In-stock alternatives adds a row to your product pages. The row shows similar products that are in stock. When a shopper opens a product that’s sold out, a small link under the product’s details can point them down to that row, so they can buy something close instead of leaving.
You will learn #
- How to switch the row on and choose where it appears
- How Tendlio finds similar products
- How to show the row only on sold-out products
- How to fix matches that don’t look right
Before you begin #
- Run an analysis first. Tendlio looks for alternatives among the products your last analysis saw. A product you’ve added since then can’t appear as an alternative until the next analysis. Tendlio runs one every week on its own, and you can start one with Re-scan store at the top of the Dashboard.
- Check your tags, names and categories. Tendlio matches products by their tags, names and categories. If a product’s tags and name don’t say what it is, Tendlio has little to match it by. After you switch the row on, open a few sold-out products and look at what comes up.
- Look at a product page before you rely on the row. The row shows on your storefront, so how it fits depends on your theme.
Open the settings #
- In your WordPress admin, open Tendlio → Storefront. The Recommendations tab opens first.
- Scroll down to In-stock alternatives.
Switch the row on #
- Turn on Enable in-stock alternatives. The rest of the panel’s settings appear once the switch is on.
- Under Position, choose where the row sits on the product page. The choices are the same as for the Frequently bought together row: Below the product summary (recommended) is a wide row under the product’s main details, and Just above Related products places it lower, right before the related products your theme or WooCommerce shows. To see where each spot is, click Preview the layout.
- Under Heading, type the title shoppers see above the row. It starts as “Similar products”. If you clear the field, the row shows without a title.
- Under How many to show, set how many cards show at once on Desktop and on Mobile. Total to load is how many products the row holds. They start at 6, 2 and 8.
- Show an “out of stock, see alternatives” link on unavailable products is on from the start. Leave it on to add a link to sold-out products. The link reads “Out of stock. See similar products” and sits under the product’s stock notice. It shows on every sold-out product, even one where the row finds nothing to show, so open a few sold-out products and check that the row is there.
- Click Save settings.
How Tendlio finds similar products #
Tendlio looks for products like the one on the page in three steps, and the row lists them in that order:
- Products that share a tag with it. Tags that sit on a large part of your catalog, like “sale” or “new”, are left out of this step, because a tag on everything doesn’t say that two products are alike.
- Products whose names share at least two words with its name. Words shorter than three letters don’t count, and neither do a few common words like “the”, “new”, “set” and “pack”. You can add your own words to that list (see below).
- Products from the same category.
Within each step, the products that share more with the product on the page come first, and among those, the ones that sell faster. The row shows only products that are in stock and can be bought.
Show the row only on sold-out products (Advanced mode) #
The row shows on every product page unless you change that. In Advanced mode, When to show has two choices:
- Always (every product page), where it starts: on a product that’s in stock, the row helps shoppers find other options.
- Only when the product is out of stock: the row appears only on sold-out products, where the shopper needs another option. On products that are in stock, it then doesn’t sit next to your theme’s own related products.
Fix matches that don’t look right #
Three things can put products that don’t belong into the row:
- A word that appears in many of your product names. A color or a unit, like “white” or “pcs”, can make unrelated products look alike by name. In Advanced mode, list those words under Words to ignore when matching, separated by commas. Type each word the way it stands on its own in the name. A word stuck to a number, like “250ml”, is one word: to ignore it, list “250ml” itself. Listing “ml” alone doesn’t cover it. Listing a word hides no product: a product still appears when it matches on its other words.
- Tags that are too general. If you don’t use product tags, or most of your tags are general ones, turn Match by tags off (Advanced mode). Matching then uses names and categories only.
- A category that shouldn’t mix. Tick it under Exclude categories. Products in that category never appear in this row, and ticking a category includes its subcategories.
To keep one product out of every recommendation row, tick it on Products & insights and click Hide from recommendations. Boost and Hide explains how.
The Words to ignore when matching list also applies to the On-sale picks row on your product pages.
If the row doesn’t show up #
Some themes and page builders, including some themes built from blocks, don’t use the standard WooCommerce spots on the product page. On those themes, a row placed in a standard spot doesn’t appear.
- Under Position, choose Below the whole product area (works with page builders), click Save settings, and check a product page again.
- If the row still doesn’t show, choose Shortcode only (I’ll place it myself) and click Save settings. The panel then shows the shortcode
[tendlio_alternatives]with a Copy button. - Paste the shortcode where you want the row: in your product page template, in your page builder or in the Site Editor.
The shortcode takes id, limit and title, the same way as the Frequently bought together shortcode: [tendlio_alternatives id="123" limit="8" title="Similar products"]. The shortcode places only the row, not the out-of-stock link. The link sits in a standard spot in the product’s details, so on a theme that skips those spots, the link may not show. A row placed with the shortcode shows on every product page, whatever When to show says.
Tendlio also notices when the row doesn’t show: it watches whether your product pages load the spot you chose for the row. If it hasn’t seen that spot load for a week, counted from when you switched the row on or from when it last showed, the row’s card on the Growth engine and Sales lift pages reads On, but not showing, and a note under Position names the shortcode to place.
Why the row works this way #
It always leaves sold-out products out #
The row is there to hand the shopper something they can buy today. A sold-out alternative would send them from one sold-out product to another. So this row ignores Show sold-out products in the rows, the switch at the bottom of the Storefront page that lets the other rows show sold-out products.
Names need two shared words #
A single shared word can be a color, a size or a unit that many unrelated products have in common. When two words must match, a shared color or size alone isn’t enough.
Tags come first #
A specific tag, like the name of a theme or a character, says more about two products being alike than their names or their category. That’s why tag matches come first, and why tags that sit on a large part of your catalog are left out.
See what the row earns #
Once the row has sold something, its card on the Growth engine page shows what it brought in. For the details, click See report at the top of the Storefront page. To stop losing sales on the product itself, restock it: How to decide what to restock and how much to order.
Additional resources #
- How to show frequently bought together products on your product pages: the settings every row shares, at the bottom of the Storefront page.
- A storefront widget doesn’t show up
- Measuring what the widgets earn
- How to decide what to restock and how much to order
Frequently asked questions #
Can I pick the alternatives myself? #
No. Tendlio finds them by tags, names and categories. You can keep categories out, hide a product from all recommendation rows, or list words that shouldn't count when names are matched.
Why does a sold-out product show no alternatives? #
No in-stock product shares a tag, two name words or a category with it, or every match is hidden, in an excluded category, or can't be bought.
I just added a product. Why isn't it offered as an alternative? #
Tendlio looks for alternatives among the products your last analysis saw, so the new product joins after the next analysis.