setting up a woocommerce store on wordpress

Setting Up a WooCommerce Store: How to Get Started

Starting a WooCommerce store can be an excellent way to start or grow your business. With this comprehensive guide, you’ll be able to get started with everything from choosing a domain name and hosting plan to installing the software and configuring your settings. You’ll be ready to start selling in no time!

Let’s see the eight things to get you started with the WooCommerce store.

Choose a domain name and hosting plan

Your domain name is what customers will type into their browser to find your store. It’s important to choose a domain name that is easy to remember and relevant to your business.

For instance, if you are selling pet supplies, a domain like www.petshop.com would be a good choice.

Once you have chosen your domain name, you will need to set up web hosting. This is where your website’s files will be stored and accessible to visitors. Hosting is important for the speed and uptime of your website and it’s crucial to find a web hosting company that specializes in WordPress hosting and that offers WooCommerce hosting packages. There are many different web hosting providers to choose from, so take some time to research and compare your options before making a decision.

Installing WordPress and WooCommerce

Now that you have a domain name and hosting plan, it’s time to install WordPress and WooCommerce. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that will allow you to easily create and manage your website’s content.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that turns your website into a fully-functional online store.

What is the difference between WordPress and WooCommerce?

WordPress is a very popular free software that can be used to create any kind of website. Whereas once you get started with WooCommerce within WordPress, you can set up a specific type of website that acts as an online store to sell products or services.

To install WordPress, log in to your hosting account and find the “one-click installer” or “manual installer” option. Once you’ve found it, follow the instructions to install WordPress on your domain.

Once WordPress is installed, you can install WooCommerce by going to the Plugins section of your WordPress dashboard and searching for “WooCommerce”.

Setting up The Look of Your WooCommerce Store

Now that you have WordPress and WooCommerce installed, it’s time to configure your store settings. First, you’ll need to choose a WooCommerce theme. There are many free and premium themes available, so take some time to browse and find one that suits your individual and business needs.

For example, if you are selling physical products, you’ll want to choose a theme that includes features like product image galleries and eCommerce functionality.

Alternatively, if you are selling digital products, you may want to choose a theme with built-in features for digital downloads.

Once you’ve chosen your WooCommerce theme, activate it and then begin customizing your store’s appearance to match your brand.

You can do this by going to the Appearance > Customize section of your WordPress dashboard.

Adding Products to the Store

Now that your store looks the way you want it to, it’s time to add products to your store. You can do this by going to the Products section of your WordPress dashboard and adding a new product. Be sure to fill in all the relevant product information, such as the name, price, description, and images.

You can also add product categories and tags to help organize your products. This is helpful for both customers who are browsing your store and for search engines that are indexing your website.

Additionally, you can add product attributes, such as size or color, to help customers find the right product for them.

However, if you want to take your store to the next level, you may want to consider adding product reviews, ratings, and testimonials. These are all great ways to build trust with potential customers and increase sales.

Configuring Shipping and Tax Settings

Now that you have products in your store, it’s time to configure your shipping and tax settings. This can be done by going to the WooCommerce > Settings section of your WordPress dashboard.

Under the Shipping tab, you can choose which countries you want to ship to, as well as configure flat rate shipping and free shipping options.

You can also add product-specific shipping rules, such as requiring a signature for certain items.

Under the Tax tab, you can set up your tax rates and configure which tax classes should be applied to which products.

You can also choose whether or not to display prices with taxes included or excluded.

Setting Up Payment Methods

The next step in setting up your WooCommerce store is to configure your payment methods. WooCommerce offers a variety of payment methods, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Amazon Payments. You can find these options under the WooCommerce > Settings > Checkout tab in your WordPress dashboard.

To set up a payment method, simply click on the corresponding icon and follow the instructions. For example, to set up PayPal, you’ll need to enter your PayPal email address.

Once you’ve done this, customers will be able to choose PayPal as their payment method at checkout.

Use Product Bundles

If you want to increase the average order value of your store, you may want to consider using product bundles. Product bundles allow you to group multiple products and sell them as a single unit. Customers can then add the bundle to their cart with just a few clicks.

To create a product bundle, go to the WooCommerce > Products > Add New section of your WordPress dashboard and click on the ‘Product Bundles’ tab.

From here, you can add products to your bundle, set a price, and add a description.

What can WooCommerce do?

WooCommerce allows you to set up an online store. Moreover it has a wide range of features to enable you to easily set up valuable features like one-click upsells.

How to Enable One-Click Upsells

Another great way to increase the average order value of your store is to enable one-click upsells.

One-click upsells allow customers to add related products to their cart with just a single click. This is a great way to increase sales and average order value without being too pushy.

To enable one-click upsells, go to the WooCommerce > Settings > Checkout tab in your WordPress dashboard and scroll down to the ‘One-Click Upsells’ section.

From here, you can enable one-click upsells for your store and choose which products should be upsold.

setting up a woocommerce store

Jeff from TheTechMentor.com shows how to set up WooCommerce shop page with, for example, one-click up sells!

Now that you know how to get started with setting up a WooCommerce store, it’s time to start selling! Be sure to configure your shipping and tax settings, set up payment methods, use product bundles, and enable one-click upsells to increase sales. With a little bit of effort, you’ll be well on your way to success.

About The Author

Jeff

Jeff (Surname withheld for family privacy) is an engineer with over 26 years experience. He first learned to program in Fortran 77! See the 'About Us' for more.