Building a webshop these days is a breeze, and in this tutorial, you’ll understand the process from start to finish. Precisely, you’ll learn to create your own online store using a combination of WordPress and WooCommerce to start selling products online. This video shows you exactly how to either expand your current WordPress website with a webshop or create one from scratch.
You’ll learn how to get your domain name and web hosting for free if you’re starting from scratch. Then, by installing WordPress – the world’s most powerful website builder, and WooCommerce – a free plugin, your website will transform into a bustling webshop. You’ll be guided through the entire process of creating six distinct product types, tailoring them to your needs, and importantly, making your webshop look the part. With this guide, selling products online will be simple, efficient, and fun.
Why use Woocommerce
If you’re busy contemplating your options to power your e-commerce store, WooCommerce stands out as an incredibly powerful and versatile choice. Here’s why:
Cost efficiency
Unlike many other e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for WordPress, making it a highly cost-effective solution. There are no ongoing subscription costs; your expenses will include hosting and SSL certificate, with premium extensions at your discretion. In comparison to the required investment for other notable solutions in the market, WooCommerce will likely give you the most bang for your buck.
Potential scalability
With WooCommerce, you have unlimited potential to scale your store in line with your business growth. It can accommodate numerous products and handle an influx of simultaneous orders, serving small startups to large-scale businesses. And if you ever reach its limits, don’t worry; a plethora of extensions and plugins are available to increase WooCommerce’s capabilities even further.
Ease of use and customizability
Despite its complexity under the hood, WooCommerce is surprisingly easy-to-use. If you are familiar with WordPress, you’ll feel right at home. It allows extensive customization – you can adjust everything from product displays to advanced attributes like taxes and shipping. Plus, thanks to its extensive theme and plugin support, you can curate the user experience exactly as you envision it.
A broad community and a lot of resources
Being one of the most popular e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce enjoys an extensive and active community. This means you’ll have access to vast resources, including comprehensive documentation, forums, blogs, and tutorials to guide your every step. For any issue that you encounter, chances are you’ll find a solution or someone able to help.
Obtaining domain name and hosting for WordPress
Before diving into WooCommerce, you will need a domain name and a hosting plan for your WordPress website.
Choosing a domain name
Your domain name is essentially the address that customers will type into their browsers to reach your online store. So, choose a domain name that is unique, easy to remember, and reflective of your brand. Avoid any complex spellings or strings of numbers, and try to keep it short and straightforward.
Selecting a hosting provider
There are thousands of hosting providers to choose from, so look for one that offers excellent uptime, top-notch customer support, and the specific features your business requires. Also, look for a hosting provider that offers easy installation of WordPress.
Installing WordPress
Most hosting providers have one-click WordPress installation. Once you have your hosting plan and domain name, simply follow the hosting company’s instructions to install WordPress. You will then have a clean slate from which to start building your online store using WooCommerce.
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Installing and setting up Woocommerce
To start building your online store with WooCommerce, you first need to install and configure it.
Download and install the Woocommerce plugin
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New. Search for “WooCommerce” and click “Install Now,” and then activate the plugin.
Configure basic Woocommerce settings
Upon activation, WooCommerce will run a setup wizard to help configure your store’s basic settings. This includes the store’s address, currency, payment methods, shipping options, extras, and more. Be aware that you can change these settings later if your requirements change.
Creating and configuring your shop page
The WooCommerce setup wizard automatically creates default pages, including a shop page. You can change the title and description of this page from your WordPress dashboard. You can also modify the layout through appearance settings or using WooCommerce-compatible WordPress themes that offer different shop page designs.
Creating product types
What kind of products will you be selling? WooCommerce can accommodate the selling of various products, including physical items, digital downloads, and even affiliate items.
Creating simple, one-option products
These are the most straightforward products – ones without any variations. From the WordPress dashboard, go to Products > Add New. Fill in the details, including the product name, price and, optionally, a product image.
Creating variable, multi-option products
If your product comes in multiple versions like different sizes or colors, you will need to create a variable product. After creating a new product, you’ll need to define attributes (variations) which are then compiled into different versions of the product.
Creating and marketing virtual products
Virtual products refer to non-tangible items like services. While creating the product, you’ll need to check the “Virtual” box in the product data meta box to declare it as a non-physical product. The process is similar to creating a simple product.
Creating and selling digital downloadable products
For selling digital items like e-books, you’ll need to check both the “Virtual” and “Downloadable” boxes while creating the product.
Creating affiliate products to earn commission
You can also use WooCommerce to promote third-party products and earn commission on each sale made through your referral link. In the product data meta box, select “External/Affiliate Product” and provide the product’s URL, button text, and price.
Creating grouped products to sell multiproduct packages
Grouped products are used when you want to sell multiple products together. Create each individual product first, then create a new product and select “Grouped” from the product data dropdown. Under ‘Linked Products,’ add the previously created individual products to the group.
Customizing product details
To make your products more appealing and informative, you can customize various details:
Setting and scheduling prices and discounts
To set a product price, go to the ‘General’ tab in the Product Data meta box while creating or editing a product. You also have the option to schedule sales with start and end dates under the ‘Sale price’ field.
Creating and managing product categories and subcategories
Product categories help organize your store and make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for. You can create and manage these from Products > Categories on your WordPress dashboard.
Uploading and managing product images and galleries
High-quality images play a critical role in online shopping. To add a product image, you can use the ‘Product Image’ meta box in the product editing screen. Furthermore, you can create a gallery of additional images using the ‘Product Gallery’ meta box.
Writing and optimizing product descriptions
Craft compelling and informative descriptions to engage potential customers and help them make an informed purchase decision. Enter your main product description in the editor box and short description in the ‘Product Short Description’ box.
Customizing your shop page
The appearance of your shop page greatly influences your customers’ shopping experience.
Choosing shop page layout
Having a clean and user-friendly layout can create a more pleasant shopping experience. You can typically adjust your shop page layout in your WordPress theme’s settings or customize it using a page builder.
Using sidebar widgets to improve navigation and user experience
Widgets can enhance your site’s navigation and make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for. Access your widget settings under Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress dashboard. Add widgets like the WooCommerce ‘Product Search’, ‘Product Categories’, ‘Recent Products’, and ‘Top Rated Products’ to your WooCommerce Sidebar.
Creating and applying coupons to boost sales
Coupons are a great way to motivate customers to make a purchase. To create a coupon, navigate to WooCommerce > Coupons > Add Coupon. Here, you can define the coupon code, its discount type, value, usage restrictions, and limits.
Setting up shipping options
Correctly setting up your store’s shipping options is essential. Not only does it influence your margins, but your customers’ satisfaction and overall shopping experience as well.
Determining your shipping strategy
Your shipping strategy depends on your business model and product type. You could offer free shipping, flat-rate shipping, or real-time calculations. Making the right choice requires understanding your customers, competition, and profit margins.
Create various shipping methods
WooCommerce allows you to add multiple shipping methods. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping and create Shipping Zones. For each zone, you can add shipping methods like flat rate, free shipping, or local pickup.
Incentivizing customers with shipping discounts
Providing incentives like free shipping on orders over a certain amount can encourage customers to spend more. You can set this up while creating or editing a shipping method within a shipping zone.
Setting up and managing taxes
Making sure your online store complies with tax laws is crucial. Thankfully, WooCommerce provides handy settings to help you correctly calculate taxes.
Determining your tax obligations
Your tax obligations depend on your business’ location and where you’re selling and shipping. Consult with a tax advisor to understand what taxes you need to collect.
Manually setting up tax rates
WooCommerce allows you to manually set your tax rates. You can access these settings through WooCommerce > Settings > Tax.
Automating tax calculation with Woocommerce
If your tax responsibilities are complex, you might consider using automated tax calculation solutions (geolocation services). This can be managed by tools available in the WooCommerce Extensions Store.
Setting up payment methods
Choosing and setting up payment methods is a fundamental part of running an online store.
Integrating with popular payment providers
WooCommerce supports various popular payment providers, including PayPal, Stripe, and more. To enable and configure a payment method, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments.
Setting up and configuring Paypal
To enable PayPal, activate it on the Payments tab, then set up your PayPal account email. Don’t forget to enable IPN on your PayPal account too, to ensure that payment statuses are updated correctly.
Ensuring secure checkout for customers
To ensure your customers’ information is safe during checkout, use an SSL certificate – usually provided by your hosting provider – and keep all your site software updated.
Conclusion
Summary of tutorial steps
So, by following the steps in this guide, you should be able to:
- Understand the reasons to use WooCommerce.
- Obtain and set up your domain and hosting for WordPress.
- Install and configure WooCommerce.
- Create and list different types of products.
- Customize product and store details.
- Set up your store’s taxes, shipping, and payment methods.
Best practices for running a successful online store with Woocommerce
On top of these technical steps, success requires continuous effort to optimize your online store. Remember always to analyze the performance, experiment with different approaches, and most importantly, listen to what your customers are saying.
Continued learning and resources for WooCommerce users
While this guide covers the basics of creating an online store with WooCommerce, there is still wealth of deeper knowledge to explore. To continue learning, you can leverage the multitude of resources available in the WooCommerce community, including the WooCommerce documentation, WordPress forums, and numerous WordPress and WooCommerce-centric blogs and YouTube channels.
Starting an online store with WordPress and WooCommerce may feel daunting at first. But with a clear understanding, careful planning, and following the right steps, even the most non-technical individuals can create and manage their online store with WooCommerce. I hope this guide serves as a comprehensive starting point for your e-commerce journey. Good luck, and happy selling!