This article shows you how to quickly setup an eCommerce store in WordPress. We’ve been creating eCommerce websites in WordPress for about 6 years and have used a variety of different eCommerce plugins. Many of the eCommerce plugins that once dominated the WordPress plugin directory are no longer around or have proved to be unreliable.
There is one eCommerce plugin that we can highly recommend and that plugin is WooCommerce. WooCommerce is now the most widely used WordPress eCommerce plugin and with good reason. The WooCommerce plugin is a free and reliable eCommerce platform with several nice features right out of the box. If the eCommerce site you’re building needs more features, there are numerous free and premium plugins to choose from to extend it’s functionality.
In this introduction to WooCommerce we’ll walk you through the basic steps to quickly setup eCommerce in WordPress. We’ll also show you the needed steps to start accepting orders on your WordPress website today.
Installation and Setup of WooCommerce in WordPress
Below we will walk you through the steps to quickly setup WooCommerce in WordPress.
1. Install WooCommerce from WordPress’s Add New plugin screen
Installation of WooCommerce is easy and straight-forward. To install WordPress go to Plugin > Add New. Once on this page, type “WooCommerce” as shown in the image below.
In the results you will see WooCommerce as one of the options. Select “Install Now”. The plugin will install automatically and once it’s done the Install Now button will change to an “Activate button”. You can go ahead and activate the plugin.
Once WooCommerce is activated it will prompt you to go through the setup where it will ask questions about your business.
WooCommerce Settings
WooCommerce’s settings can be found by going to WOOCOMMERCE > SETTINGS. Once on this page, you will find different tabbed groups at the top of the main screen.
Setting Up PayPal
Setting up PayPal in WooCommerce is easy and only takes a few minutes. Navigate to the WooCommerce settings page and then click the Checkout tab (highlighted yellow below). Once on the checkout settings page click on PayPal.
You will need to have a PayPal account setup to accept payments. If you don’t already have a PayPal account you can easily setup an account at PayPal.com.
Your PayPal Email address will act as your PayPal account ID connecting the payer’s funds to your account.
If you already have an eCommerce solution and are unsatisfied with it, moving has gotten so much easier with migration services like Cart2Cart.
