YITH Catalog Mode flips WooCommerce from commerce to catalog: hide prices, remove add-to-cart, and optionally collect inquiries instead — the mode for wholesale catalogs with negotiable pricing, stores that quote per-project, showrooms whose sales close offline, and pre-launch catalogs building audiences before transactions begin. The granularity is the premium value: hide prices by category or product, replace add-to-cart with a custom inquiry button, keep checkout for some products while cataloging others, and route quote requests to email or forms. Against commerce tools in the YITH suite like YITH Request a Quote (a full quote-cart workflow), Catalog Mode is the presentation switch — simpler, broader, aimed at hiding the commerce layer rather than restructuring it.
The 2.5x line maintains steady compatibility cadence. It’s the tool for stores whose model isn’t checkout — and WooCommerce remains the right CMS for their catalog.
Competitive Features
- Price hiding — catalog-wide, category, or product level
- Cart removal — checkout flow disabled cleanly
- Custom CTA replacement — inquiry buttons instead of add-to-cart
- Granular exceptions — commerce for some products, catalog for others
- Quote request forms — inquiries captured per product
- User-role pricing — show prices to registered users only
- SEO preservation — catalog pages stay indexable
Key Features
- Button text customization — “Ask for price,” “Contact us,” anything
- Email routing — inquiries go to the right inbox
- Form integration — inquiry forms from form plugins embed
- Exclusion controls — categories/products stay sellable
- Retail mode toggle — hide prices but keep buy buttons
- Multilingual ready — catalog mode per language
- Theme compatibility — standard WooCommerce templates respected
Comparison with Competitors
YITH Catalog Mode vs Request a Quote
| Aspect | YITH Catalog Mode | YITH Request a Quote |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Presentation switch | Quote-cart workflow |
| User flow | Inquire per product | Build quote cart, submit list |
| Price hiding | Core feature | Supported |
| Best for | Showrooms, pre-launch, wholesale display | Negotiated B2B sales |
Bottom line: Catalog Mode hides commerce and invites contact; Request a Quote restructures commerce into quote negotiation. Simple inquiry flows pick Catalog Mode; genuine quote processes pick the quote plugin — some wholesale stores run both layers.
YITH Catalog Mode vs price-visibility code snippets
| Aspect | YITH Catalog Mode | Custom code snippets |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Supported plugin | Breaks with updates |
| Granularity | Role/category/product UI | Per-snippet scope |
| Inquiry forms | Built in | Custom work |
| Risk | Low | Theme/update fragility |
Bottom line: Hiding prices is trivially hackable with snippets — until WooCommerce updates shift hooks and the catalog breaks silently. The plugin maintains the mode across updates with UI control over scope.
Recommended Stack — catalog inquiries pair with email: connect inquiry capture to email follow-up automation so catalog visitors enter relationship automation.
Official Changelog
Version 2.58.0
Release Date: August 24, 2026
- Feature release: inquiry-form and role-pricing refinements.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a store need catalog mode?
When checkout isn’t the model: wholesale catalogs with negotiated pricing, project-based services quoting per job, showrooms selling offline, and pre-launch catalogs building waitlists — WooCommerce stays as CMS while commerce hides.
Can prices show only to registered users?
Yes — role-based visibility shows prices to wholesale/logged-in users while visitors see the catalog without pricing, the standard B2B pattern.
Can some products stay buyable?
Yes — exclusions keep specific products or categories sellable: a store might catalog its custom work while checkout remains active for stock goods.
What replaces the add-to-cart button?
A customizable CTA — “Ask for price,” “Request information” — linking to an inquiry form or email, with per-product text overrides.
Is SEO affected?
No — catalog pages remain normal indexable pages; hiding prices doesn’t hide content. Catalog archives keep building search presence while checkout waits.
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