Create Tiered Pricing for Product Variations in WooCommerce
Learn how to create tiered pricing for product variations in WooCommerce using the Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce plugin. This complete guide covers tiered discounts where each quantity range has its own price for specific variations, encouraging customers to buy more with clear, incremental savings.
📋 Table of Contents
- Understanding Tiered Pricing vs. Bulk Discounts
- Step-by-Step: Create a Tiered Pricing Rule for Variations
- Result Examples
- Quick Reference Table
- Next Steps
🚀 Understanding Tiered Pricing vs. Bulk Discounts
Tiered pricing and bulk discounts are two different approaches to quantity-based pricing. Understanding the difference is crucial for choosing the right strategy for your store.
The Key Difference
In tiered pricing, each quantity range has its own specific price or discount. As customers buy more, they unlock better pricing for the additional units they purchase . For example, the first 5 items might be full price, items 6-10 get 10% off, and items 11+ get 20% off.
In bulk pricing (also called volume pricing), once a customer reaches a certain quantity threshold, the discount applies to all units in the cart, not just the additional ones . For example, if a customer buys 10 items, all 10 items get the same 20% discount.
| Pricing Model | How It Works | Example (5 items) | Example (10 items) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulk Pricing | One discount applied to all units once threshold is reached | No discount if threshold is 10 | 20% off all 10 items |
| Tiered Pricing | Different price for each quantity range | 1-5: Full price, 6-10: 10% off | 1-5: Full price, 6-10: 10% off |
When to Use Each
| Business Model | Recommended Approach | Why |
|---|---|---|
| B2C / Retail | Bulk pricing | Simpler, easier for customers to understand |
| B2B / Wholesale | Tiered pricing | More strategic, better for profit control |
| High-Volume Repeat Buyers | Tiered pricing | Rewards larger orders incrementally |
Key Statistic: Stores using tiered pricing report average order value increases of 20-30%.
Now you're ready to create tiered pricing rules for product variations under the Woo Pricing & Discounts > Pricing tab.
Step-by-Step: Create a Tiered Pricing Rule for Variations
Best for: Encouraging customers to buy more of a specific variation by offering increasing discounts on subsequent units. Perfect for wholesale, inventory management, and high-volume repeat buyers of specific product variations.
Scenario: Create a tiered pricing rule on Sweater - Color: Beige, Size: Large with the following tiers:
- 1st item: Full price ($20.00)
- 2nd to 5th item: 10% off ($18.00 each)
- 6th to 10th item: 20% off ($16.00 each)
- 11th item & more: 30% off ($14.00 each)
Step 1: Access Pricing and Choose a Template
- In your WordPress admin, go to the Woo Pricing & Discounts menu
- Open the Pricing tab
- Click on the Add from Template button to quickly start a new rule
- In the "Choose your desired campaign" modal, search for templates
- Under Tiered Pricing (Quantity discount), find and select "Variation Tiered Savings: Buy More, Save %"
- Click "Add Campaign"
Step 2: Configure the Discount Rule
-
Name: "Variation Tiered Savings: Buy More, Save %" (customizable)
-
Status: Ensure Enable is checked
-
Mode: Select "Tiered" — This adjusts discounted products price based on quantities added to the cart — Subsequent units get increasing discount
Mode Descriptions:
- Simple: Just a simple discount that will apply to listed discounted products
- Bulk: Adjusts discounted products price based on quantities added to the cart — All units get the highest discount
- Tiered: Adjusts discounted products price based on quantities added to the cart — Subsequent units get increasing discount
-
Apply Mode: Choose how this rule interacts with other pricing rules
- Apply with other applicable rules (Non-Exclusive): Works alongside other discounts
- Apply this rule and disregard other rules - Exclusive: Disregards all other applicable rules
- Apply if other rules are not applicable: Acts as a fallback
Step 3: Configure Quantity Calculation
Under Quantity Based On, select "Single product variation" to calculate quantity per specific variation:
- Single product: Quantity is calculated separately for each product
- Single product variation: Quantity is calculated separately for each product variation
- Cart line item: Quantity is calculated separately for each product line in the cart
- Sum of categories quantities: Quantity is calculated separately for each category in the cart
- Sum of all products quantities: Quantity is calculated based on sum of all quantities in the cart
Example: Select "Single product variation" to calculate quantity per specific variation.
Step 4: Configure Display Options
- Set Min Quantity: Set the minimum required quantity for the rule (optional)
- First Discounted Products: Choose which items get discounted first
- Cheapest Products — Discounts apply to the cheapest items first (default)
- Expensive Products — Use when you want to apply lower discounts on expensive products
- Message Type: Select "Text Message"
- Message: Set a compelling message, e.g., "Buy More Save More! 👇"
- Message Background Color: (Optional) Customize the message box background color
- Message Color: (Optional) Customize the message text color
- Usage Limit: Leave blank for unlimited uses
Step 5: Set Quantity Ranges
Under the Quantities section, you define the quantity ranges and associated discounts:
- Quantity Minimum: Set the minimum quantity for each tier
- Quantity Maximum: Set the maximum quantity (leave blank for no limit)
- Discount Type: Choose between Percentage discount, Price discount, or Fixed price
- Discount: Set the discount value for each tier
- Click "Add" to add more tiers as needed
Example Tiers:
| Quantity Minimum | Quantity Maximum | Discount Type | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5 | Percentage discount | 10 |
| 6 | 10 | Percentage discount | 20 |
| 11 | Max - No limit | Percentage discount | 30 |
Important: In tiered pricing, the first tier (1 item) typically has no discount. The discount applies only to the specified quantity ranges.
Step 6: Select Discounted Product Variations
Under the Discounted products section, you define which product variations receive the tiered discount:
- Add a "Product variations in list" condition
- Search for and select your desired product variations
- You can add multiple variations into the search field
Example: Select Sweater - Color: Beige, Size: Large as the discounted product variation.
For detailed information on filtering products by categories, variations, attributes, stock status, or dynamic segments, check out our Product Selection Guide.
Step 7: Schedule the Discount (Optional)
By default, the campaign is unscheduled and runs immediately:
For scheduled promotions, under the "Date Time" section to configure:
- Date Range — Run a promotion over a period
- Date Time Range — Precise start and end date/time for flash sales
- Specific Date — Single date activation
- Days — Recurring weekly promotions
- Time — Daily time ranges
Use "+ And New Rule" to combine conditions or "+ OR New Group" for alternative schedules.
For a deep dive into timezone setup, recurring schedules, and multi-tier scheduling logic, read our comprehensive Scheduling & Date-Time Guide.
Step 8: Save and Test
Click Save and test by adding different quantities of the variation to the cart.
Result Examples
Example 1: Cart with 5 Units of the Variation
Cart with 5 units of Sweater - Color: Beige, Size: Large:
| Item | Original Price | Discount | Discounted Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st unit | $20.00 | 0% | $20.00 |
| 2nd unit | $20.00 | 10% | $18.00 |
| 3rd unit | $20.00 | 10% | $18.00 |
| 4th unit | $20.00 | 10% | $18.00 |
| 5th unit | $20.00 | 10% | $18.00 |
Calculation:
- 1st unit: $20.00 × 1 = $20.00
- 2nd-5th units: $18.00 × 4 = $72.00
- Total: $92.00
- Original total: $100.00
- You Saved: $8.00
Product page display shows:
- Your Price: 18.00$ × 4
- 20.00$ × 1
- Total Price: 92.00$
Cart display shows:
- Subtotal: $92.00
- You Saved: $8.00
Example 2: Cart with 10 Units of the Variation
Cart with 10 units of Sweater - Color: Beige, Size: Large:
| Item | Original Price | Discount | Discounted Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st unit | $20.00 | 0% | $20.00 |
| 2nd-5th units | $20.00 | 10% | $18.00 each |
| 6th-10th units | $20.00 | 20% | $16.00 each |
Calculation:
- 1st unit: $20.00 × 1 = $20.00
- 2nd-5th units: $18.00 × 4 = $72.00
- 6th-10th units: $16.00 × 5 = $80.00
- Total: $172.00
- Original total: $200.00
- You Saved: $28.00
Product page display shows:
- Your Price: 16.00$ × 5
- 18.00$ × 4
- 20.00$ × 1
- Total Price: 172.00$
Cart display shows:
- Subtotal: $172.00
- You Saved: $28.00
Quick Reference Table
| Quantity | Discount Type | Discount | Price Per Unit | Total Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 unit | No discount | 0% | $20.00 | $0.00 |
| 2-5 units | Percentage | 10% | $18.00 | $2.00-$10.00 |
| 6-10 units | Percentage | 20% | $16.00 | $24.00-$40.00 |
| 11+ units | Percentage | 30% | $14.00 | $66.00+ |
🎉 Success!
You've learned how to create tiered pricing for product variations using the Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing plugin for WooCommerce. This powerful feature allows you to:
- Encourage larger purchases of specific variations by offering incremental discounts
- Increase average order value with variation-based tiered incentives
- Display clear discount information on product pages
- Automatically apply tiered discounts based on variation quantity in the cart
The tiered pricing mode applies increasing discounts to subsequent units of a specific variation, creating a powerful incentive for customers to buy more of that variation .
Experience all discount rules and pricing strategies in action on our Live Demo Website.
Upgrade to Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce PRO to unlock advanced conditions, user role pricing, recurring schedules, tiered variations, and priority support.
📚 Next Steps
Now that you've mastered tiered pricing for variations, explore additional variation & bulk options:
- Bulk Discounts for Variations — Compare tiered pricing with standard bulk variation pricing.
- Tiered Pricing for Products — Apply tiered pricing to standard single products.
- Display Quantity Table on Product Pages — Show the tiered pricing breakdown to shoppers.
- Tiered Pricing for Categories — Group multiple products in a category to qualify for tiered discounts.
- Add Percentage Badges — Highlight maximum potential savings with badge labels.
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