlimited sites which can benefit agencies.
- Performance Optimization: JetSmartFilters excels in dynamic filtering and customization, ensuring smooth operation and seamless integration with page builders like Elementor and Gutenberg.
By carefully evaluating these factors, you can select the right WooCommerce product filter plugin to meet your business needs and provide an enhanced shopping experience for your customers.