How to create an online store with WooCommerce

In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New, search for WooCommerce, install it and activate it. WooCommerce is the plugin that adds products, carts, checkout, orders and store settings to WordPress. After activation, start the onboarding wizard rather than skipping it unless you already know the settings you need.

Enter your store location, business details, product type and store email. The wizard then opens a setup checklist covering products, payments, design, tax, shipping and launch. Optional recommendations can be declined if you do not need them.

Open WooCommerce > Settings > General and check the business address, selling locations, shipping locations, currency and whether taxes and coupons are enabled. These settings affect the prices and regions shown to customers, so do not leave the default country or currency in place by accident.

Check the store pages as well. WooCommerce normally creates and assigns the Shop, Cart, Checkout and My account pages during setup. If checkout is blank or sends visitors to the wrong place, verify the assigned pages under the WooCommerce page settings. New installations generally use Cart and Checkout blocks, while shortcode versions can be useful when an extension is not compatible with the blocks.

Go to Products > Add New. Add a product name, description, price, product image, category and catalogue visibility. In the product data panel, choose the right type, such as simple, variable, virtual or downloadable, then set stock, weight, dimensions and variations where they apply.

You can create a basic product with only a name and price, but complete descriptions, clear images, categories and accurate inventory give customers the information they need. For many products, use WooCommerce’s built-in CSV importer instead of entering every product by hand.

Use the setup checklist or go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments to enable a payment provider available in your country. Follow that provider’s connection and verification steps, then check what order status follows a successful payment. You can also enable offline methods where appropriate, but do not publish a shop without confirming how orders are marked as paid.

For tax, choose an automated tax service, enter rates manually, or mark the store as exempt only when that reflects your situation. WooCommerce provides the settings, but it does not decide when or what you must charge. Ask a tax professional about your obligations, especially if you sell across regions.

If you sell physical products, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping zones. Add a zone for each region you serve, then add the methods customers can use, such as flat rate, free shipping or local pickup. Check the store’s shipping location before creating zones.

WooCommerce matches each customer to one zone and uses the first matching zone in the list. Put narrow zones above broad ones. A common Friday-afternoon failure is a broad country or Rest of the world zone placed first, which prevents a more specific local rate from appearing at checkout. If a matched zone has no method, WooCommerce tells the customer that shipping is unavailable.

Use the WordPress Site Editor or Customizer, depending on your theme, to set the logo, colours, navigation, Shop layout and key store pages. The manual route is completely adequate for a small catalogue: WooCommerce, a compatible WordPress theme and the built-in editor can create a working store without a specialised theme or page builder.

The fast route is to use Unero when your priority is a minimalist, product-focused storefront. Its responsive product layouts, AJAX navigation, multiple product page designs and demo import can reduce design work, but it does not replace WooCommerce configuration for payments, tax, stock or shipping.

Before launch, place an order from a private browser window or staging site. Check product selection, coupons, shipping rates, tax display, payment confirmation, order emails, stock reduction and the mobile checkout. Test payments should use the gateway’s test mode or a dedicated test-order tool; remove test orders afterwards so they do not enter fulfilment or analytics.