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How to Set Up WooCommerce on Your WordPress Store

Last updated August 14, 2026

WooCommerce turns a WordPress site into a full online shop — products, cart, checkout, payments and shipping — while keeping everything you already love about WordPress. It is free, hugely popular, and the setup wizard walks you through most of it. Here is how to get your store trading.

Before you start

You need a working WordPress site (see installing WordPress) and, because you will handle customer and payment data, an SSL certificate in place.

Step 1: Install WooCommerce

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Search for WooCommerce, install and activate it.
  3. The setup wizard launches automatically — follow it.

Step 2: Configure the essentials

  • Store details — address, currency and what you sell.
  • Payments — enable the gateways you want. WooCommerce supports many, including options suited to local markets.
  • Shipping — set zones and rates, or free shipping if that is your model.
  • Tax — configure if it applies to you.

Step 3: Add your products

Go to Products → Add New. Give each product a clear title, description, price and a good image. Well-optimised images keep the store fast — see optimising images.

Step 4: Keep it fast and backed up

Stores are database-heavy, so enable caching — LiteSpeed Cache and Redis object caching both help. And set up automatic backups before you take your first order.

Frequently asked questions

Is WooCommerce free?

The core plugin is free. Some payment gateways and premium extensions cost money, but you can run a complete store on free components. Add paid extensions only when you have a specific need.

How much hosting do I need for a store?

A small catalogue runs fine on shared hosting. As orders and traffic climb, watch your resource usage and scale up when needed — carts and checkouts are more demanding than static pages.

WooCommerce or PrestaShop?

Choose WooCommerce if you want WordPress's flexibility and content tools alongside your shop. Choose PrestaShop if you want a dedicated, store-first platform. Both are capable.

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