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Version: 1.x

Product Synchronisation

One of the significant aspects of the WooCommerce POS (Point of Sale) system is its approach to data management. It provides an efficient way to handle a large volume of product data. This guide explains how products are downloaded and synchronised within WooCommerce POS.

Local Storage of Products​

WooCommerce POS fetches products from your WooCommerce store and stores them locally on your device. This approach means that once a product is downloaded, it doesn't need to be fetched repeatedly. As you continue using the POS, it will progressively download all the products from your WooCommerce store, creating a local database of your products.

Batch Downloading of Products​

For most stores, attempting to download more than about 50 products at once could lead to high server load, slower response times, or even server crashes. To prevent this, WooCommerce POS is designed to download products in small batches, usually around 50 products at a time. This process continues until the entire inventory has been locally stored, ensuring that a large volume of data can be managed without putting undue stress on your server.

An effective way to initiate the batch downloading of products is by using the product search function. Each time you conduct a product search, the POS system fetches and stores another batch of products. This strategy not only helps you gradually download new products, but also enhances the speed and efficiency of the search function as more products are stored locally.

Conclusion​

It's important to understand that all your products won't appear at once in your POS system, and this is completely normal. Over time, by using the product search and other POS operations, you'll download all your products. For more detailed information on how WooCommerce POS operates, make sure to visit our Key Concepts page.

WooCommerce POS is designed to optimise server load and operational efficiency. The progressive product downloading feature ensures a smooth, efficient, and user-friendly retail management experience.

F.A.Q.​

How do I get more products to load?

Product synchronization in the POS can be triggered in several ways:

  • When the POS is first loaded.
  • Each time you execute a product search.
  • Applying a filter, for example, by category or tag.
  • Scrolling to the bottom of the product list.
  • Pressing the sync button manually.
  • Furthermore, the POS will automatically sync every 10 minutes.

Once all the products are downloaded, future syncs will only fetch the products that have been updated since the last sync.

I have scrolled to the bottom and it's still not showing all products

There could be a couple of reasons why not all products are showing:

  • The POS will hide out-of-stock items by default. This setting can be altered in the product display settings if you wish to show out-of-stock items.

  • The WooCommerce REST API is only compatible with the standard WooCommerce product types, which are simple, variable, grouped, and external. If you're using a custom product type, they might not display in the POS.