WooCommerce Tutorial: How to Set Up eCommerce on WordPress

If you are looking for the best WordPress eCommerce plugin, then WooCommerce is at your rescue. This popular eCommerce plugin has over 5 million installations.

 

It can be an excellent tool for those just setting up their online business. The best part is that it can benefit businesses of all sizes while managing their order administration, payment, and delivery methods.

 

However, if you are a beginner, setting up a WooCommerce store is difficult. There are plenty of settings to deal with, along with installation add-ons that can complicate the entire process. 

 

Hence, we have prepared a simple step-by-step guide for setting up a WooCommerce store. This will help you turn your WordPress site into a fully functional online store.

 

This guide will prevent you from getting lost in correctly installing WooCommerce. Using this guide, you can also customize your eCommerce site according to your requirements. 

 

How to Set Up A WooCommerce Store

 

 

Below, you can find steps, starting with installing the WooCommerce plugin and ending with the management of its extensions. 

 

Following these steps, you can begin setting up a successful online store without any hurdles.

 

Step 1: Install and activate WooCommerce.

 

• To begin, get a hosting plan to set up a website. 

• Choose WooCommerce hosting, as it can be installed within minutes.

• Now, sign in to WordPress to start your plugin installation. 

• Access the WordPress dashboard, after which you can choose a plugin from the sidebar.

• You can find it by clicking on Add New and then typing WooCommerce in the search.

• Select Install Now, then click the activate button once the installation is complete.

 

Step 2. Add WooCommerce store details.

 

• Once the plugin is activated, open the WooCommerce Setup Wizard.

• Now finish your setup by filling out your Store Details form with relevant information like your country and email address.

• You must select a specific industry for your WooCommerce store.

• Fill the Product Types space with the products your eCommerce store sells.

• You can add other details of your business. For example, you can mention other platforms you are selling from. 

• To complete the setup, choose a WooCommerce template from the available selection. This can be changed later on, too, so you shouldn’t worry about it. 

• Once the setup is complete, you will be directed to the WooCommerce dashboard.

 

Step 3. Add new products.

 

Before we move onto the steps, get yourself familiar with the following terms:

 

Product categories:

 

Product categories refer to a collection of different products belonging to the same specialty. For example, the product categories can be shorts, dresses, and shirts, but all of them belong to a single specialty of apparel. 

 

Products are often categorized to make it convenient for the customers to find what they are looking for.

 

Attributes:

 

Attributes refer to filters. These can be the product’s size, color, fabric, and other qualities. The attributes help shoppers in selecting products based on the qualities they are looking for. 

 

Attributes can be applied individually to each product and set as a common one for the entire website.

 

Product types:

 

 

WooCommerce allows businesses to categorize their products into different types:

 

1-Simple product:

 

A simple product stands alone and is shipped without any further alternatives. It can be any single physical product, for example, a book.

 

2-Products grouped:

 

This refers to products in the form of a collection of comparable goods. Examples of this include a dozen tea cups.

 

3-Virtual product:

 

This refers to products that don’t have a physical entity. These products can be software or any services. Hence, they do not require shipment.

 

4-Downloadable product:

 

These products can be downloaded. This category includes songs, photos, videos, and eBooks.

 

5-External product:

 

This refers to products that are promoted but not sold on the WordPress site. They are sold somewhere else.

 

6-Variable product:

 

Products that come in various sizes and colors are referred to as variable products. These are primarily shoes and clothing.

 

Here are the steps to add new products:

 

• To add new products, go to the left navigation bar. Click on Products, followed by Create Product. You also have an option of importing from CSV files.

• Now, name your product and add a comprehensive description for it. 

• Go to Product Data to choose your product type.

• If you are selling a product that doesn’t have a physical presence, select Virtual from the options. You can also check out the Downloadable option for non-physical products like software.

• Enter information for essential fields, like price, characteristics, related products, and a short product overview.

• Go to the right menu to select the product category. Now select the button that says Add a new category if the category still needs to be made.

• Add some good tags to label your products. This makes it easier for customers to find it.

• Your product should have a picture. Upload the picture you like for your product in the Product Image section. The file size should be at most 1 MB.

• To upload multiple pictures for your product, upload directly to the Product Gallery.

• Go to the Publish area to choose how to display your product. Should it be visible to the public or private audience?

• To choose where your products will appear, go to Catalogue Visibility and select an option. Options include shop and search results or hidden.

• Save the draft you have prepared. Before publishing, always view the product preview. If you find it good enough, click Publish.

 

How to Manage the Products?

 

When your store expands, you will feel the burden of managing more and more products. To simplify this task, WooCommerce’s inventory management feature can significantly help. 

 

By navigating to the Products tab, duplicate your products. Under each product, you will find a duplicate button. Click to create a new, replicated product draft.  If you wish to delete it, go to the product and press the Trash button. 

 

You can also highlight your products by clicking on the star icon. This makes your best-selling products visible to your customers on the homepage. 

 

Step 4. Set up payment methods.

 

Businesses should provide their customers with plenty of payment options to choose from. This allows a more feasible money transfer and increases the chances of making more sales. 

 

 

Hence, these steps will help you add numerous payment choices:

 

• Click on set up payments. Next to the PayPal Payments option, you will find the Get Started button. Press it to enable PayPal on WooCommerce.

• WooCommerce PayPal Payments plugin will automatically be installed on your WordPress. 

• Once you have organized your PayPal account, activate it by clicking on Activate PayPal.

• You must enter your login details to connect PayPal to your WooCommerce store.

• Now go back to Set Up Payments. Enact other payment methods like Direct Bank Transfer and Cash on Delivery. 

• You can also add other options by visiting the WooCommerce Extensions Store. Other options include Stripe, Amazon Pay, etc.

 

Step 5. Set up taxes.

 

Calculating taxes is complex and hectic work. Businesses often need help handling taxes, especially when the business owners lack good accounting skills or tax knowledge. 

 

Hence, WooCommerce can be of great assistance for tax calculations. It aids businesses by automatically including the taxes at checkout. 

 

Here are the steps.

 

• Go to the setting of your WooCommerce, followed by clicking on general. 

• View the Enable tax rates along with the calculations box. Save your changes. 

• The Tax tab will become available once your activation is complete. The tab will help you organize your tax options.

 

Important points:

 

Make sure you define clearly whether your product prices include taxes or not. 

 

It would help if you calculated the taxes, keeping in mind the location of your shop, the customer shipping, and the billing address. Tax rates vary from place to place. 

 

Remember to include price tags so potential customers can easily view the prices while browsing the store. 

 

Step 6. Set up Shipping Details.

 

It is essential to create shipping zones when setting up an online store. Creating such zones allows you to charge delivery rates according to specific geographic locations.

 

 

• Go to the setting followed by Shipping.

• Click the button “Add Shipping Zone.”

• Mention the name of the zone and add the shipping methods.

• It is essential to set up the shipping options. Show a shipping calculator on the cart page. Once the customer enters their address, the shipping price should appear.

 

Step 7. Customize your store.

 

Your store should have a customized theme that reflects your brand’s identity. This helps in enhancing your store’s attractiveness. 

 

Hence, installing a theme for your store to stand out is essential. You can install a theme through WooCommerce extensions or a WordPress dashboard.

 

There are many WooCommerce themes and extensions available to use for free. 

 

Themes

 

Go to the admin area, followed by selecting Appearance. Then click on Themes. Choose the theme and click on the “Add New” option.

 

Plugins & Extensions

 

Go to Plugins, followed by Add New. You can access the WooCommerce store and choose the extensions you want to purchase. Then, install that extension.

 

To see what add ons are available check this out. 

 

Step 8. Manage your WooCommerce store.

 

Once your WooCommerce store has started operating, learn how to manage the orders and your customers, along with other skills like coupons, analytics, and system status.

 

Orders

 

WooCommerce’s new orders are made when a customer purchases in your store. You can access them through the Orders option on WooCommerce.

 

Every order has a unique ID and specific details like payment date, status, and total payment.

 

You can also change specific details of the order, like the order status, apply a coupon, issue a refund, and make other alterations by clicking on the Order name.

 

The order details must include the creation date, billing and delivery information, and the customer’s email address.

 

Coupons

 

Loyal customers love coupons. Businesses can use coupons as an ideal way to express gratitude to their loyal customers. You can use coupons to provide discounts and rewards to boost client loyalty.

 

These steps will help you generate a new coupon:

 

• Go to the Coupons option on WooCommerce and select the Add coupon button.

• Make your promo code, which should have a small, relevant description.

• Add the type of discount you want to give for the coupon. It can be a fixed cart, a fixed product, or even a particular percentage discount.

• Add a certain coupon amount.

• You can also offer free shipment. For this, you must tick the box that says “Allow free shipping.”

• Include an expiration date for your coupon. 

• Once everything is done, click on Publish to activate it. 

• You can also make updates for the coupon by clicking its name. Any necessary modifications can easily be made. 

 

Customers

 

WooCommerce shows you the customer information, including their Name, Username, Last active status, Date registered, Email Address, Total Orders placed, Total amount spent, Average Order Value, and Country/Region.

 

Store Analytics

 

 

It is essential to have a good knowledge of which product categories your customers prefer. You can make your online store successful only if you are well aware of the demand of your target audience. 

 

For this, go to the Analytics section to determine which products and categories perform the best. 

 

The analytical section also allows you to look at the analysis through charts. This way, you can better monitor your net sales and orders within a specific period.

 

Conclusion

 

WooCommerce is one of the best tools to help you transform your WordPress into a fully functional eCommerce online store. 

 

The best part of using WooCommerce is that you don’t have to worry about getting yourself equipped with advanced programming skills. With WooCommerce, you can sell your stuff online without any programming. 

 

We hope our step-by-step WooCommerce tutorial has answered your questions and simplified the setup. We aim to help you manage your online business with the utmost ease.