The Best Way to Set up Your eCommerce WordPress Website.
If you plan to sell products or services online, you need an eCommerce website. This website will allow users to view all products and make purchases using convenient payment methods. Having a WordPress website is the first step. If you don’t know how to, click here to learn.
If you already have your website, the next step is to make it eCommerce. To do that, you’ll need a plugin called WooCommerce. WooCommerce is the most popular and reliable eCommerce plugin in WordPress. It’ll give you many features such as adding products, categories, pricing, and payment options.
To install the plugin:
⦁ Click on Plugins in the Menu options and click on Add New submenu.
⦁ Search for WooCommerce in the search bar and click install.
⦁ Activate the plugin. After that, WooCommerce will appear in the menu.
⦁ On top of the screen, click on Run Setup Wizard to begin the initial setup of the WooCommerce plugin.
⦁ On the setup page, the first step is the Store Setup. Here, type the local shop address if it’s digital services. Type the country name, the currency you accept payments in, and the type of products or services you’ll be selling. If you’re satisfied with your inputs, Click on Let’s go!
⦁ The next step is to set up Payments. Check the payment methods you’ll accept on your website. You can use Stripe or Paypal. Customers can also make payments offline or in-person (i.e. payment on delivery). After setting up to suit your business, click Continue.
⦁ Now configure the Shipping settings of your webshop. Choose the type of shipping rate and type the amount. You can set that for areas your shipping service covers and areas not covered. Click Continue
⦁ The Recommended tab contains other great plugins suggested by WooCommerce that will improve your webshop experience. Check all the boxes next to the apps and click Continue.
⦁ The next step is Activate. Activate the Jetpack plugin by clicking Continue with JetPack. Create an account, sign in to JetPack, and you’re ready to go. Your eCommerce website is ready to launch.
Create Your First Product on your eCommerce site.
To create a product:
⦁ Click Products in the left menu panel.
⦁ Select Add New
⦁ On the products page, write the product name as you want it shown to buyers.
⦁ Type the Product description in the paragraph box. Include all details that will inform a buyer’s decision to buy. Be truthful and accurate, as fraudulent information can turn off buyers and leave you with bad reviews.
⦁ You can also add a short product description for users who don’t want to read the full product description. It’s advisable to have both long and short descriptions to make a compelling case to buy the product
⦁ Upload a product image to the “Feature Image” section. You can also add multiple images to create a gallery
⦁ In the Product data settings, type the price of the product. If you’re running a sale, you can add the sale price.
⦁ If you have an inventory, you can state the number of stock for the product.
To add new products, repeat the steps above. You can edit products even after you’ve added them. You can also add categories if you sell multiple kinds of products. For instance, if you sell clothes, you may have different categories for girls’ clothes, boys’ clothes, etc. Doing this will help create orders for your shop. To add categories,
⦁ Click on Products > Categories
⦁ Type the name of the category and add a slug. The slug is what will appear in the link after the main domain name.
This tutorial should help you set up a basic eCommerce site. To add more features and functionality, check out WooCommerce shortcodes that will extend and expand your webshop. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments!
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