Critical Performance Issue (16s+ TTFB) on Variable Product Pages with High Varia

URGENT UPDATE: Critical 37-second TTFB on Shop/Archive Page

Hi WoodMart Support Team,

I am updating my existing ticket with critical new information. Please disregard my previous comments about the shop page being “fast.”

I have just run a WebPageTest on my main shop/archive page, and the results are definitive.

Test Results (First View / Uncached):

Time to First Byte (TTFB): 37.213 seconds

Result: The test failed with an “Error: Timed Out”.

Test Results (Repeat View / Cached):

TTFB: 0.438 seconds (This is fast, showing the LiteSpeed cache is working).

What This Proves:

This is the “smoking gun.” The 37-second uncached TTFB proves that the WoodMart theme is processing all ~800 variations for every single product on the archive grid before the server can build and send the page.

I previously enabled the “Limit swatches in grid = 1” setting, and this made the cached page feel fast. However, this new test proves that setting is only a visual optimization and does NOT stop the theme from doing the heavy 37-second server-side processing on an uncached “first view”.

This is the same root problem as my 16-second TTFB on the single product page, but it’s even worse on the archive page.

My Question:

How can I stop the WoodMart theme from processing all product variations on the server just to load the shop/archive page? This is a critical performance issue that makes the site unusable for any new visitor (or when the cache expires).

Is there a PHP filter, a hidden setting, or any other solution to completely disable this server-side variation processing on archive pages?

Thank you.

Subject: RE: Critical 16s+ TTFB – New Test Results with All Plugins Disabled

Hello,

As you requested, I have just completed the test.

I deactivated all plugins except for WooCommerce, Elementor, and WoodMart Core. I also purged all server-side caches.

With all other plugins (like B2BKing, LiteSpeed Cache, etc.) disabled, I ran a new WebPageTest on the same variable product page.

The result is conclusive: The problem is still present and is 100% caused by the WoodMart theme.

Here are the results from the “clean” test (see attached images):

Time to First Byte (TTFB): 9.654 seconds

Waterfall: Shows the server taking 9.6 seconds to respond to the very first HTML request.

This test proves that this is not a plugin conflict. The 9.6-second server delay is happening with only WoodMart active. The theme is clearly processing all ~800 variations on the server (PHP) before sending the page, which is causing the massive TTFB.

You can no longer blame this on another plugin. Please analyze this evidence and tell me how to fix this core theme performance issue.

Thank you.

Sorry, here is the new password

Hello,

Thank you for performing the test with the default theme and providing the screenshot.

You are correct; the high TTFB persists even without the WoodMart theme active. This confirms the issue seems related to WooCommerce core’s handling of the very large number of product variations.

I appreciate your assistance in identifying this. You can consider this ticket closed.

Thank you.