How to Set Random Product Dates in WooCommerce (Shuffle Shop Catalog)

Do you want to shuffle the products on your WooCommerce shop page to give your store a fresh look? In this tutorial, we will show you exactly how to set random product dates in WooCommerce so you can easily randomize your shop catalog order.

Why Randomize WooCommerce Product Dates?

By default, WooCommerce often displays products based on their publish date (sorting by “Latest”). If you have a large catalog, older inventory can get buried on page 10 where customers never see it. By setting random publication dates, you can naturally shuffle your WooCommerce catalog, push older products to the front page, and make your store look constantly updated to returning shoppers without actually adding new inventory.

If you try to shuffle these dates manually, you will have to open your products one by one, edit the publish dates, save the changes, and repeat the process endlessly.

But just try to imagine having to edit two thousand products!

It would require hours of work, dozens of open browser tabs, and thousands of unnecessary clicks. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it by hand.

You can easily randomize your WooCommerce product dates using a spreadsheet interface equipped with an easy-to-use, powerful Bulk Edit tool.

The Solution: WP Sheet Editor

To safely mass update our database, we will use the WP Sheet Editor – WooCommerce Products plugin.

This plugin displays your entire catalog in a lightning-fast spreadsheet where you can execute advanced searches and apply massive structural changes to thousands of products in minutes.

Once the plugin is installed and activated on your WordPress site, navigate to WP Sheet Editor > Edit Products to open the spreadsheet. Then, follow these three simple steps.

1. Open the Bulk Edit Tool

The Bulk Edit tool allows you to apply mathematical formulas, specific variables, or mass changes to thousands of products simultaneously without overloading your server.

It’s really simple to use. Just click on the Bulk Edit button located on the plugin’s top toolbar.

2. Search and Filter the Products You Want to Edit

Before randomizing dates, it is best practice to filter your products. For example, you probably only want to edit Published products, rather than accidentally assigning random dates to “Drafts” or “Scheduled” items.

To do this, select the I want to search rows to update option in the first dropdown menu inside the Bulk Edit popup.

This will open the search tool panel. Enter Published in the Status field and click on the Run search button to perfectly filter your active inventory.

3. Set Random Dates in Bulk Using a Dynamic Variable

After filtering the products by their published status, the Bulk Edit tool will ask you what you want to do with those specific rows. You need to select these exact values to instruct the plugin to randomize their publication dates:

• Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search.
• What field do you want to edit: Date
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: Type $random_date$ into the box. This is a dynamic variable that generates a completely unique date and time string for every single product selected.
• Click on Execute now to apply the changes.

Enjoy Your Newly Shuffled Shop Catalog

After these simple steps, your database will process the update and assign entirely random dates to your WooCommerce products automatically. When you visit your live shop page, your inventory order will be completely shuffled!

You don’t need to hire a developer, use risky PHP snippets, or spend hours editing your products one by one. With the WP Sheet Editor plugin and its Bulk Edit tool, you can easily manage your store’s appearance and keep your catalog looking fresh.