The Discontinued Product Stock Status Pro for WooCommerce plugin gives administrators complete control to mark any built-in WooCommerce product type as discontinued. This helps store owners manage products that are no longer available for sale while still keeping them visible or informative to customers.
Once a product is discontinued, the plugin displays a discontinued notice on the product page ensuring that customers are aware that the product cannot be purchased.
To make the process easy, the plugin provides a dedicated Discontinued Products menu located inside the Product data metabox on the product edit screen. From there, admins can manage discontinuation options based on the product type.
In the following sections, we will guide you step-by-step on how to discontinue different WooCommerce product types.
Discontinue simple or grouped product
Simple and Grouped product types do not contain variations. Therefore, the entire product can be discontinued in one step.
When a Simple or Grouped product is discontinued, it becomes unavailable for purchase and customers are shown the discontinued message configured in the settings.
How to discontinue a Simple or Grouped product:
- Go to Products in the WordPress dashboard and edit any Simple or Grouped product.
- In the product edit page, scroll down to the Product data metabox.
- Select the Discontinued Products tab from the left side menu.
- Enable the checkbox to mark the product as discontinued.
- Click Update to save the changes.
After saving, customers will see a discontinued notice on the product page, preventing them from purchasing the product.
Discontinue variable product
Variable products allow multiple variations of a single product. The plugin provides two options for discontinuing variable products based on your requirements:
- Discontinue the entire product (all variations at once)
- Discontinue specific variations individually
Discontinue whole product:
If a complete variable product is no longer available, you can discontinue all of its variations together. This ensures customers clearly understand that the entire product cannot be purchased anymore.
You can discontinue the entire variable product by following these steps:
- First, go to Products → All Products in the WordPress dashboard and open the variable product you want to discontinue. This opens the product editing page where full product management options are provided.
- Scroll down the page to reach the Product data metabox, which contains different configuration menus for the product such as pricing, stock, variations, etc.
- In the left menu of this metabox, click on the Discontinued Products tab to view the discontinuation settings added by the plugin.
- Enable the checkbox that allows you to mark the product as discontinued, ensuring all variations are disabled for purchasing.
- Finally, click on the Update button to save the discontinued status and apply the change on the storefront.
Once updated, customers will see a discontinued notice for the product on the frontend, based on the display message configured in the plugin settings.
Discontinue specific variations of product
If only certain variations are no longer available, for example, a specific size or color, the plugin enables you to discontinue only those variations individually. This helps maintain product availability while accurately reflecting inventory.
To discontinue a specific variation, follow these steps:
- Edit the product from Products → All Products, then scroll to the Product data metabox where variation settings can be managed.
- Select the Variations tab to view all available variations of the product, each with its own set of options.
- Expand the variation you want to discontinue by clicking the arrow icon beside it. This reveals inventory and variation-specific configuration settings.
- Locate the option that says: “Mark this variation as ‘Discontinued’ once its stock becomes zero.”
- Enable this setting so that the variation automatically becomes discontinued once its inventory finishes.
- Click Update to save and apply the changes.
When the variation’s stock reaches zero, it will be automatically switched to discontinued status and customers will be prevented from purchasing it, while other variations will remain available normally.
If you’d like deeper insights on discontinued configurations, please see our articles on Customization Options for Discontinued Products Message, DPSSW Global Settings, and Configure Alternative Products.
