If you want to sell something online, it’s great to create an eCommerce website using WordPress.
WordPress not only most popular web builder around the world. WordPress is best in regard to speed, security, customizing capability and finally, it’s free for you. The great news for you that WordPress has it’s own e-commerce site builder plugin- Woocommerce!
Big brands around the world now preferring WordPress for their businesses. Just check why you should prefer WordPress and Woocommerce to create your own e-commerce website. There are tons of Elementor addons for WooCommerce too!
Woocommerce in Action
Woocommerce is a plugin for selling products and services with your WordPress site. You can turn your site into a fully functional WordPress eCommerce site using Woocommerce.
Woocommerce was launched in 2011. It became the primary solution for eCommerce entrepreneurs very quickly. According to BuiltWith.com, it’s now powering more than 99% of WordPress eCommerce sites in the US, Canada, and the UK.
Woocommerce now certainly the driving force behind numerous e-commerce sites around the world. It has over 55,305,433 downloads and millions of active installation.
Why You Should Prefer Woocommerce
You could easily find different eCommerce platforms around you. Shopify, Magento, and Bigcommerce are some of the big players in the industry. But why you should prefer Woocommerce as your platform to create an eCommerce website using WordPress?
Being a free e-commerce solution, it has lots of features that you can’t even imagine to get with others. Check out some points below.
- Woocommerce provides basic store functionality right out of the box.
- It’s highly customizable and extendable.
- It has thousands of templates, themes, and plugins.
- Makes doing all the related things affordable and accessible.
- Easy inventory and shipping management system.
- Secured payments and sort taxes automatically.
- 100% control over all your data.
- Ultimate product categories.
- Mostly potential to scale your site anytime.
- Also has some incredible functions with a support for mobile devices.
You could learn more about why Woocommerce is the most popular e-commerce platform comparing with others.
Installing Woocommerce on Your WordPress site
If you can add a plugin to your WordPress site, then that’s enough to install Woocommerce to create eCommerce website using WordPress. If you haven’t a WordPress site yet, just follow the guideline to create your site with the discussion on selecting your domain name and a hosting plan.
Some hosting provider companies (Like Bluehost) will give you an automated WordPress and Woocommerce installation. So you don’t need to add Woocommerce separately. Here we have chosen a localhost to create an e-commerce website using WordPress. Just keep following, it will be a plus for you.
Step 1- Adding Woocommerce Plugin
You already have a built site in your business name with a proper hosting plan.
Now, you need to just log in to your site’s dashboard. Go to your site’s backend or dashboard and follow the instructions below.
- Find and hit on Add Plugin button from the left side of your dashboard.
- Click on- Add new option.
WordPress will redirect you to a new page.
- Now, write Woocommerce on the search bar at the top of the right corner.
- Click on the Install Now button.
Just wait, Woocommerce will be installed within a few moments. Now click on the Activate button.
Congratulations! You have successfully added Woocommerce plugin to your site.
How to Create an eCommerce Website Using WordPress
Before you could start your selling, there are a few things you need to add. like- your store location, currency, payment, and shipping etc.
In this step, you will see a Welcome to Woocomerce message to your site’s dashboard.
Step 2- Running the Setup Wizard
- Get ready to set up your shop and click on Run the Setup Wizard.
This will launch the Woocommerce setup wizard.
- Click on the Let’s go button to get started.
Your shop needs some essential pages for like shop, cart, checkout, and account.
- Click on Continue button to create these pages automatically.
This will redirect you to the next step.
Now you need to fill up some pages with your store related information for Woocommerce.
- Click on Let’s go button after selecting the option about where your store is located and what currency will use.
You are creating an eCommerce website using WordPress. Just remember- Woocommerce would allow you to sell both digital and physical products. You don’t need to add shipping option if you are going to sell only digital products.
In the next step, you need to carefully check the shipment button based on your products. If you have physical products that require shipping, just check the shipping button on the next step.
Then you need to answer the question about tax. If you want, Woocommerce would help to calculate and add your tax automatically to the price.
- Click on Continue.
Now is the term to choose your payment option. Check the buttons you want to finalize as your payment method.
In your live site, Woocommerce will come with support for Paypal, Paypal standard and Stripe payment gateways. There are lots of other payment methods available for you in Woocommerce, you could add any of them anytime.
- Just check the payment gateway selecting-page for your live site.
Sometimes there is a recommended option for you.
- Select basic StoreFront theme and MailChimp to enhance your store by just clicking on Continue.
- Also, you could ignore the page by just clicking on- Skip this step.
Once you are done, you have successfully created an eCommerce website using WordPress.
Step 3- Time to Add Products to Your Store
Your very own e-commerce website is ready. Now it’s time to add products to your online store. Follow the instructions below.
- Go to your dashboard. Click on Products- Add new
This will redirect you to a new page where you could easily add your product.
- Write your Product name– Add Media
- Select Product data
- Add price and other related options
- Add a Short description– Select a Product category.
- And finally,y click on Publish.
Your product will be published within a few moments. You could also add more images, contact form etc. to your content whenever you want. There are many other options for you to customize your product and develop your content.
- You could add countless products you have following the same way.
Step 4- Customizing Your Visual Appearance
Now is the time to customize your store’s visual appearance, when you have completed setting up your pages and products.
- Go to your Dashboard.
- Click on Appearance– Customize
You will be able to add your own logo and site identity icon, change the fonts, Select color, configure the homepage, sidebar positions and many more.
You will see your store however you wanted to see after this customizing.
Top 5 free Themes to Create an eCommerce Website Using WordPress
You have just created your e-commerce website using WordPress. Now is the time to use the ultimate power and features of WordPress to make your site a unique one.
There are hundreds and thousands of themes available for you within the industry. We have built a list of top 5 best WooCommerce themes with extream features and gorgeous look. Just check the list below and select the best one for you.
FLATSOME
Why You Should Prefer Flatsome?
- Easy and professional look
- More than 80,000 active installation
- 24/7 support
SHOPKEEPER
Why You Should Prefer Shopkeeper?
- Smart and stylish look
- More than 24000 active installation
- Great support with the lowest cost
You could use this incredible theme to create your first e-commerce website using WordPress. Also, check some more from below list.
DIVI
- Gorgeous look
- One of the leading theme within the industry
- Famous with the service
Divi can be the best solution to create an eCommerce website using WordPress!
LOTUS
Why You Should Prefer Lotus?
- Fresh and minimal look
- Modern design
- Best support
FRANCO
Why You Should Prefer Franco?
- Another leading theme with great support
- One click installation with unlimited color
- Fully responsive and mobile optimized
Top 5 Free Plugins to Create an eCommerce Website Using WordPress
Plugins are important to easily manage your store, products, and customers. There are countless plugins for you in the WordPress community. We have selected the best five plugins these are most essential for your store at this beginning stage. These will help you to create an eCommerce website using WordPress.
Just check out the list below, try to perfectly use them for meeting your goal.
WOOF– Product Filter for WooCommerce
Why do You Need This?
- This plugin allows your customers to filter your products by categories, attributes, tags etc.
- It powers your store with the latest version of Woocommerce
- you can create any HTML-items for the search form and even custom woo-products loop template for your own purposes.
Mail Chimp– E-mail Management Tools with Automation
Why do You Need This?
- To develop your e-commerce marketing strategy with automation
- To easily manage all of your campaigns
- To follow up your customer activities from one place
WooCommerce Conversion Tracking
Why do You Need This?
- Obtaining advanced user behavioral data
- Tracking your WooCommerce business better
- Getting detailed conversion data for analytics
- Creating better ad campaigns
- Securing better customer retargeting for future marketing efforts and many more
Pick Plugin Product Slider
Why do You Need This?
- It enables you to embed slideshows of your e-commerce products
- You will be able to smartly present your products
- Help your customers to easily catch the best products for them.
weForms– Amazing Form Builder Plugin
Why do You Need This?
- Create any type of forms you need within a minute
- Save time using this form builder to focus on your marketing and strategy
- It has more than 18 premium modules to make it more powerful and effective.
Want to Become the Owner of a Multivendor Marketplace like Amazon?
All you have learned from this article is to create an e-commerce website using WordPress. It’s just a single seller based online store. Today’s trend is to build a multi-vendor marketplace. You could turn your store into a multi-vendor marketplace by only adding a plugin.
There are lots of multi-vendor marketplace builder plugins in the WordPress industry. Dokan Multivendor Marketplace, WC Marketplace, and WCFM Marketplace are some of the great examples of these plugins. Our pick for you is Dokan, trusted by 10,000+ organizations around the world. Dokan can be certainly the best choice for your startup multivendor marketplace project, and it’s free.
Closing Thoughts on WordPress and WooCommerce
It’s certainly a great decision for anyone today to create an e-commerce website using WordPress. Many of us make a mistake in this starting stage by choosing a wrong track. Now just keep focusing on your goal and marketing strategy. IF you want to go big with your store, you can always use Dokan to create an eBay like multivendor marketplace within a few minutes!