Can we get a woo woo for WooCommerce? This lean, mean, cost-efficient machine is a free plugin that'll flex and fold to fit your business needs – so you can spend more time perfecting your products.

But to maximise its potential, you’ll need to set up as you mean to go on. That means feeding WooCommerce with all the right information, from installation through to the finishing touches…

First things first

If you haven’t done so already then it’s time to install the plugin. And luckily for you it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3…

  1. Head to your Dashboard
  2. Go to ‘Plugins’ > ‘Add new’ and search for “woocommerce”
  3. Click 'install' and hey presto – the onboarding wizard should open right up!

Ready, set – setup

The onboarding and store setup process is a bit like your first day back at school after summer – get ready for some awkward icebreakers. Describe your store, USPs, etc... Remember, accuracy is key. After all, this is your business we’re talking about!

All aboard for onboarding

Tell them about you

Click ‘setup my store’ to go through to the store profiler. You should now see a multiple choice question. Simply pick which option best describes your business.

The next step is simple data entry about your store, including name, product type, store location, and email address. Fill in the blanks, follow the dropdowns and tick the box.

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Something to be aware of – if you’re setting up your store in a different geolocation to where you’re currently located, a warning message will pop up to ensure accuracy. Just ignore it if the location of your store is correct!

Choose optional free extra features to enhance your experience

See what Woo has to offer. If any of them feel like a good fit for your business then select away. You can always remove them at a later date if you change your mind.

Connect your WordPress account

Pick your account from the options available, click ‘Connect your account’ and that’s it!

Time to set up shop

Next stop is the store setup, which will appear as a checklist of to-do’s. You can skip this step and come back to them whenever you like.

Add your first product(s)

Here you can add products manually, choose a template if required, import and/or migrate products, and import sample data if you’re not ready to commit but want to see it in action. 

Need some support? Check out these resources, courtesy of Woo, to help you through this step if you need them:

Make it personal

Follow Woo’s lead to start shaping your store’s personality, whether that's aesthetics or functionality. Haven't got any products yet? You can still familiarise yourself with the interface, Woo will automatically import demo ones if you need them. 

You’ll then create an editable homepage and, if you’re ready, you can easily upload your store logo too. You can choose if you want to display a notice across your webpages – the theme will affect how and where this appears on each page. 

Set up shipping

Set your shipping costs for the country your store is based in, and for the rest of the world if you’ve got global sales in your sights.

Set up tax

Pick from these 4 options:

  • WooCommerce Tax can help you automatically calculate taxes – available if you connected your store back in step 3 from the onboarding process. You’ll then be redirected to the WordPress.com flow, so you can create an account or login to an existing one. 
  • Selected Avalara? You’ll be redirected to install the extension and setup separately.
  • If you chose the manual tax rate setup, you’ll be redirected to WooCommerce Settings – more on that here.
  • You can also choose to not charge sales tax.

Set up payments

Select one or more options for online and offline payments – all the extensions are free, automatically installed, and activated. Depending on your chosen gateway, Woo might even help you create an account with the payment provider, so you can start accepting payments pronto!

Set up marketing tools

Choose your marketing weapons! Woo will recommend a number of extensions that may or may not help you to communicate your brand and products to the masses. This includes MailPoet, Google Listings & Ads, Mailchimp for WooCommerce and Creative Mail for WooCommerce.

Store management & support

When you’ve got your checklist ticked off (or put on the back burner), you’ll see the Store Management widget. Here you can navigate to the most used pages for easy management, from adding products to updating tax settings.

Get selling fast with Fasthosts

Think you could benefit from an extra dose of inspo for your WooCommerce-powered online store? We’ve got you covered in this blog, with all the guidance you’ll ever need on themes, designs and other plug-in capabilities. 

Plus, when you choose Fasthosts as your provider, we’ll be right by your side with our WordPress Assistant tool. This makes it even easier to install, setup, and customise your plugins.

Learn more about our super speedy WordPress hosting options and get in touch today to hit the ground running on your new ecommerce site.