Unlock the potential of your online business with powerful eCommerce solutions on WordPress. Learn how to build and manage high-performing online stores that captivate customers, streamline transactions, and drive revenue growth.

Whether you sell physical goods or wish to start offering digital products, you must set up high-performing online stores with eCommerce solutions with WordPress to help you raise your profits. However, if you’re new to website building, you probably need to learn how to start.

1. Buy web hosting and a domain name.

The great thing about eCommerce solutions with WordPress is that it is free, open-source software. This enables you to build any website, including high-performing online stores. However, you’ll need to purchase web hosting and a domain that is your unique name to make your site live.

When it comes to hosting, you have a couple of main options: WordPress.org or WordPress.com. The latter is an all-in-one package. This means you’ll get hosting, a domain name, and access to the CMS.

We recommend going for WordPress.org. This will give you more control over your site’s configuration and performance.

Bluehost’s eCommerce solutions with WordPress plans are designed to help businesses grow their online sales. They also include a free domain, so you won’t have to purchase it separately.

Additionally, Bluehost will, on its own, install the latest version of WordPress on your account. It will help you set up your login credentials so your business can start working on your website immediately.

Here’s what it looks similar to setting up a fresh WordPress installed for the company’s high-performing online stores with Bluehost:

Set up eCommerce solutions with WordPress (if needed)

The way you install WordPress depends on the hosting plan you choose. As we have already mentioned, some providers offer automatic installations.

However, with other hosts, you are required to set up WordPress from your chosen hosting account using cPanel. This control panel allows you to manage each and every aspect of your WordPress website, including your domains and databases.

Log into your web hosting account and navigate to the cPanel. Then, search for the Softaculous Apps Installer section and select WordPress.

This will bring you to the Softaculous App, where you can install the most recent version of WordPress. For this tutorial, we’ll use the Quick Install option:

Next, you’ll need to select the URL on which you want to install WordPress. This is the domain that you have already purchased in step one.

Then, create a username and password. You’ll need these to log into your eCommerce solutions with the WordPress site. You can also create an admin email. When you’re ready, click on Install.

The installation may take a few minutes. Once it’s done, you’ll get a link to access the admin dashboard of your site:

This will forward you to the WordPress login screen. Here, you’ll need to enter your new credentials:

1. Choose an ecommerce theme

If this is the first time you’ve seen the WordPress dashboard, feeling a little overwhelmed is normal. Therefore, you should take some time to explore all the options and settings before setting up your website.

Then, the first thing you’ll have to do is select a theme for yourself. This will determine the look and feel of your shop.

There are thousands of free eCommerce solutions with WordPress themes available. Since many of your audience will access your store from mobile phones, you’ll want to choose a responsive design. This way, you can ensure your site performs smoothly on all devices.

It comes with many responsive layouts for your checkout page and product catalog. Plus, it lets you add a wishlist feature to your online store, build a complete list of exclusive products, and more.

You can begin for free or purchase the premium version of the theme for more features. If you want to check out the theme, search for it and click Install.

Then, select Activate to begin using the theme. If you need to make some changes to the design, opt for Appearance → Customize to launch the theme customizer:

Here, you can change your site’s layout and color scheme, add a logo, and more. When you’re ready, click on Publish.

1. Install WooCommerce and configure your store settings.

The next step is to install WooCommerce on your device. This ecommerce platform has all the tools you require to start selling products online.

It’s an all-in-one solution that includes payment methods, shipping options, label printing, and more. It’s also free.

Follow the WooCommerce setup wizard.

WooCommerce will then take you through the setup process for your online shop. You’ll have to provide some important details about your online business, including the address, your industry, and the type of products that you sell.

Once you’ve completed the setup process, you’ll be directed back to the WordPress dashboard screen. Now you can configure some more settings for your store.

You can turn product reviews and ratings on or off in the Products section. You can also select the measurement units for product weight and dimensions.

If you go to the Accounts & Privacy section on your screen, you can configure the account settings for online buyers. For instance, you should enable guest checkout. Moreover, you might allow shoppers to create an account during checkout.

There are many other settings you can explore. Later on, we’ll show you how to configure your payments, shipping rates, and taxes.

1. Upload your products

Next, you can begin uploading products to your online store. To do this, head to Products → Add New.

First, you’ll need to enter a name and description for your product being uploaded. Then, scroll down to the Product short description section and add some important details about the item:

When ready, you can switch to the Product Data section. In the General tab, set the desired amount for your item.

Then you click the Inventory tab; you can change your product’s status from In Stock to Out of Stock or On Backorder. Meanwhile, the Shipping section lets you set your product’s weight, dimensions, and shipping class. Under Linked Products, you can have upsells and cross-sells to help increase your conversions.

When you’re ready, click on the Save Draft button on the screen to keep your work or Publish to launch your product. To add more items, repeat the above process.

1. Configure payment methods, shipping rates, and taxes

It’s time to set up your payment methods and other store essentials.

Payment methods

Here, you can enable various other payment methods for your site, including direct bank transfers at your physical store.

You can also set up a different payment gateway from the settings area if you want to use a different payment gateway.

Shipping methods

You can also use the built-in WooCommerce shipping options to set up shipping for your store. Or, you can avail of third-party plugins or integrate with dedicated fulfillment services like WooCommerce Shipping or ShipStation. 

To gain access to the built-in shipping options, you can go to the Shipping tab on the screen to configure your shipping options.

Click Add shipping zone to get a delivery location and proper shipping method.

If you go to the Shipping options on the screen, you can select how shipping costs are calculated.

To add a tax rate:

1. Click on the Insert row option.
2. Enter the needed information in the available fields.
3. If you’re unsure about tax regulations in your location, consider seeking advice from an accountant or legal expert.
4. Add more exciting features to your online shop with plugins.

So far, you’ve created a basic WooCommerce shopping store. However, you can also extend the functionality of your website with WooCommerce plugins and extensions.

For example, Sparks for WooCommerce is packed with features to help you increase conversions. These include announcement bars, variation swatches, custom thank-you pages, and more:

It also allows you to add wishlists to your high-performance online store so that customers can save their products for later:

Using these blocks, you can display featured products, add more filters, include a search box, and more. You can also add these elements anywhere on your website.

1. Test your WooCommerce store.

Congratulations – you’ve just set up your first high-performing online stores with WordPress! Still, before you start spreading the word, testing your site might be a good idea.

The best way to do this is to visit your online store on the front end. Here, you can browse through the high-performance shop to make sure that your products are displayed right:

Remember to use the Block Editor further to customize your shop, and checkout with your products and cart pages. For example, after testing your website, you can tweak the appearance of your product catalog or add more elements to your shop page.