Do you want a private WooCommerce store that allows to restrict product visibility so only selected users (such as members, wholesale customers, or logged-in users) can see your products?
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is by using mine RIACO Hide Products by User Role plugin.
It’s simple to use, but before getting started, you need:
- A working WordPress website.
- The WooCommerce plugin installed and actived, so your store is running.
- Admin access to your WordPress dashboard.
Install the Plugin
Install the plugin RIACO Hide Products by User Role. There is a free version with essential features.
To install it:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard
- Navigate to Plugins → Add New
- Search for: “Hide Products by User Role”
- Click Install Now
- Click Activate
Understand Visibility Rules
This plugin gives you three levels of control:
1. Global Rules
Apply visibility rules across your entire store. This is a quick way to make a private WooCommerce store.
2. Single Product Rules
Control visibility for individual products. This takes more time to set up but gives you more control.
3. Product Variation Rules
Hide specific variations inside variable products.
This flexibility allows you to build anything from a simple private shop to a complex B2B catalog system.
Configure Global Visibility Rules
If you need a quick start for your store, go to:
WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Hide by User Roles
Then click Add Rule.
With global rules, you can control visibility for large parts of your store.
Hide All Products From a User Role
- Select a user role (e.g., Guest or Subscriber)
- Choose All Products
- Save the rule
This immediately hide all products in your store to that specific user role.
In the image above, you can see that I have hidden all products for guests, turning my store into a private catalog for logged-in users only.
I have written a complete post about how to hide WooCommerce products from guests.
You can also add multiple rules for different user roles.
Hide Products by Category
You can restrict entire product categories per role:
- Select user role
- Choose Product Category
- Select categories to hide
This is useful for separating:
- Wholesale vs retail catalogs
- Member-only product lines
- Premium collections
In this example I have hidden all products in the Accessories category from Guests.
Hide Products by Tag
You can also target products using tags:
- Select user role
- Choose Product Tag
- Select tags to hide
This allows fine-grained control over product visibility without changing categories.
Single Product Visibility Control
If you need more precise control, you can hide individual products.
To do this:
- Open a product in Products → Edit
- In the Product Data section, open the Hide by Role tab
- Select user roles that should not see the product
- Save the product
Once saved, the product becomes completely invisible across the store for those roles.
Hide Specific Product Variations
If you sell variable products, you can also control visibility per variation.
To do this:
- Edit a variable product
- Go to the Variations tab
- Expand a variation
- Find Hide this variation for
- Select restricted user roles
- Save changes
This is ideal for:
- Wholesale-only sizes or colors
- Member-exclusive variants
- Tiered pricing models
What Happens When Products Are Hidden?
This is a common question, and the answer is simple.
When a product is restricted for a user role:
- It disappears from shop pages
- It is removed from category and tag archives
- It is excluded from search results
- It is blocked from WooCommerce and WordPress search
- It cannot be accessed via direct URL
- Guests are redirected to login pages
- Restricted users may be redirected back to the shop
This ensures there are no visibility leaks anywhere in the system.
Final Result
The Hide Products by User Role plugin lets you to build a private WooCommerce store without custom development.
It gives you precise control over product visibility while keeping hidden products fully protected across your entire site.