Using the Cost of Goods Manager

This guide walks you through everything you can do with the Cost of Goods Manager, from basic cost entry to advanced filtering and bulk operations.

Accessing the Cost Manager

  1. Log into your WordPress admin dashboard
  2. In the sidebar, navigate to Alpha Insights
  3. Click Cost of Goods Manager

The Cost Manager will load, displaying your products in an easy-to-navigate table.

Understanding the Interface

Statistics Cards (Top Section)

At the top, you'll see six statistics cards that provide an overview of your catalog:

These update automatically as you filter products or make changes.

Header Buttons

In the top-right corner of the page header, you'll find two helper buttons:

Toolbar (Controls)

Below the statistics, you'll find the toolbar with:

Filter Panel

The filter panel lets you narrow down which products are displayed:

Product Table

The main table displays all your products with these columns:

Adding and Updating Costs

Updating a Single Product Cost

  1. Find the product in the table (use search or filters if needed)
  2. Click in the Cost field for that product
  3. The field becomes editable and shows the current cost
  4. Type the new cost value (e.g., 25.50)
  5. The field and row will be highlighted to show unsaved changes
  6. The Margin % and Profit columns update automatically in real-time
  7. Press Enter to save all changes immediately, OR continue editing other products and click the floating Save All Changes button when done

Tips:

Understanding the Cost Field

The cost input field has some intelligent features:

Placeholder Text: If a product has no custom cost, you'll see gray text showing the default cost. This is not saved - it's just what the system calculates. Click the field to enter a custom cost.

Custom Cost: Once you enter a value, it's saved as a custom cost and displayed in black text. This overrides any default calculation.

Zero Cost: You can explicitly set a cost to $0 for digital products or free items. Type "0" and press Enter.

Empty to Clear: If you delete all text from the field and press Enter, it removes the custom cost and the product reverts to using the default calculation.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Speed

Use these keyboard shortcuts to update costs quickly:

This lets you update dozens of products in minutes without ever touching your mouse!

Using Filters

Search by Name or SKU

  1. Click in the Search Products field
  2. Type any part of the product name or SKU
  3. Results filter automatically as you type
  4. Press Enter or click elsewhere to apply the filter

Example: Searching "shirt" will show all products with "shirt" in their name.

Filter by Category

  1. Click the Category dropdown
  2. Select a category from the list
  3. Table updates to show only products in that category

Use case: Your supplier increased prices for all clothing items - filter by "Clothing" category to update just those products.

Filter by Stock Status

  1. Click the Stock Status dropdown
  2. Choose: In Stock, Out of Stock, or On Backorder

Use case: Focus on in-stock products first since they're actively selling, or find out-of-stock items that might have incorrect costs.

Filter by Cost Status

This is one of the most useful filters:

  1. Click the Cost Status dropdown
  2. Select "Missing Cost" to see only products without custom costs
  3. Or select "Has Cost" to see products you've already set up

Use case: When doing initial setup, filter by "Missing Cost" to see what still needs to be entered. Work through the list, adding costs until it's empty!

Combining Multiple Filters

You can use multiple filters simultaneously to get very specific results:

Example 1: Show only Electronics category products that are in stock and missing costs

Example 2: Find all variable products from a specific supplier

Clearing Filters

To reset all filters and see all products:

Sorting Products

Click any column header to sort by that column:

Sort by Name (Default)

Click Product column header to sort alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A)

Sort by Price

Click RRP to sort products from lowest to highest price (or reverse). Useful for finding your premium or budget products.

Sort by Cost

Click Cost to see which products cost you the most or least to acquire.

Sort by Margin %

Click Margin % to identify:

Sort by Profit

Click Profit to see per-unit profit. This shows which single sale generates the most profit dollars, not percentage.

Sort by Stock

Click Stock to see which products you have most/least inventory of.

Sorting Tip: Click the column header once for ascending order (low to high), click again for descending (high to low).

Exporting Costs to CSV

Why Export?

How to Export

  1. Apply any filters you want (or leave them all to export everything)
  2. Click Export CSV button in the toolbar
  3. Your browser downloads a file named "cost-of-goods-YYYY-MM-DD.csv"
  4. Open in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet program

The exported CSV includes:

Pro tip: Use filters before exporting to create category-specific or supplier-specific cost reports.

Importing Costs from CSV

When to Import

CSV Format Required

Your CSV file must have these columns:

  1. Product Identifier: Either Product ID or SKU
  2. Cost: The cost value to set

Example CSV: 

SKU,Cost T-SHIRT-S,12.50 T-SHIRT-M,12.50 T-SHIRT-L,13.00 HAT-01,8.00

Import Process

  1. Prepare your CSV file (or use the export as a template)
  2. Click Import CSV button
  3. A modal opens with import options
  4. Choose identifier type:Product ID or SKU
  5. Click Choose File and select your CSV
  6. Review the preview (shows first few rows)
  7. Click Import to process
  8. Wait for confirmation (shows how many products updated)

Important Notes:

Migrating from Another COGS Plugin

If you previously used a different Cost of Goods plugin, Alpha Insights can automatically copy those costs.

Supported Plugins

Migration Steps

  1. Click Migrate From button in the toolbar
  2. Select the source plugin from the dropdown
  3. Click Check for Data
  6. Click Start Migration
  7. Wait for process to complete
  8. Review confirmation showing how many products were migrated

What Happens:

Using the Statistics Panel

Click the Stats button to open a detailed statistics panel showing:

This gives you a high-level view of your catalog health and cost management progress.

Tips for Efficient Cost Management

Start with High-Priority Products

  1. Filter by Cost Status: Missing Cost
  2. Sort by Stock(descending) to see best-sellers first
  3. Add costs for your top 20-50 sellers before worrying about slow-movers

Use Keyboard for Speed

Once you start entering costs:

  1. Click the first product's cost field
  2. Type the cost and press Tab (moves to next product)
  3. Type cost, Tab, type cost, Tab - you can update dozens per minute!

Work Category by Category

  1. Filter by one category at a time
  2. Update all products in that category
  3. Move to the next category
  4. Track progress by watching "Without Cost" stat decrease

Export Before Major Changes

Before bulk updates or imports:

  1. Export your current costs as a backup
  2. Make the changes
  3. If anything goes wrong, you can re-import the backup

Regular Audits

Schedule monthly reviews:

  1. Sort by Margin % to find low-margin products
  2. Check if costs have changed from suppliers
  3. Update any products with outdated costs
  4. Look for outliers that might have data entry errors

Troubleshooting

"Cost field won't save"

Causes:

Solution:

"Statistics aren't updating"

Solution:

"Products not showing"

Causes:

Solution:

"Import failed"

Causes:

Solution: