How to Change the Sale Text in WooCommerce

A custom sale label like ‘Spring Special' or ‘Save 20%' grabs far more attention than the generic ‘Sale!' badge WooCommerce shows by default.

Adding custom sale text to your WooCommerce store offers an engaging way to highlight specific promotions, for example, with text like ‘Spring Special'.

WooCommerce automatically adds a simple sale label to discounted products (‘Sale!'), but it doesn't give you a built-in setting to change the wording. You can change it with a small code snippet, or, with no code at all, a plugin like Merchant. 

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to change sale text in WooCommerce using a free plugin called Merchant. It’s a powerful plugin designed to boost conversion rates and improve your store's shopping experience. 

Let’s dive into the tutorial.

What is the WooCommerce sale badge?

The sale badge is the small label WooCommerce adds to discounted products, set to “Sale!” by default. It shows on the product images across your shop and product pages. WooCommerce doesn't include a setting to change the wording, so you edit it with a plugin or a small code snippet.

What you'll need

To follow along, you'll need:

• A WordPress site with WooCommerce installed and active
• The free Merchant plugin (we'll install it in Step 1)
• At least one product on sale, so you can see the label

This guide was tested with Merchant 2.2.8.

1. Install and activate the free Merchant plugin

You can change the sale text in WooCommerce using Merchant's free Product Labels module.

You can download Merchant from our website (note that Merchant also has a Pro version, which includes 25+ additional premium modules). 

You can upload and install the plugin by opening your WordPress dashboard and going to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin → Choose File → Install Now → Activate:

2. Open the Product Labels module

Once the plugin is activated, you should see a new Merchant menu appear in the left sidebar of your WordPress admin area. 

Click it, and you will be taken to the Merchant dashboard. Find the Convert More section and click the Product Labels module:

3. Change the sale text and configure the style settings

Before enabling the Product Labels module, I recommend that you change the text and style settings of the product labels to match the branding of your WooCommerce store. 

In the Label Text field, you can change the sale text or keep the default label (‘Spring Special').

If you check the Display Sale Percentage option, Merchant will show the discount percentage for each product instead of the sale text. This technique is known to impact the buyer's decision-making process and increase your likelihood of making a sale:

You can also customize the position, radius, letter case, padding, font size, and colors of the sale text.

Recent Merchant versions also let you add multiple labels to one product, use image-based labels, and pick from preset label shapes, so you can match the badge to your store's branding. Update to the latest version of Merchant to see all of these options.

After modifying the text and style settings of the Product Labels module, click the Save button at the top of the page to save your configurations:

4. Enable the Product Labels module 

All good? Then it’s time to activate Merchant's Product Labels module.

Just click the Enable button, and that’s it:

You have now changed the sale text in WooCommerce.

To check what the custom sale text labels look like in your store, click the View on site link on the module's admin page (it's next to the Enabled button).

Merchant will take you to your Shop page where you can see the custom sale text labels:

Open any of the products, too, to check the sale text on the individual product pages. (Note that the sale text will only appear on products that are on sale.)

If you don’t like what you see, go back to the module and modify your settings.

Troubleshooting common issues

If your custom sale text doesn't show up as expected, check these first:

• The label only shows on discounted products: The sale label appears on products that have a sale price set, so add a sale price to a product to see it.
• You still see the old badge: Clear your page cache after enabling the module. Cached pages can keep showing the default WooCommerce label.
• Two badges appear: Some themes add their own sale badge. If you see both, turn off the theme's sale badge so only the Merchant label shows.

Some other ways to increase sales in a WooCommerce store

In addition to changing the sale text, you can use the free Merchant modules to boost your conversion rate in other ways, here are some ideas:

• The Buy Now button reduces friction in the purchase process and enables customers to skip the Cart page, go straight to the Checkout page, and make a quick purchase. 
• Displaying recognizable payment logos (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, etc.) assures customers that their preferred payment methods are available. 
• Trust badges, which allow you to showcase SSL certificates, security seals, refund policies, and more, convey a sense of credibility and authenticity. They reassure customers that the site is legitimate and their data is safe. 

To add any of these eCommerce features to your WooCommerce store, open the Merchant dashboard, click the respective module, configure its settings, and enable the module. If you need any help, consult the detailed Merchant documentation.

Summary: how to change the sale text in WooCommerce

Changing the sale text in WooCommerce can enhance customer engagement and allow for more tailored marketing messaging.

Since WooCommerce doesn't offer a feature to change the default sale text out of the box, you'll need to use a third-party tool, such as our free Merchant plugin, to accomplish this.

Using Merchant, you can change your sale text in a jiffy. All you need to do is carry out the following steps:

1. Install and activate the Merchant plugin.
2. Open the Product Labels module.
3. Change the sale text and configure the style settings.
4. Enable the module on your WooCommerce store.

Grab the free Merchant plugin from here, and start growing your business today!

If you have any questions about how to change the sale text in WooCommerce, let us know in the comments below. 

Sufia Banu

Sufia Banu is a freelance content writer with a background in marketing and SEO. She specializes in writing about WordPress, plugins, themes, and WooCommerce. Through her writing, she helps WordPress businesses draw targeted traffic and generate higher sales.

Sufia Banu

Sufia Banu is a freelance content writer with a background in marketing and SEO. She specializes in writing about WordPress, plugins, themes, and WooCommerce. Through her writing, she helps WordPress businesses draw targeted traffic and generate higher sales.

See Full Bio