How To Build An E-Shop On WordPress Using The WooCommerce Plugin?

 If you are someone who is planning to come into the world of eCommerce, one thing that you need to have for sure is an e-shop. WordPress is a feature-packed and user-friendly platform that—when combined with the WooCommerce plugin, which includes all your e-commerce features out-of-the-box—provides an ideal solution to setting up just about any sort of online store. No matter if you are selling physical items, digital products or providing services, WooCommerce can effectively operate as the powerhouse of your e-commerce.

Today, we will give you a free tutorial on how to create an e-shop using WordPress by eCommerce Website Development Company India with the help of WooCommerce. And by the time you finish that tutorial, your online store will be live and ready to earn income.

1. Why should you opt for WordPress along with WooCommerce?

Before we start with the steps, let me tell you as to why WordPress and WooCommerce make a great match for your eCommerce store.

Open-Source and Customizable

WordPress is a free, open-source software, essentially meaning its cost projection for you can be as low as $0. There are thousands of free and paid themes and plugins that allow you to customize your website according to custom features. One of the most popular open-source WordPress plugins for eCommerce — WooCommerce This provides powerful product, customer and payments management.

SEO-Friendly

Of course WordPress is naturally SEO friendly; your content and store pages can be easily optimized for the search engines. Also, WooCommerce integrates very well with SEO plugins like Yoast so that you can optimize your e-shop for search engines and generate organic traffic.

Scalability

WordPress and WooCommerce are scalable platforms that cater for stores of all sizes, starting from small start-ups right through to enterprise clients, meaning wherever your store is at the moment, you can be confident in expanding it without outgrowing the platform.

2. How to Build an E-shop with WooCommerce on WordPress?: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Get Your Web Hosting and Domain Name

Your first step to building a website with WordPress is obtaining web hosting and a domain name.

●       Select a Domain Name A domain name is the URL people need to type in order to find your website on the internet.

●       You will need to choose a hosting: WordPress As many hosting providers are offering plan specifically for WordPress. Bluehost, SiteGround and HostGator are a few trusted of the lot. Make sure that the hosting plan you select offers enough storage, bandwidth and speed to deal with traffic of your e-shop.

After you choose your hosting, most will come with one-click WordPress installation.

Step 2: Install WordPress

Get Started—if your hosting provider offers a one-click install for WordPress, use it to get the platform running. Or you can use WordPress to manually install WordPress by downloading the software from here.org and then uploading it to your own server using FTP.

Upon installation, you will be asked to choose a language and create an administrator account.

Step 3: Install and Activate WooCommerce Plugin

Once you have WordPress installed, the next step in our process is to install the WooCommerce plugin.

●       Visit Plugins > Add New from your WordPress dashboard.

●       Type “WooCommerce” in the search box.

●       Finally, press the Install Now button, and after that, activate.

With WooCommerce enabled, it will now launch the setup wizard to help you set up some basic store options.

Step 4: Configure WooCommerce Settings

Go ahead and fill in the necessary information about your store in the WooCommerce setup wizard. The following you will want to configure:

●       Set Up Your Store: This is where you enter your store address, currency, and what types of products (physical and/or digital) you plan on selling.

●       Choose Payment Methods: Choose the payment gateways you plan to use. It also supports all popular payment methods, like PayPal, Stripe or bank transfer. You can also add more payment gateways with the help of extensions if required.

●       Ship per location: Setup your shipping zones, rates & methods. You can charge flat rates, provide free shipping or connect in real-time with major carriers through WooCommerce.

●       Tax Settings: WooCommerce comes with built-in tax calculation functions, so you can configure the tax collection rules as required by your country.

Once you have entered your details handle in the information, save settings to proceed.

Step 5: How to Select and Download a WooCommerce Ready Theme

The appearance of your e-shop is controlled by the WordPress theme. Go for a theme that works best with WooCommerce

●       And most of the WordPress themes that are available will already be compatible with WooCommerce; this includes well-known options such as Storefront, Astra and Flatsome.

●       Installing one is easy; just go to Appearance > Themes > Add New in your WordPress dashboard and search for the theme you want, install it, then activate.

A WooCommerce-supportive theme is made with features that can make the plugin run smoothly, provide your product pages to be displayed properly, and also execute a flawless shopping cart & checkout process.

6. Add Products To Your Store

Adding Products with WooCommerce

Go to your dashboard and click Products > Add New.

Fill in the following fields:

●       Title of the Product: [Your product name]

●       Product description: Detailed one with USP of the product

●       Product Categories: Sort your products to help customers filter.

●       Product Image: You can upload your products pictures of high quality.

●       Price: Type in the regular price and, if it is also sold on sale, state a sales price.

If you are selling digital products, the only extra step to take care of here is making sure that your product can be marked as virtual and downloadable so no shipping options come up on checkout.

Step 7: Install Additional Plugins for Enhanced Functionality

While WooCommerce provides the basic tools to run an e-shop, you might need additional plugins to extend its functionality. Here are some key plugins you may want to consider:

●       WooCommerce Subscriptions: If you want to sell products or services on a recurring basis.

●       WooCommerce Bookings: To allow customers to book appointments or rent items.

●       Yoast SEO: To optimize your e-shop for search engines.

●       Mailchimp: For email marketing and managing customer newsletters.

Always ensure you only install essential plugins to avoid slowing down your site.

Conclusion

Building an e-shop on WordPress using WooCommerce is a straightforward process that provides immense flexibility and scalability. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a professional online store that’s ready to sell products and grow your brand. Start today, and your online business will be up and running in no time!

Also Read: Best eCommerce Platforms for Small Businesses in 2024