WooCommerce Basics: Products, Orders, Payments, and Shipping

WooCommerce is a free plugin that turns a WordPress site into an online store. Here's a plain tour of the main pieces so you know where things live. These steps are for WordPress 6.x and later with a current WooCommerce version. Screen names can shift a bit between WooCommerce releases.

Still deciding on a platform? See Choosing an E-commerce Platform: Questions to Answer First.

Install WooCommerce

Back up your site.
Go to Plugins > Add Plugin, search for WooCommerce, then click Install Now and Activate.
WooCommerce opens a setup guide. Fill in your store details, like address, currency, and what you sell. You can skip steps and come back later.

Add a product

Go to Products > Add New. This opens the Add new product screen.
Enter the product name and description.
In the Product data box, choose the type: Simple product for one item, or Variable product for things with options like size or color.
Enter the Regular price and, if it's on sale, the Sale price.
Under Inventory, add a SKU and turn on stock tracking if you want WooCommerce to count stock.
Under Shipping, add weight and size if your shipping rates need them.
Add a product image and gallery images on the right.
Pick a product category.
Click Publish.

Where settings live

WooCommerce > Settings has tabs for General, Products, Tax, Shipping, Payments, Accounts & Privacy, Emails, Integration, and Advanced. Recent versions may show a few more tabs.

Set up payments

Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments.
Turn on the payment methods you want. Common choices include WooPayments, Stripe, and PayPal, each with its own setup and fees. There are also offline options like check or bank transfer.
Follow each provider's steps to connect your account.
Place a test order. Most payment providers have a test or sandbox mode for this.

Set up shipping

Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping.
Add a shipping zone (for example, "United States").
Add shipping methods to the zone: Flat rate, Free shipping, or Local pickup.
Set the costs and save.

If you only sell digital products or services, mark products as Virtual or Downloadable and you can skip shipping.

Taxes

Turn on taxes in WooCommerce > Settings > General (Enable tax rates and calculations), then set them up on the Tax tab. Sales tax rules are tricky. Talk to your accountant about what you need to collect.

Manage orders

Go to WooCommerce > Orders.
Click an order to see the details.
Change the status as you go. The main ones are Pending payment, Processing (paid, needs to ship), On hold, Completed (done), Cancelled, Refunded, and Failed.
Customers get emails as the status changes. You can edit those emails in WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.

To refund, open the order, click Refund, and enter the amount. Depending on the payment method, the refund may go back automatically or you may need to process it with the payment provider.

Keep your store healthy

Update carefully. WooCommerce and its extensions update often. Test checkout after every update. See How to Update WordPress Safely (Back Up First).
Back up often. Stores change every day with new orders. See Website Backups: What to Back Up, How Often, and How Restores Work.
Keep add-ons to a minimum. Each WooCommerce extension is more code to update.
Lock down admin accounts with strong passwords and two-factor login. See Website Security Basics for Small Business Owners.

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