How to Install WooCommerce

Starting your own ecommerce store is a very exciting undertaking – but finding the right path to setting your store up online is a different story. There are tons of different options, all with their own unique pros and cons.

One of the most popular and effective options is Woocommerce. The tool is used by over 29% of ecommerce websites across the world. In Canada alone, it makes up nearly 40% of all online marketplaces.

Setting up your own online store is one of the most effective ways of creating a direct sales pipeline to your customers.

 

So, What is WooCommerce?

 

Woocommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to easily setup an online store alongside your website.

That’s right, it is free to use!

It is one of the most popular online stores for a reason. It is directly integrated into WordPress so you can easily create your store right on top of your website. The tool is easy to use, has a very professional and industry standard appearance, is secure, and even makes analyzing customer activity a breeze.

When it comes to setting up a personalized online ecommerce store like Woocommerce, there are quite a few different options to personalize the store and make it your own. This process can be daunting if you have not used the platform before or if you are not familiar with integrating WordPress plugins into your website. This is why we have created a guided setup process that will help you get the most out of your platform and create the perfectly tailored online store for your business.

 

Installing and Setting Up Your WooCommerce Site

 

To begin, create a free account on WooCommerce.com. From here, we will provide you with the Bolt Goodly account information to log in. After this, just download the .zip file to your computer. Now navigate to your WordPress website and select dashboard > plug-ins > add new > search plug-ins. Once you do this, the WooCommerce option should pop up. Select WooCommerce, and go through the guided install and activation process.

Now that you have the tool integrated into your website, we can dive into the fun part – customizing your unique online storefront!

Once the app is downloaded and activated, the setup wizard will open and you will be prompted to begin. This is where you will begin the process of customizing the plug-in and designing the store to your specific needs.

We strongly recommend following our guided process here, as WooCommerce offers a great deal of customization

 

The WooCommerce Setup Wizard

 

WooCommerce offers customers a variety of options to help customize how your store looks and feels for your customers. The following setup wizard we will go through offers options for tailoring the types of goods you sell, payments, shipping, and more. Every business has its own unique traits. This makes it important to ensure you setup your store’s details properly.

 

Store Setup

When you begin the setup process, you should see this window:

This is where you will begin the initial setup of your store by providing the details of:

 

• Your location
• The types of goods you plan to sell
• Where you will be selling these goods (Online, in-person, or both)

Fill in this information as accurately as possible, then click let’s go to move on.

 

Payment

WooCommerce offers you the ability to accept payment in whatever way you would like.

If you only opted for online sales, the following options will appear:

We recommend allowing customers to be able to pay with whichever means works for them – the more options the better. With Stripe and PayPal, customers will be able to checkout and pay for your goods or services with ease.

If you opted to also use WooCommerce to track sales completed in person, you will see the following window:

 

The only difference with this window is opting in or out of using Square. If you have never utilized Square in your store, it can be a very useful tool that can simplify and optimize your in-store sales.

Also, we want to note that any of these options can be un-selected if you decide one of the options is not working out for your business. There are no obligations.

Additionally, you can also easily accept all forms of offline payments such as checks, bank transfers, and cash by selecting the offline payments tab. This will take you to the following window where you can select the options you would like to accept:

 

Once you finish this step, you are done with setting up your payments settings! Next, it’s onto shipping.

 

Shipping

For shipping, you will be asked whether or not you would like to print out your own labels at home. We recommend opting into this option if you are in the U.S. or Canada because it will greatly simplify the process of getting your customers their products.

Finally, select the common units of measurement you would like to use for weight and dimensions. It is most commonly done in ounces and inches.