WooCommerce Group Buy

WooCommerce Group Buy is a extension for popular WooCommerce plugin and extends it with group buy / deals feature. This extension allows you to implement powerful group buy solution like Groupon. Woocommerce Group Buy is easily setup and customized, and you need basic Woocommerce and web developing knowledge.

With WooCommerce Group Buy plugin you can setup WordPress deals (group buy) website in less than 30 minutes (assuming you have payment processor allready sorted). WooCommerce Group Buy plugin integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce and no special knowledge is needed (same level like for standard WooCommerce usage).

Overview and Features

• Seamless integration into WooCommerce via its hooks
• You get new type of WooCommerce product type - Groupbuy
• Define number of group buy participants - 1 or more
• Buyers / users can purchase one or more deals
• Ability to refund purchase if deal failed (payment processor has to support this feature!)
• Ability to instantly finish group buy deal if max number of deals was sold
• Define minimal and maximum number of deals available
• Define max deals per user
• Set start and end time for group buy deal
• Easily control how you want to display deals - along with other items or on separate page
• Widgets with ending soon, future, latest / recent, featured, recently viewed, deals search and random deals
• Email notifications (with editable email templates) for group buy win, fail, finish, no luck (fail notification for deal participant)
• Group buy product has group buy icon (label) on thumbnail
• Group buy product single page has new tab "Group Buy History"
• User has "My deals" page where one can see active deals and purchased deals - page with shortcode [my_groupbuys]
• Group buy filtering in product list (wp-admin)
• Group buy product has icon which describes different group buy status: active, finished, failed (wp-admin)
• Plenty of shortcodes including shortcode to show my deals for logged in user
• Make group buy from any type of Woocommerce product - simple, virtual or downloadable products
• Manually delete any participant via Woocommerce order management - deleting order deletes ticket
• WPML compatible
• works with WooCommerce API - read tutorial
• Dokan integration available

Setting up new group buy is easy:

• make sure all steps from Installation are done (WooCommerce installed, plugin enabled, cronjobs set)
• go to Products => Add Products
• add title, description, images, featured image, select category - all things you do when adding regular product
• in Product Data dropdown menu select Groupbuy
• you will see new tab in left menu named Group Buy, see screenshot:
  
• fill all details (they are self explainable)
• set group buy duration by setting start and end date
• publish product (group buy deal)

In Woocommerce Settings -> Group Buy you can set group buy base page where your client will have a list of all group buy deals. Please see note if you want to set your group buy page as home page. If you have group buy only website there is no need to setup group buy base page, you can use Woocommerce shop page.

After you activate WooCommerce Group Buy plugin couple new options will appear:

1. WooCommerce product has new tab in Product data block called Groupbuy
2. Product list has column with group buy status icons
3. Product list filter has group buy filtering
4. Single product page in wp-admin has new block named "group buy" where you can see group buy history
5. Orders list has column with group buy icon to easily see which order is from group buy
6. WooCommerce settings - new tab called group buy
7. WooCommerce settings - Emails - new items: group buy win, group buy fail, group buy finish, group buy no luck email templates
8. New widgets: future deals, ending soon deals, featured deals, latest deals, recently viewed deals, random deals
9. New shortcodes

New WooCommerce product type group buy:

Here are settings that you can turn on and off. Settings are self explainable. You can enable or disable showing past and future deals. Another useful setting is whether to mix regular products with deals or just show deals on separate page (defined via deals Base Page dropdown, see screenshot).

On screenshot below you can see how product list with deals looks like. Group buy status icon colors: green - active group buy, orange - finished, red - failed.

If group buy has failed, in product / group buy details you will see "Refund" link which enables you to refund all tickets to participants if your group buy rules require that. Make sure that you did not convert regular product to group buy because you will refund all regular purchases in that case! We strongly suggest against converting regular product with orders to group buy!

Once group buy deal is finished you can view buyers on single group buy page or in wp-admin edit product page. Below are screenshots. You can create my deals page for users where you can use this shortcode: show user's deals (active deals in which user participates and list of user's won deals) - [my_groupbuys]

Plugin comes with 4 email notifications, 2 for admin and 2 for users. In fact there are 2 different email notifications - deal failed and deal succeeded. You can edit those by going to Woocommerce Settings -> Email tab.

On screenshot below you can see all available options for WooCommerce Group Buy Deals. To edit settings you need to click in your WordPress wp-admin on WooCommerce Settings then find Group Buy Deals tab.

Here is a list of all available plugin shortcodes. Some shortcodes accept optional orderby and order attributes.

• show featured deals - [featured_groupbuys per_page="12" columns="4" orderby="date" order="desc"]
• show ending soon deals - [ending_soon_groupbuys per_page="12" columns="4" order="desc"]
• show recent deals - [recent_groupbuys per_page="12" columns="4" orderby="date" order="desc"]
• show future deals - [future_groupbuys], [future_groupbuys per_page="12" columns="4" orderby="date" order="desc"]
• show popular deals - [popular_groupbuys], [popular_groupbuys per_page="12" columns="4" orderby="date" order="desc"]
• show user's deals (active deals in which user purchased and list of user's won deals) - [my_groupbuys]
• show multiple deals - [groupbuys], [groupbuys per_page="12" columns="4" orderby="date" order="desc" skus="sku1,sku2,sku3" ids="1,2,3"]

Here you can find answers to frequently asked questions. Feel free to contact us if you can't find answer to your question.

1. Is user registration necessary? - No, if you skip entering "max deals per user" option. If you need that option then user registration is needed because we do not have reliable way to track number of deals per user.
2. I want to instantly finish group buy deal. How can I do that? - You need to change end date timestamp to current time and group buy deal will be instantly finished.
3. Can users create their own deals? - Basically yes, only users who can add new products can create deals. You can use multiple vendor plugin which will allow you to add users who will be able to create products (deals). You can use WooCommerce Product Vendors (there is no frontend submission for group buy / deals).
4. Do you use cronjobs? Why do we use cronjobs? - Yes. Please check installation instructions. WordPress cronjob is run on every visit (page load), it's fine for small and not so busy websites. But sometimes you do not have enough hits (visitors) and group buy will be finished when visitor loads page (and cronjob) instead on its end timestamp. That's why we use real cronjobs - to make sure your group buy / deal will end on time. Also on busy websites you need to turn off WordPress cron and create cronjob for it to avoid cron being loaded on every hit and generating performance penalty.
5. Where can I edit email templates? - Go to WooCommerce > Settings and click on Emails tab.
6. Does this plugin work with caching plugins? - Yes, W3TC is working but we advise no caching for logged in users. For example if page cache is enabled widget will not work - recently viewed deals. Once user is logged in and there is no caching anymore all widgets will work. You can use CDN and browser caching. Our plugin demo website uses W3TC with page and object caching, browser caching and generic CDN mirroring. All of our plugins have same requirements for caching as WooCommerce - check it here https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/configuring-caching-plugins
7. Can I make theme with WooCommerce Group Buy and sell it on ThemeForest? - Sure, just purchase extended licence and you're good to go. Since the current licenses do not deal with re-selling Items, Envato lets authors to decide whether they grant permission for bundling Items or not. We have the following conditions, and you need to follow them:
   • You cannot redistribute the item "as-is", even if you modify it or you make a derivative version for another platform
   • You cannot offer the plugin as a stand-alone item
   • You cannot include the plugin separately from your theme in the download package
   • You cannot provide an Item Purchase Code for your customers - Since Envato doesn't have a "multi-use" or transferable license, your customers are not entitled to receive an Item Purchase Code with your theme and use the plugin separately from your work.
   • Updating the plugin is your own responsibility
   • Since your customers cannot receive updates from us, you need to handle this on your own
   • You need to handle related support requests after your customers or you can instruct them to buy regular licence and ask us for support directly via our CodeCanyon profile (we cannot provide free support for your customers)
8. I can't do anything because I get "out of stock message"? - group buy plugin needs inventory / stock to be enabled. If you have problems all issues should be fixed by upgrading to WooCommerce Group Buy v1.1.6
9. How can I update plugin with new version? Is auto updating possible? - We suggest you to install Envato Marketplace (installation instructions can be found on plugin's url) plugin for auto update plugin and themes purchased on Envato. Setup is easy. Manual updating can be done by downloading new version of plugin and overwrite old files with new ones or deleting old plugin and installing new one.
   
   
   Note:

   If you have modified plugin files (templates) then you need to be careful when updating so you don't overwrite changes you made and that templates are inside child theme or theme woocommerce/ template folder.

10. Does WooCommerce Group Buy work with WordPress import / export tools? - Yes, you can export and import deals with standard WordPress import / export tools that are located in Admin -> Tools menu.
11. How can I enable user registration on login page? - You need to enable that feature in Woocommerce settings.
12. I have installed your plugin but images are not aligned, buttons are too small / big, input fields needs to be smaller / bigger, can you help? - In short no.
    
    It's your duty to modify plugin template to match your style and theme. Themes can implement different ways how they customize pages and parts of Woocommerce. We cannot guarantee that our plugin will look same as in our demo for every possible theme out there. Web developing is more than getting a theme and couple plugins, enabling them and deliver web site. Our templates are coded by standards and they adhere to WordPress and WooCommerce template structure. That means that minimal intervention is needed from client side, but sometimes there is no way to avoid template changes. Some themes use similar structure and have minimal interventions in structure and our plugin looks good out of the box and some do not. It's your task as web developer and client who purchased plugin to modify and customize plugin templates to match your own (or client's) needs and styles. This is part of developing a web site. You cannot expect that everything will be perfect for every possible theme and plugin comibation out there or that we will do your job for you as part of support. We support plugin - we do not style and customize client's sites. Thanks for understanding.
    
    
    Note:

    Right way to customize plugin's templates is to copy contest of plugin_dir/groupby-for-woocommerce/templates/ directory to your_theme/woocommerce/ directory and do modifications there.

    When you ask us for support make sure it's not related to tasks we don't do as part of support:

    - style or customize your theme to do this or that

    - provide support for bugs caused by 3rd party plugins or themes (we can pinpoint the problem)

    - send you CSS or HTML code for modifying html elements

13. Can users buy deals without signup / register first? - Yes, guest checkout is possible if you do not set "max deals per user" option. Otherwise (if you set it) it is impossible to have users purchase deals before they're logged in because we can not count consistently their previously purchased deals only those in cart can be counted and we cannot check "max deals per user".
14. 3rd party plugin is causing problems? Its developers tell you that we need to fix our plugin?
    
    Woocommerce extensions should be transparent - meaning one extension should work with another without introduction of special code that makes them compatible. Imagine what would happen and how much time we would need to spend if we would have to add a bit of compatibility code for every Woocommerce extension that's out there - we would end up in huge plugin with tons of problems which would be problem to test and debug. That's why we think every plugin developer should stick to Woocommerce coding standards and APIs (they're there for that reason) and not require 3rd party developers to code something into their extensions / plugins so that it could work with theirs.
15. How can I translate plugin to my language? Do you have translations?
    
    

    We only maintain english translation. We do not have resources to quality maintain other translations. Here are steps which can help you to traslate plugin or change some strings yourself:

    • you will use file plugins/groupby-for-woocommerce/languages/wc_groupbuy.pot to create your translation
    • you need to download and install Poedit https://poedit.net/download
    • download wc_groupbuy.pot and open it with Poedit
    • do your translations with Poedit
    • when done save wc_groupbuy-en_GB.po, saving wc_groupbuy-en_GB.po will create wc_groupbuy-en_GB.mo
    • you need to upload both files to /wp-content/languages/plugins/ and not to plugin directory because translations will be lost if you update plugin by deleting old one
    Note:

    In filename wc_groupbuy-en_GB.po suffix en_GB must match your language settings in WordPress, otherwise language will not be loaded. So for example you can have wc_groupbuy-en_AU.mo, wc_groupbuy-af.mo or wc_groupbuy-en_CA.mo, complete list of available suffixes are here https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/

16. Order has been canceled but I still see same deals sold and status bar does not go back to previous or zero value. What should I do? This happens only if order was completed and then cancelled. In that case purchases have been logged and you need to go to edit product -> groupbuy History block and manually delete entries that have been cancelled.
17. How I know that group buy / deal was success or fail? What to do when group buy deal is finished? Administrator should receive email notification in both cases. In wp-admin -> WooCommerce product list you will have icon depicting (in recent versions of WooCommerce you will need to use plugin called WooCommerce Product Type Column) active or finished group buy deal. Once group buy has finished go to that particular product (edit product) and find groupbuy history block where you will be able to see groupbuy history (purchases) and order number for each group buy purchase. If group buy has failed you will be able to refund money (if supported by your payment provider). Some screenshots are here. If you created group buy product from simple product make sure to be extra careful since refund feature will refund regular product orders too. We strongly suggest against converting regular product with orders to group buy!
18. Does WooCommerce Group Buy and Deals work with your WooCommerce Simple Bulk Discount plugin? Yes, it works fine in combination with WooCommerce Simple Bulk Discount plugin.
19. How can I add countdown timer / counter on all pages not only on single product page? There is setting for that - click "WooCommerce Settings" then "Group Buy Settings" tab and find option called "Group Buy deals time countdown". Enable / disable it. You can use this code https://pastebin.com/ifa8vZvh (obsolete)
20. I do not see group buy progress bar despite enabling it on single product page? End value on progress bar is missing? This happens when you don't enter max number of deals. Just enter same number as min number if it is not different than minimal number of deals and that will sort these issues.
21. Does Group Buy & Deals support product variations? No, variations are not supported. However if you want to have deal where you can choose color or other attribute you can use https://woocommerce.com/products/product-add-ons/
22. Refund feature does not work? How can I tell if my payment gateway supports refunds? If you got this error: "Payment does not support refund" your gateway just does not implement refund feature. Here is link for more infos about how to check if gateway supports refund feature. Keep on your mind that for issuing refund you need to click on refund button in product details, there are not automatic refunds.
23. I want to export order(s) data. How can I do that? - There are plugins that allow exporting of various order data as CSV file which you can then import to some other software you use for order management. We can suggest you to use WooCommerce Customer / Order CSV Export or Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce. These plugins work with custom product types which are used in this plugin.
24. Do you recommend any credit / wallet plugin for WooCommerce that works with this plugin? - Yes, you can use TeraWallet plugin which adds new credit payment gateway and works with our plugin just fine. Users or admins can top up wallet credit balance with regular payment gateways or manually.
25. Product type column vanished in WooCommerce product list, how can I get it back? - From WooCommerce 3.4.0 update, WooCommerce developers removed that column in product list (as a result of users' feedback). There is way to restore it back using this plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce-product-type-column/
26. I have manually refunded order but stock (progress bar) does not reflect this change? - When doing manual order refund please mark order as cancelled after refund. That will get group buy stock back.
27. How can I add "Add to Cart" button for group buy / deals on shop page (product archive page)? - You can use this code snippet in your child theme's functions.php file https://pastebin.com/XRF49HjV