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WooCommerce is the world’s most-used e-commerce plugin — powering 28% of all online stores globally. Best of all, the software is completely free. This guide walks you through every step of setting up a WooCommerce store from scratch, even if you’ve never built a website before.
Table of Contents
- 1 What You Need Before You Start
- 2 Step 1: Get Hosting and Install WordPress
- 3 Step 2: Install and Activate WooCommerce
- 4 Step 3: Choose and Customise Your Theme
- 5 Step 4: Add Your First Products
- 6 Step 5: Configure Payments
- 7 Step 6: Set Up Shipping
- 8 Step 7: Essential Plugins to Install
- 9 Pre-Launch Checklist
- 10 Frequently Asked Questions
What You Need Before You Start
- ✅ A domain name (~$15/year — Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Google Domains)
- ✅ WordPress hosting (~$5–$25/month — SiteGround, Bluehost, or Hostinger recommended)
- ✅ About 1 hour of uninterrupted time
Total starting cost: as low as $6–$15/month — far less than any hosted platform.
Step 1: Get Hosting and Install WordPress
Choose Your Host
For a new WooCommerce store, these three hosts offer the best balance of performance and price:
| Host | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| SiteGround | $2.99/month | Best overall performance |
| Bluehost | $2.95/month | Easiest WordPress setup |
| Hostinger | $2.99/month | Best value for beginners |
Install WordPress
All three hosts above offer one-click WordPress installation:
- Sign up for hosting and register your domain
- Go to your hosting control panel (cPanel or custom dashboard)
- Find WordPress Installer or Softaculous
- Click Install, choose your domain, set your admin username and password
- Click Install — WordPress is live in under 2 minutes
Step 2: Install and Activate WooCommerce
- Log into your WordPress dashboard (yourdomain.com/wp-admin)
- Go to Plugins → Add New
- Search for “WooCommerce”
- Click Install Now then Activate
- The WooCommerce Setup Wizard launches automatically — click Set up my store
Setup Wizard Walkthrough
The wizard asks 5 quick questions:
- Store details — your country, currency, and industry
- Business type — physical products, digital products, or subscriptions
- Theme — choose Storefront (free, WooCommerce’s official theme) to start
- Features — select free features you want (Jetpack, WooCommerce Payments)
- Done — your store framework is ready
Step 3: Choose and Customise Your Theme
Your theme controls how your store looks. Start with one of these free options:
| Theme | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront | Free | Simple, clean stores — official WooCommerce theme |
| Astra | Free (paid from $49) | Fast, highly customisable |
| Kadence | Free (paid from $79) | Beautiful designs, drag-and-drop |
Install via Appearance → Themes → Add New. Customise via Appearance → Customise.
Step 4: Add Your First Products
- Go to Products → Add New
- Enter your product name at the top
- Add a full description in the main editor
- In the Product Data box (bottom), set:
- Price — regular and sale price
- Inventory — SKU, stock quantity, allow backorders
- Shipping — weight and dimensions
- Attributes — sizes, colours, materials
- Variations — if product comes in multiple variants
- Add a Product Image (right sidebar) — your main photo
- Add a Product Gallery — additional angles and lifestyle shots
- Set a Product Category to organise your catalogue
- Click Publish
Step 5: Configure Payments
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments.
Recommended Payment Methods
| Method | Transaction Fee | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 | Free plugin — easiest setup |
| PayPal | 3.49% + $0.49 | Built-in WooCommerce option |
| WooCommerce Payments | 2.9% + $0.30 | Native — US only |
Always enable at least two payment methods. Stores offering PayPal alongside card payments see 20%+ higher conversion rates.
Step 6: Set Up Shipping
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping.
- Click Add Shipping Zone
- Name it (e.g. “United States”) and set the region
- Add shipping methods:
- Flat rate — one price per order
- Free shipping — with or without a minimum order amount
- Local pickup — for in-person collection
- Repeat for international zones
For real-time carrier rates (UPS, FedEx, USPS), install the free WooCommerce Shipping plugin.
Step 7: Essential Plugins to Install
| Plugin | Cost | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Yoast SEO | Free | Optimise every page for search engines |
| WP Super Cache | Free | Speed up your store |
| UpdraftPlus | Free | Automatic backups |
| Wordfence | Free | Security firewall and malware scanner |
| WooCommerce Stripe | Free | Card payment processing |
Pre-Launch Checklist
- ☐ Test checkout end-to-end (place a real order and refund yourself)
- ☐ Check your store on mobile
- ☐ Add About, Contact, and Returns Policy pages
- ☐ Set up Google Analytics (via Site Kit plugin)
- ☐ Submit sitemap to Google Search Console
- ☐ Enable SSL (HTTPS) — most hosts provide free SSL via Let’s Encrypt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is WooCommerce really free?
The WooCommerce plugin is free. You pay for hosting ($5–$25/month) and a domain (~$15/year). A basic store can run for as little as $6–$15/month total.
How long does WooCommerce setup take?
With this guide, most people have a working store live in 1–2 hours. A fully polished store with custom design and multiple products takes 1–3 days.
Do I need coding skills for WooCommerce?
No. The setup wizard, visual customiser, and plugin ecosystem handle everything without code. Coding becomes useful for advanced customisations only.
What’s the best hosting for WooCommerce?
SiteGround, Bluehost, and Hostinger are all excellent choices for new stores. For growing stores, managed WordPress hosts like Kinsta or WP Engine offer better performance.
Can WooCommerce handle a lot of products?
Yes. WooCommerce scales to hundreds of thousands of products with the right hosting. Many of the world’s largest online stores run on WooCommerce.