WooCommerce: How to build your own online shop with the WordPress e-commerce plugin

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is one of the leading e-commerce solutions on the market - an open source WordPress plugin that is provided free of charge by the provider. It can be installed in just a few clicks and makes it very easy to get started with e-commerce.

With the practical e-commerce plug-in from WordPress, even beginners can create a shop for their own online business within a short space of time.

WooCommerce shops can be used to sell digital goods such as download offers or e-books as well as classic physical products. The spectrum ranges from clothing and cosmetics to food.

The plugin undoubtedly has numerous advantages, but also some disadvantages. That's why I want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of WooCommerce next.

But before that, take a look at what Sebastian has to say about WooCommerce.

The advantages and disadvantages of WooCommerce shops

What are the advantages of a WooCommerce shop?

• The plugin can be installed quickly and set up just as quickly, HTML knowledge is not necessary.

• WooCommerce is scalable. It is therefore suitable for both beginners and advanced users.

• It is based on WordPress, a complete and reliable content management system

• There are countless plugins, extensions and themes available to you, some of which are even free.

• WooCommerce is constantly being further developed and has a huge community behind it. The German-speaking market is also currently growing strongly.

What are the disadvantages of WooCommerce?

• WooCommerce is a US-American system and was therefore not developed for the German market. This means that you need an extra plugin for your shop in order to operate it in a legally compliant manner on the German market or in Germany - such as the WooCommerceGermanised or German Marketplugin , which is licensed under GPLv3 . Plugins like these ensure that your shop fulfils the legal requirements. Keyword DSGVO. What I think speaks in favour of the WooCommerce Germanized plugin: WooCommerce Germanized is available to you free of charge.
• Be careful with updates! As WooCommerce is dependent on other plugins, extensions and the installed theme, you should always test whether the shop still runs smoothly before installing an update. Make a complete backup of the existing installation beforehand. In the event that your shop does not run as it should after the update, you can revert to the previous installation.

In my opinion, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages in most cases - for most shop operators.

Let's take a look at who these shop operators are.

Who is WooCommerce suitable for?

WooCommerce should primarily be considered by small and medium-sized companies that want to offer their products easily and conveniently online in their own shop.

If you rely on WooCommerce and WordPress, you don't have to dig too deep into your pockets and can create an impressive website with an integrated shop on a limited budget.

If you need help with this, an experienced WooCommerce agency 😉 will be happy to help you make the right choice from the many options and plugins on offer and thus create the right website and shop for your target group

Have I been able to make WooCommerce appealing to you? But watch out! Before I tell you how to install your shop with WooCommerce, I'd like to show you the technical requirements.

What are the technical requirements for WooCommerce?

Before you start planning your shop, you should definitely take a look at whether your WordPress infrastructure fulfils the requirements.

If they are not met, this can lead to problems during installation and, above all, during use.

Make sure that there are enough resources available for your shop. For example, WooCommerce requires 128 WordPress memory limit. Additional plugins, such as Germanised, consume further resources. You should therefore make sure that your web host provides enough of these resources.

If you want to use WordPress and WooCommerce, these technical requirements are also recommended by the manufacturer:

A detailed list of server requirements can be found in the WooCommerce server requirements documentation on the WooCommerce website.

First steps: WooCommerce explained simply

So, that's enough theory. Now I'll tell you how to install and use WooCommerce on your WordPress site. I'll also give you an overview of the most important functions. So your planning won't go wrong!

Installation is really easy, you only need a few clicks. The basic configuration for an online shop with WooCommerce can be realised in just a few steps.

First, you need to download WooCommerce from the WordPress repository.

The automatic installation of WooCommerce

I assume that you have already installed WordPress. If this is not the case, you can simply download the web application to create your own blog or content management system.

You can then install the WooCommerce plugin.

A practical installation wizard ensures that setting up the plugin usually takes no longer than five minutes. This means that the installation and configuration of WooCommerce can also be carried out by users with little or no IT knowledge.

The software module is downloaded from the official WordPress plugin directory (repository). After logging into WordPress, the Plugins section is opened in the left-hand navigation bar.

Here you will find the "Install" button.

Click on the button - and in the search function that now appears, simply enter the keyword WooCommerce and confirm with the Enter key.

Next steps: Click on "Install now"..

...and then click on "Activate"

That's it. WooCommerce is ready for use.

The manual installation

Attention, only for experienced users: In addition to automatic installation, manual installation is also possible. To do this, you need to download the WooCommerce plugin and upload it to your web server using your preferred FTP programme.

You can find all further information on installation in the WordPress Codex on the official website.

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How the WooCommerce update works

WooCommerce is constantly being updated and expanded. Normally, you shouldn't have any problems with these automatic updates. Nevertheless, it is always a good idea to back up your website externally.

What if there are problems?

If, contrary to all expectations, you still have problems with your shop after an update, the manufacturer Automattic recommends updating all permalinks without further ado.

Here's how it works:

Go to Settings in WordPress, select the "Permalinks" item and click on "Save changes" at the bottom. Now everything should work again!

Set up WooCommerce: The first settings

Once you have successfully downloaded and installed WooCommerce, you can set up your shop. I'll now tell you how to do this. First select the "Settings" menu item.

Menu item "General"

You can use the "General" menu tab to define the basic data for your online shop in WooCommerce. Consider the following questions:

• What is the address of your company?
• In which country is the online shop located?
• In which currency are the products available?
• Which countries should the products be sold in?
• Which countries should the products be shipped to?
• Should there be an option for vouchers? Thanks to variable setting options, you can easily determine yourself which customers should benefit from a voucher or discount and which should not.

Once you have filled in the relevant fields, simply click on "Save changes" - and the general requirements for the online shop are set.

Menu item "Products"

The second menu item is called "Products" and deals - unsurprisingly - with the goods or services offered.

You can set the following details in the configuration in the product page area:

• Which shop page or subpage is it?
• Which products are offered in your online shop?
• What happens when the customer places a product in the shopping basket?
• What size should the product image on the product page be?
• What does the inventory look like?
• Which weight or size units apply to the respective products?
• Should it be possible to rate products?
  • Who should be allowed to rate?
  • And should the rating be in the form of the familiar stars?

Menu item "Shipping"

With the e-commerce plugin, online retailers can decide for themselves whether they want to charge shipping costs or whether they would prefer to ship their goods country-specifically without shipping costs. This enables online trading in a wide variety of countries worldwide.

Which regions would you like to send your products to?

Which shipping options would you like to offer your customers?

You can answer these questions in the third tab under "Shipping".

What other functions does WooCommerce have?

The system also supports various payment options, such as payment via PayPal, payment by credit card, payment by invoice or bank transfer or prepayment.

In addition, the system can be refined independently through extensions, so that a total of over 140 additional payment services are available worldwide.

To ensure that you always have an overview of the availability of your goods in the shop, the plugin also has an intelligent storage system. As an online retailer, you can decide for yourself whether the stock in the online shop should be recorded in real time or whether the online shop should be managed without a warehouse system. This simplifies future planning immensely!

The respective orders via the online shop can be viewed at any time via the dashboard on the WordPress website. Further information on customers, goods and orders can be obtained via a comprehensive analysis and statistics tool. WooCommerce can also be customised and expanded as required.

Why you should also rely on WooCommerce experts

You are spoilt for choice: countless extensions and plugins help you to customise the shop system according to your wishes.

The spectrum is really wide, ranging from additional payment functions and product add-ons to customised designs that reflect the corporate identity of your online shop.

But be careful: a confusing, cluttered online shop will quickly put off potential customers. That's why you should consider a partner for implementation. An experienced agency can help you make the right decisions and take the really relevant steps.

At our agencies in Vienna and Telfs, we have already created and managed countless online shops with WooCommerce - and have already overcome many a major hurdle in the process. Small tricks often help to turn a small online shop into a booming business.

Finally, I have an interesting video for you: In this free webinar lasting just over 30 minutes, Denis and Fernando from Automattic guide you through your first steps with WooCommerce. Please note, the video is in English!

If you would prefer to watch a German video, want to delve deeper into the subject matter and have plenty of time, I can also recommend a very detailed, four-hour tutorial from the YouTube channel "Website Machen", which explains how to use WooCommerce step by step.

I hope I was able to give you a little insight into WooCommerce.

If you have any questions about WooCommerce or would like professional support with the implementation, just get in touch. Send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. call us on +43 1 353 2 353 or send us your enquiry using our contact form.

But now I wish you lots of fun setting up your own webshop. Good luck and much success!

FAQs - Frequently asked questions about the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress

How much does a WooCommerce shop cost?

The WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is free. However, you will need a domain, around €12 per year and you can get good hosting from around €8 per month. You can expect costs for WooCommerce themes of around €60, plugins of around €20 and developer costs of around €120/hour.

What do I need for a WooCommerce shop?

A WordPress website is required for a WooCommerce shop. For a WordPress website, you need a domain and web hosting. For the WooCommerce shop, you need a payment provider and a GDPR-compliant legal notice. For the cookie banners, you should also pay attention to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Is WooCommerce GDPR-compliant?

Since version 3.4, WooCommerce has integrated some GDPR functions. You can also install the "Germanised" or "German Market" plugins. To be on the safe side, you can either consult a lawyer or an agency.