In a recent Business Bloomer Club discussion, a member explored an efficient way to validate customer memberships for accessing restricted pages in WooCommerce.
The challenge was ensuring quick performance when checking if customers have purchased any one of a series of products upon login. Typically, using the wc_customer_bought_product function works well for single product checks, but this case involved verifying around 10-15 products.
Running such multiple checks, especially on member-only pages, risks slowing down the user experience.
Custom User Meta for Efficient Membership Validation
One suggestion that emerged in the discussion was to consider adding a custom column to the wc_customer_lookup table.
However, another approach, widely recognized for its effectiveness, is to leverage user meta instead. By adding custom user meta data on checkout completion, you could optimize these membership checks significantly. Here’s how this solution could work in practice:
When a customer buys any of the qualifying products, you can add a user meta field, such as last_eligible_purchase, that stores the purchase timestamp or simply flags the user as a “member.”
This addition would allow you to verify the membership status quickly on login without needing to run repeated product-specific purchase checks. Furthermore, the timestamp approach offers additional benefits for tracking purposes, enabling admins to see when a member’s last qualifying purchase occurred.
Streamlining Membership Checks for Existing Users
For those who already have an established member base, a one-time script can be employed to populate the user meta data for existing customers. This initial setup ensures all prior qualifying purchases are recorded, so ongoing checks remain efficient.
By implementing custom user meta in this way, WooCommerce store owners can provide a faster and smoother login experience for their members, eliminating the need for repeated, resource-intensive queries. This technique proves especially useful for high-traffic membership sites, offering a scalable solution that enhances both backend performance and user satisfaction.
Whether you’re running a large or small membership site, implementing user meta for membership validation can be a smart, forward-thinking approach that keeps your WooCommerce platform operating efficiently while providing a seamless experience for your members.
