Kitero - Composite Products for WooCommerce documentation

Kitero adds a Composite product type to WooCommerce. A composite product is made of components. Each component is one choice the shopper makes, such as a mug or a candle, and you fill it with existing products from your catalog. The shopper picks an option in each component and sees the total update as they go. The configuration then goes through the cart, checkout, order and emails with every chosen item listed.

It is for stores that sell made to order kits, gift boxes or any product that is put together from other products. Stock is handled at component level, so each chosen product keeps its own stock.

Kitero Pro is a complete plugin. It contains every feature of the free edition, so you do not need both. Pro adds bundle mode, conditional logic rules, fixed and hybrid pricing, per option price overrides, a step by step wizard and a tabbed layout, ten more kit templates and a composite insights report.

Kitero Pro needs WooCommerce. Install and activate WooCommerce 8.0 or newer before you install Kitero Pro. You do not need the free edition: if it is active, Pro switches it off for you when you activate Pro and keeps all of your components, settings and products.

Kitero > Dashboard is the starting point of the plugin. At the top it shows counters for your composite products, the ready made kit templates and the products available as options.

Under Quick actions you find shortcuts to:

• Create a composite product: set the product type to Composite, then pick a template or build it yourself.
• Manage composite products: see every composite product you have built so far.
• Settings: defaults for layout, option style, catalog price and add to cart.
• Documentation: every option explained, without leaving the dashboard.
• Run the setup again: revisit the defaults at any time. Nothing you have built is changed.

The Recent composite products table lists your latest composite products with their number of components, their status and Edit and View links.

Kitero > Composite products lists every product that uses the Composite type, with how many components and options each one offers.

The table shows, for each product:

• Product (sortable), linking to the product editor
• Components and Options
• Layout used on the product page
• Catalog price, as shown on shop and category pages
• Status and Date (sortable)

Use the search box and Search products to find a product, or click Add new to create one.

Composite products are edited in the normal WooCommerce product editor.

1. Create a product as usual, then set the product type dropdown to Composite product.
2. Open the Composite tab and press Add component. A component is one choice the shopper makes.
3. Give the component a name, then search for the products the shopper can pick from. You can search by product name or by SKU, including variation SKUs.
4. Add as many components as you need and drag them into the order you want.
5. Press Update. The product page now shows the configuration form with a live total.

The composite product itself does not need a price.

Component options

Each component card on the Composite tab has these fields:

Composite display tab

On the Composite display tab you choose the layout for this product, which overrides the Default layout setting. You can also set the minimum and maximum number of items for the whole kit, for example at least 3 and at most 6. Items are counted by quantity across every component. The product page shows the limit and a running count, and the cart checks it again. Leave both empty for no limit.

Pricing and stock

• With per item pricing, the total is the sum of the chosen options, each multiplied by its quantity. It updates live and is calculated again on the server before anything is added to the cart.
• The lowest catalog price counts required components only, because optional components can be skipped. The highest price counts every component at its dearest option and highest quantity.
• Stock is held by the chosen products, not by the composite product. When an order reduces stock, the stock of each chosen item is reduced by its quantity.

Restyling the form

To restyle the configuration form, copy templates/single-product/composite-form.php from the plugin into a folder called kitero-product-configurator inside your theme. Your copy is used instead and survives updates.

Kitero Pro adds these features on top of the free edition:

• Bundle mode. You decide the contents yourself. The shopper sees what is in the box and adds it in one click. Optional items get a tick box so they can be dropped, and the total follows.
• Fixed and hybrid pricing. Charge one flat price whatever is chosen, or a base price with the chosen items added on top. The default for new products is set with Default pricing under Kitero > Settings, and you can change it for one product on the General tab.
• Per option price overrides. Charge a different price for a product inside one component, without touching the product itself.
• Logic rules. Show, hide or narrow one component based on what was chosen in another. Rules are enforced in the browser and again on the server.
• Two extra layouts. A step by step wizard with a progress bar, and a tabbed layout with one tab per component.
• Ten more kit templates. Fifteen in total, three of which also set bundle mode, fixed pricing or hybrid pricing for you.
• Composite insights. A report of your customers' choices, described below.

Kitero > Composite orders lists the orders that contain at least one composite product. The table shows the Order, Customer, Composite items, Status, Total and Date.

Open an order to see exactly which options the customer chose. The choices are recorded on each order line. Until the first order with a composite product comes in, the table shows "No orders contain a composite product yet."

Kitero > Settings holds the defaults that apply to every composite product. Some of them can be overridden per product where that makes sense. The screen is split into five groups:

• Product page: default layout, default option style, add to cart behavior and button text, and out of stock options.
• Catalog: how the price and the button appear on shop and category pages.
• Admin: the number of component product search results, and whether plugin data is deleted when you delete the plugin.
• Pricing: the default pricing strategy for new composite products.
• Insights: whether shoppers' choices are recorded for the Insights screen.

Click Save settings when you are done. Every field is described in the settings reference below.

Kitero > Setup is a short wizard that asks three quick questions to set the defaults for every composite product you build. It takes about a minute, and you can change any answer later in Kitero > Settings.

The steps are Layout, Options, Shop and Done. The first step asks how shoppers move through the choices:

• All components visible: everything on one page. Best for two or three choices.
• Accordion (one section open at a time): collapsible sections. Good for four to six choices.
• Step by step wizard: guided, one at a time, with a progress bar.
• Tabbed, one tab per component: one tab per choice. Compact and easy to skip around.

The layout applies to new composite products, and you can override it on any single product. Click Continue to move on, or Skip for now to leave the wizard. You can run it again from the dashboard at any time without changing anything you have built.

Kitero > Documentation explains every option without leaving the WordPress admin. Use the links at the top to jump to a section: Getting started, Component options, Layouts and styles, Global settings, Pricing and stock, For developers, Troubleshooting, Bundle mode, Pricing strategies, Logic rules, and Layouts, templates and insights.

The For developers section lists the hooks the plugin provides, with the purpose of each one.

The Insights screen (Pro) reports on composite sales: configurations built, revenue from composite lines, how many builds became an order, and a share bar for every option showing how often it wins its component.

It is fed by the Note which option was chosen in each component when a configuration reaches the cart setting under Kitero > Settings. Nothing personal is stored, only the component, the option and the quantity. Switching the setting off stops new rows being written and leaves existing ones alone.

On the shop and category pages, a composite product shows its price as set by Price display (a range, a starting price or no price) and a button that opens the product page. The button text is Configure unless you change it.

On the product page, the configuration form replaces the usual add to cart area. With the step by step wizard layout, shoppers see:

• A progress bar with the current step, for example "Step 1 of 3".
• The component name, with a Required badge when the component must be filled.
• The options in the component's style, for example a thumbnail grid with each product's image, name, short description and price.
• Previous and Next buttons to move between components.
• When you set a minimum or maximum number of items, the limit and a running count, for example "Choose at least 2 items. 0 chosen."
• A live Total and the Add to cart button (or your own button text).

The total updates as the shopper chooses and is checked again on the server when the configuration is added to the cart. In the cart, checkout, order and emails, each chosen option is listed under the component name.