Complete WooCommerce setup and configuration guide

WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It turns any WordPress site into a full-featured online store with products, shopping cart, payment processing, and order management.

Install WooCommerce

1. Log in to WordPress admin
2. Go to Plugins → Add New
3. Search for "WooCommerce"
4. Click Install Now then Activate

Initial setup

1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings
2. Set your store location, currency, and measurement units
3. Configure tax rules under Tax tab
4. Set up shipping zones under Shipping tab
5. Choose payment methods under Payments tab

Add products

1. Go to Products → Add New
2. Enter product name, description, and price
3. Set stock quantity
4. Add product images
5. Set categories and tags
6. Publish

Payment gateways

Enable payment methods in WooCommerce → Settings → Payments:

• Stripe - Credit cards, mobile wallets
• PayPal - PayPal accounts and credit cards
• Square - Integrated payment processing
• Bank Transfer - Direct bank payments
• Cash on Delivery - Local pickups or COD

Shipping setup

Configure under WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping:

1. Add shipping zones (by location)
2. Set shipping methods (flat rate, free shipping, etc.)
3. Enable shipping calculations based on weight/dimensions
4. Set handling fees if needed

Optimize performance

• Enable caching - Use WP Super Cache or similar
• Optimize images - Compress product photos
• Limit revisions - Set post revisions to 3-5
• Clean database - Remove old transients and draft posts
• Use CDN - Serve images from Cloudflare or similar
• Enable GZIP - Compress server responses

Related articles