How to create a shopping website using WordPress

How to Create a Shopping Website Easily (2022)

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Hello beginners, today we will discuss how to create a shopping website using easily. Earlier, we discussed how to create a website without any coding knowledge. I hope you tried creating a free website using WordPress on a free domain and hosting setup. If you have not read that post, I suggest you follow these links below:

How to create a website without coding knowledge

How to get a free domain and hosting

OK, so I will assume you have got some basic idea about what a website is and how you can get one. Today, we will move forward with our web guides. By the end of this post, you will learn how to create a shopping website online without any programming language. I will share the best ways to create and launch your online store within an hour.

Before moving further towards our main topic, let us first understand what eCommerce is and how online shopping works.

What is an eCommerce website?

eCommerce or electronic commerce is the process of buying and selling products electronically. The product that you can sell online can either be a physical item (mobile, computer, rope, food, etc.), a digital product (photo, video, etc.), or some services (online courses, online consultation, website designing, etc.).

What is eCommerce

The entire process of selling and purchasing is done online on a shopping website (eCommerce website). The website that handles online selling and purchasing is known as an eCommerce website. Some of the most popular eCommerce sites are Flipkart, Amazon, Themeforest, Shutterstock, and many more.

How does online shopping works?

I know you have made up your mind to create a shopping website, and you are eager to create an eCommerce shopping website. But you must know how online shopping works; only then will you create a good shopping website.

Here is the step-by-step process on an eCommerce website:

  1. The seller uploads the product details (according to the inventory) on the website
  2. A user visits the website either by advertising, searching, or referral and look up the product
  3. After learning about product details, the user makes up their mind to buy the item
  4. The product is added to a digital cart where the user can verify or customize the product details (such as quantity, add/remove) before completing the purchase
  5. After finalizing the cart value, the user proceeds to the checkout process to complete the order
  6. A user can choose to complete the order by opting for any of the various payment options to pay for the product (i.e., credit card, internet banking, wallet, or Cash on Delivery). If the product is digital, then Cash on delivery does not work.
  7. After confirming the payment, the order is placed, and the customer receives a unique reference number to track the order, and the order details are shared with the seller to process the shipping and delivery
  8. Shipping and delivering a product can either be done by the seller or any third party (e.g., FedEx, Delhivery, Ekart, and others).
  9. The order is marked completed after the customer has received the product.

See, that’s how an eCommerce website works. There is a lot to do! But that is not all. A seller can also provide the return and refund window for a specific period. The customer can return the product if not satisfied.

Did you figure out what is most important to take care of before creating a shopping website? When you create a shopping website, you need to focus on these points for a successful eCommerce experience (both for seller and customer):

  1. Ease of ordering (product catalog and website layout)
  2. Payment set up (easy and fast payment processing)
  3. After-sale service (customer support, returns, etc.)

While creating a website, we will take care of these three points. So, I think that’s enough to create a shopping website, and we can move forward with our eCommerce website set up.

How to create an eCommerce website using WordPress

As discussed earlier, WordPress is the most popular CMS powering more than 30% of all the websites on the internet. If you already know how to create a WordPress website, then good, or you can read our step-by-step guide to create a website using WordPress here.

How to create an eCommerce website using WordPress

To create a shopping website online using WordPress, you only need to know a suitable eCommerce plugin. WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce plugin you can use on WordPress to create a shopping website for free. If you are working on WordPress.com, you will need to pay extra charges to enable eCommerce functionality on your website. However, WordPress.org users can install and use WooCommerce for free.

Follow the below step-by-step guide to create a shopping website online using WooCommerce and WordPress:

Domain & Hosting Setup

It is the first thing you need to do. Set up your domain and hosting. Suppose you don’t know how to do it. Read the instruction here to get a free domain and hosting. However, an eCommerce website requires more resources than a blog or small business website. Hence, I recommend you go with good hosting.

Pro Tip: If you are learning to create a shopping website online, you can go for free hosting and domain. You can also try Namecheap’s EasyWP hosting for one month for free.

Install WordPress

After setting up a domain and hosting, install WordPress to create your first eCommerce website. Follow the instructions here to install WordPress on your hosting. Please note that many hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installation. All you need to do is fill up all the details, and you are good to go.

Add New Plugin

Install WooCommerce

OK so, I will assume you have installed WordPress successfully. Now is the time to install the eCommerce plugin to add online shopping functionality to your WordPress website. Follow the steps below to install and configure WooCommerce on your website:

  • Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard and click on Add New tab under Plugins (right menu bar)
  • In the search box, type “WooCommerce” and wait for the result to load.
  • Install WooCommerce by Automattic and activate it. You can also install the WooCommerce plugin by clicking on the Upload Plugin button. However, you need to download the zip file of the plugin from here.
Install WooCommerce on WordPress

  • When you click on the activate button, the WooCommerce setup wizard will open, and you can follow the step-by-step instructions from there.
  • First, you need to fill in the store details of your shopping website. Enter the complete address, city, state, country, and zip code. Click on the continue button after entering the store details.
Online Store Details in WooCommerce
  • You can also skip the store details, but I recommend you put up details to build customer trust.
  • Select your industry on the next step and click on continue
  • Choose the product types you wish to sell on your eCommerce site. It allows you to sell physical products or digital products on your shopping website, or you can choose both.
  • Fill in the approximate number of products you want to sell on this website, select and disable the recommended plugins (we could add those later), and click on continue.
  • Now it might ask you to choose a theme. Either go for the StoreFront or continue with the active theme. You can add more free themes later.
  • It is optional to add Jetpack to your WooCommerce store. We recommend you click on Not Now and finish the setup. You can always add more plugins depending upon the requirements.

Congratulations on the successful eCommerce setup on your website. We are not done yet; there are some things you need to do after completing the basic installation. Before moving further, answer this question:

Have you understood the entire procedure so far?

If you say Yes, then you can move further with this guide. However, if you have not yet, I recommend you go through the steps mentioned above again and try to do it yourself. It might get complex, and you may end up skipping out on essential details. You can also contact me at hello@webcroni.com, and I will help you set up your eCommerce store.

Let’s move forward with our guide on how to create a shopping website online using WordPress. After installing and setting up the WooCommerce plugin, here is what you need to do:

Setup Payments on Shopping Sites

Set up payments on your shopping website

You need to set up currency and payment on your shopping website to start collecting payments and sell products. WooCommerce, by default, allows four types of payments as follows:

  • Direct Bank Transfer: You can add the bank account details and receive direct payments on your website. You can ask the customer to share the payment reference ID or the screenshot on your email in the description box. (I recommend you create a separate email address for such payments) You can also receive payment proofs on WhatsApp.
  • Check Payments: You can ask users to send checks and receive offline payments.
  • Cash on Delivery: You can also ask your customers to pay upon the delivery of the product. It is only suitable for digital goods.
  • PayPal Standard: You can integrate your PayPal account details to receive online payments. PayPal also allows you to automatically generate and send invoices to customers using PayPal’s payment gateway.
Payments Setup on WooCommerce

Here is how you can set up payments to create a shopping website using WordPress and WooCommerce:

  1. Visit the setting tab under WooCommerce at the right menu bar in your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Switch to the payment tab and enable the preferred payment option
  3. Click on the Payment Option to customize its settings
  4. Click on save changes

Add shipping to eCommerce website using WordPress

Adding shipping is necessary to create a shopping website. It is important to deliver any service successfully. As a business, you must collect taxes from your customers, and these taxes are later paid to the Government. Through shipping, you can charge customers for tax, delivery charges, and any other packing charges.

Add free shipping on eCommerce website

eCommerce website on WordPress allows you to customize a shipping zone and collect shipping charges accordingly. For example, you can specify the area or location that is exempted from the delivery charges. Here is how you can set up shipping to create a shopping website online using WooCommerce:

  1. Switch to the shipping tab in the WooCommerce settings
  2. In the submenu, click on Shipping Zone and Add Shipping Zone
  3. Name the shipping zone and select the region. You can also specify zip/postcodes
  4. Now add the shipping method (flat rate, free shipping, or local pickup)
  5. You can specify different charges according to the location and nature of delivery.
  6. You can even ask the customer to pick them up from the local store and avoid delivery charges for physical goods.
  7. After adding the shipping rate, click on edit under the shipping method and specify the charges and taxes.
  8. Click on save changes to finish shipping!

After adding shipping, you can customize other vital details such as Account Privacy options, email configuration, integrate more add-ons, and others.

We will discuss these features in upcoming posts in detail. So far, we have discussed the important details that you need to understand to create a shopping website online using WordPress. Now, let us move further on adding products to your eCommerce website.

How to Add Products to WordPress Shopping Website?

After successfully setting up the eCommerce plugin and customizing essential details, you are now ready to start adding products to your website. The products are the most important in any eCommerce website. If you do not add products correctly and misplace the layout, it might result in less or no sale at all.

Hence, it is always necessary to add products carefully and good descriptions, images, and other related information to a product. Here a step-by-step guide on how to add products to create a shopping website and running it successfully:

Add New Product to a shopping website online using WordPress
  1. Log in to your admin dashboard if you are not logged in, and click on Add New under Products tab in the right menu bar
  2. Add product name, make sure it is informative and attractive enough to draw customer’s attention
  3. Enter the complete product description; you can also add images, videos in the description. Remember, description is very important as it helps the customer to understand the features of the product.
  4. Scroll down and add product data such as product type (virtual, downloadable, and pricing)
  5. You can add a regular price and a sale price; it automatically shows the difference as a discount.
  6. Enter the inventory information accurately to manage the stocks
  7. Now enter the shipping information and specify product weight, dimensions.
  8. You can also recommend any specific product by visiting the linked product tab. For example, if you are selling a blanket, you can add other winter products to the recommendation.
  9. Add more options as necessary, including attributes, product notes, and more. You can also enable more features by installing WooCommerce add-ons.
  10. Scroll down and add a product short description. This description is displayed on the top of a product above the complete description. Ensure to highlight the important information in the short description, as it is what your customer will see for the first time.
  11. On the left bar, customize the publish options (schedule, public/private, and draft).
  12. Do not forget to add product categories. It will help you to sort the products.
  13. Add any relevant tags to the product and link them to the other products with the same tags
  14. Add a high-quality product image (you can think of it as the profile picture). This picture is shown in the product catalog, where the customer chooses to click on the product.
  15. The product gallery includes additional pictures of your product. It can either be of a feature, side view, top view, or anything else.
  16. After filling in all the necessary information about your product, click on the publish button, and it will be published. You can visit the shop page of your eCommerce website to check the products. Adding products to a shopping website is the most crucial task. The purchasing and selling depend upon the product description and appearance.

Important things to remember while creating a shopping website

However, even after adding products successfully, many users cannot draw more sales to their business by creating a shopping website online. Why does it happen? Because we make some mistakes and miss important details. Here are some tips you need to keep in mind while trying to create a shopping website using WordPress:

Proper Layout

The layout of your website is significant for a shopping website. Your website must look appealing and information-rich to become easier for customers to search for products and make their minds. Always keep in mind that not every WordPress theme is compatible with WooCommerce. You need to find a good and responsive WooCommerce theme to create a shopping website properly.

Speed

eCommerce websites are feature-rich and require more resources than any other website. Suppose you choose low-cost hosting and trying to sell the products to a maximum number of users. In that case, you might lose sales because of the performance issue in your shopping website.

While creating a shopping website, take care of the speed and optimization to provide a good user experience. A slow website can also result in failed payments while purchasing any product online.

Security

Your website must be PCI compliant and have proper security layers to protect the sensitive information of customers. Adding a powerful SSL certificate can help in boosting the security of a website. Here is the quickest guide on how to add free SSL to your website.

Transparency

Many of the eCommerce websites fail even after providing good products. It happened because of less transparency in the selling and purchasing of the product. It would be best to be transparent about the refund policy, privacy policy, and other terms & conditions. Ensure you include all the terms properly and prompt a customer to go through those policies and conditions.

Doing so builds customer trust, and making things transparent always results in a good customer experience.

That’s all, folks! Those were the essential information you need on how to create a shopping website online using WordPress. In the upcoming posts, I will share more eCommerce customizations to improve your online selling website. Till then, make sure you read and understand all the necessary points and try creating an eCommerce website of your own.

Thank you so much for making it out till the end. You are awesome! If you like the post, go right now, and try to create a shopping website using above mentioned guide and share it with the people who might need it. Also, if you do not like the post, please share your feedback with me, and I will improve it.

Last but not least, for any web guide and help, just say hi at hello@webcroni.com.

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