WooCommerce 9.7: Pre-release updates

WooCommerce 9.7 is coming soon…

The post will track the work we do as we prepare to release 9.7 as well as provide a preview of what’s to come in this new version.

Release Schedule:

Hey folks, on Monday January 20, 2025, we kicked-off our Code Freeze ahead of the release of WooCommerce 9.7. As we begin the testing phase, and get the release ready for Beta, we wanted to share some spoilers and document any updates to the expected release timeline. 

Check back here for more updates ahead of the WooCommerce 9.7 release, scheduled for February 24, 2025. 

What’s coming in 9.7

πŸ’³ Modernized Payments Settings Experience: WooCommerce 9.7 introduces our new React-based Payments settings interface, initially rolling out to 50% of new stores. The redesigned experience provides clearer gateway status indicators, contextual guidance, and relevant payment solution suggestions. This update reduces admin notice clutter while maintaining full compatibility with existing payment extensions. Learn more about this modernization effort in our technical announcement post. Extension developers can test this new interface by enabling the reactify-classic-payments-settings feature in the Beta Tester plugin.

🚚 Enhanced Shipping Method Display: Cart and Checkout blocks now support detailed shipping information, allowing extensions to display method descriptions and estimated delivery times. This feature enables merchants to provide customers with clearer shipping expectations right at checkout. Developers can implement this using the woocommerce_package_rates filter.

⚑ Faster Block Editor Performance: We’ve significantly optimized product block registration, resulting in dramatic performance improvements in the Site Editor. The refactored system reduces subscription callbacks by 99% and cuts execution time by 75% when working with Single Product templates and product-related blocks. This enhancement improves editor responsiveness and reduces overhead during canvas interactions.

πŸ“¦ Enhanced Add to Cart Options Block: The Add to Cart with Options block now includes a sleek stepper layout for quantity selection. Merchants can enable this new layout option through the block’s Quantity Selector settings, providing a more streamlined purchasing experience for customers.

πŸ”” Smarter Store Notice Handling: When switching to a block theme, WooCommerce now automatically manages the Store Notice feature to prevent accessibility issues. The Store Notice will be temporarily disabled when moving to a block theme and restored when returning to a classic theme. Existing block theme installations and Store Notice settings remain unchanged, while the Customizer URL path remains available for manual configuration.

Experimental Features

πŸ“§ Modernized Email Styling (Beta): WooCommerce 9.7 continues to work toward a complete refresh of the email template system with modernized styles and improved layout options. This experimental feature can be enabled via WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features under “Email Improvements”. The new email styling system is being introduced as an opt-in feature for testing, with plans for broader rollout in WooCommerce 9.8. Read more here.

API Changes

REST API

  • [REST API] Improve product stock handling when managing orders #53618
  • Introducing product type constants #53759
  • Add the downloadable param to the list product variations endpoint #54242
  • Introducing product status constants #53938
  • Add the virtual param to the product variations endpoint #54245
  • Add new include_status and exclude_status filter on the products variations endpoint #54246
  • Fix cart and checkout page detection logic for edge cases #54340
  • Reverting ProductStatus constants in rest API due class not being loaded #54418
  • Accept an error message from payment methods or convert notices for failure only #53671

Store API

  • Fix stock indicator visibility for Variable products #54156
  • Extend addItemToCart thunk #53458
  • Cart Data Store: Prevent unnecessary requests to cart API when cart is empty (for the mini cart block) #53611

Other important information

Developer Advisories

We have a number of developer advisories coming up as we prepare to release pre-release versions. We’ll share more detailed information in upcoming posts.


πŸ”„ Enhanced Product Variations API: The WooCommerce REST API now offers more powerful filtering capabilities for product variations. Developers can use new parameters to filter variations by status (include_statusexclude_status), virtual status (virtual), and downloadable status (downloadable), enabling more precise and efficient product queries.


πŸ”„ Consistent Stock Management in REST API: We’ve aligned REST API stock behavior with WP Admin functionality when managing orders. Stock levels now automatically adjust when modifying line items via the API, but only for orders with processing, on-hold, or completed status. This change brings more consistency to inventory management across different interfaces.


🧹 Component Package Cleanup: We’ve removed several experimental product editor components from the @woocommerce/components package that are no longer in use. Extension developers using any of the legacy experimental components prefixed with __experimental ( WooProductFieldItemWooProductSectionItemWooProductTabItemProductSectionLayoutProductFieldSection ) should update their code to remove these dependencies.

Changelog

View the full changelog.

Update timeline

βœ… Code Freeze

Added: January 20, 2025

On January 20th, we implemented the Code Freeze and began preparing to release the Beta. 

βœ… WooCommerce 9.7 Beta

Added: January 21, 2025

On January 21st, we released the 9.7 Beta version.

βœ… WooCommerce 9.7 RC

Added: Feb 11, 2025

πŸ‘‰ To Test: Use the WooCommerce Beta Tester plugin to try beta versions. Or download the latest release from WordPress.org.

⏳ WooCommerce Release 9.7

Scheduled: Feb 24, 2025


2 responses to “WooCommerce 9.7: Pre-release updates”

  1. What happened to the new product and coupon admin screens? Last time I read about them they were in an opt-in beta. Do you have plans to make them the default?

    1. Hey Rafa, I think you may be asking about the updated Product Editor experience. We wrote this update a few months ago, where we explain the direction we are taking with that experience.

      We received a lot of great feedback about that version, and as such we began shifting focus to work on a new beta of the Product Editor Experience, v3. This new beta will incorporate feedback from the second beta, along with integrating more closely with the planned direction for the WordPress admin.

      In the meantime we are also making incremental improvements to the existing experience to make sure that it aligns with a more modern commerce experience, as you saw we’ve delivered in this version.

      I’d love to know if there were things about the opt-in beta that you liked or things you had feedback on so we can keep that in mind as we work on this new iteration.

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