Hey guys! It’s @MartieDread here.
Today we are going to cover how to set up a WordPress e-commerce website in just 30 minutes.
The e-commerce industry is booming, and there are many reasons why you might want to try your luck with it. In this post, you will learn how to install and set up a WordPress online shop.
Installing and setting up Woocommerce is very quick and easy, so even if you’re a total beginner you shouldn’t have any problem at all.
Why Woocommerce?
“With 34,035,958 downloads, WooCommerce powers over 28% of all online stores.”
Woocommerce is currently the best free WordPress plugin that allows you to set up an e-commerce store right on your website. It’s easy to use and comes with all of the features needed for an online store.
With Woocommerce, you can sell both physical and digital products, have many payment gateways, ship anywhere, and offer more buyer features such as a wishlist and profile creation.
And did I say it’s free?!
All of these reasons make Woocommerce the best plugin to set up a WordPress e-commerce website.
How to Install Woocommerce
Let’s now install Woocommerce on your WordPress site.
- Log into WordPress. Once you’re logged in, go to “Plugins” on the left-hand sidebar. Click “Add New,” and search for “Woocommerce” on the search bar.
2. Once you see the one by Automattic, click “Install Now.” Once it’s installed, click “Activate.”
3. You will then be taken to the Woocommerce setup window. Here, you will fill out all the details needed to set up your store such as your store address, payment methods, shipping details, and other extra features you want. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine.
4. And you’re done!
Payment Gateways Available at Woocommerce
What makes Woocommerce ideal for online stores is it offers a wide variety of payment gateways. It offers Paypal, Paypal Standard, Stripe, check payments, over-the-counter payments, and even cash on delivery.
My advice is to allow for both online and offline payment methods to give many options to your customers.
You can add more payment gateways later on by clicking “Woocommerce” on the left sidebar. Select “Settings,” and click the checkout option you want to add. You’ll be taken to the settings of the checkout option, and then tick “Enable.”
Do You Need to Install a New Woocommerce Theme?
Sometimes, your current WordPress theme may not be compatible with Woocommerce because the theme is not an ideal theme for an online store.
In cases like this, Woocommerce will suggest a theme for you to install. You can choose not to install this theme, but your store will look more like a real online store if you do.
You can also look for more Woocommerce themes from third-party sources.
Adding Products to Your New Wordpress E-commerce Website
Once you’re done setting up your store, you can add your products right from the installation window. If you’re not ready to add your products yet, you can just return to your dashboard and add the products later.
To do that, just go to the left-hand sidebar and click “Products” found just below “Woocommerce”. Then click “Add New”. You can create your first product, but if you have a ready CSV file, you can just upload that.
In creating your first product, you need to provide the product name, product description, product type, the price, images, tags, and categories. Once all of that is done, click “Publish.” You now have your first product!
You will see all of your products by clicking “Products” in the left-hand sidebar of your dashboard.
How to Handle Orders
When a customer places an order (hooray!), you can see the order by clicking “Woocommerce” in the left-hand sidebar of your dashboard.
There you will see the unique order ID, customer’s registered email address, shipping address, date of purchase, and total balance. Then it’s up to you to fulfill the orders.
Now You’re Ready to Start Selling!
Told you it was easy. With Woocommerce, you can literally have your very own WordPress e-commerce website in just 30 minutes.
As always you can always ask me any other questions you have!
Until Next Time,
@MartieDread
PS. If you have a Shopify store, browse among the best free Shopify themes here.
I’m an online entrepreneur because I didn’t seem to fit in anywhere else…
now I have taught more than 1 million people how to use WordPress.