WooCommerce allows you to set different types of products. In this article, we will focus on one of them – a virtual product. It is often confused with a downloadable product, and these are two different options that can occur together, but do not have to.

What is a virtual product in WooCommerce

A virtual product in WooCommerce is one that is immaterial and therefore is not shipped. To purchase it, the customer does not need to provide a physical address, only a valid e-mail address to handle the transaction. Importantly, a virtual product does not mean a downloadable product. A virtual product can be, for example, a service.

How to set it in WooCommerce

To set a virtual product in the case of a simple product, simply select the Virtual option at the top of the Product data section.

Apart from the fact that the virtual product is not affected by shipping options, all other options are equally available – i.e. we can manage stock, create variants or implement discount coupons for it.

In the case of a product with variants – expand the individual variant and indicate that it is also virtual:

Virtual product in practice

A virtual product combined with a downloadable product can be used, for example, in the sale of:

• e-books and audiobooks,
• fonts and graphic collections,
• software packages,
• tickets,
• gift cards.

Without the download option, a virtual product will work well in the sale of all services, visits or online courses, or wherever access to virtual resources is transferred at the time of sale without physically downloading them to the customer’s device.