Hey there,
Hope your week’s been smooth so far!
So it’s Thursday — which means it’s time to make your website not just smart… but profitable. 💸
This week, we’re diving into WooCommerce — the engine that turns a WordPress site into a real online store.
We’ll walk through setting up your first products, connecting payment gateways, and handling shipping like a pro (without losing your sanity to endless settings).
By the end, you’ll have everything you need to start selling confidently — minus the headaches.
Week #6 - WooCommerce Setup 101: Products, Payments, Shipping
Weekly Picks
Before launching your store, know the numbers. This breakdown explains where your budget really goes — from hosting and design to marketing and payment fees — so there are no surprises later.
Setting up WooCommerce isn’t rocket science — but it helps to have a good map. This guide walks you through installation, products, payments, and shipping so your store’s ready to roll fast.
Shipping can make or break your online store. This guide explains methods, zones, and rates clearly — helping you strike the perfect balance between convenience, cost, and customer happiness.
Taxes might not be sexy, but they’ll keep your store alive. Learn how to configure WooCommerce taxes, stay compliant with regional rules, and skip those painful “oops” moments later.
Lists, Lists, & Lists
Speed sells — literally. This benchmark-based roundup uncovers which WooCommerce themes actually load fast and which just claim to, so your shoppers won’t run out of patience mid-click.
Your store doesn’t need more plugins — just the right ones. This list curates the essential tools that boost performance, sales, and automation without turning your dashboard into chaos.
A smoother checkout means fewer abandoned carts (and more sales). Explore plugins that remove friction, streamline payments, and give your checkout flow that sleek, modern feel customers love.
Choosing a payment gateway shouldn’t feel like gambling. This guide compares 20 options — from global giants to niche players — so you can pick what fits your customers and your margins.
Smooth Operations
Learn how to fine-tune your WooCommerce setup for smooth operations — from product pages to checkout flow — all without touching a single line of code.
Discover how to master flat-rate shipping, balance cost and simplicity, and keep your customers happy with transparent pricing that just makes sense.
Extra Boost
Free Resource | Official WooCommerce Learn Center
WooCommerce’s own learning hub is packed with courses, guides, and quick tips — the ideal place to build confidence and sharpen your store management skills (without a pricey course).
Checklist | The ultimate ecommerce website launch checklist
No more launch-day panic. This official WooCommerce checklist walks you through everything you need — from testing payments to confirming SEO — so you can go live with peace of mind.
Free Resource | Ecommerce website design templates - for visual planning
If you’re more visual than technical, these free Figma templates help you sketch, plan, and refine your store’s design before you build — saving hours of trial and error later.
A short, clear tutorial that demystifies tax setup once and for all. Perfect for beginners who’d rather see how it’s done than read another dense documentation page.
Weekly Tip | Avoid the Rookie Mistakes with WooCommerce Taxes
Taxes aren’t the most exciting part of building an online store — but they’re definitely one of the most important. A single wrong setting can mean undercharging customers, overpaying authorities, or scaring away buyers with confusing totals.
WooCommerce handles taxes well — if you set it up right. Let’s make sure you do.
1. Skipping location-based setup
Don’t rely on defaults.
Define exactly where you’re selling and shipping — even if it’s just your home country. This ensures the right rates appear automatically and prevents customers in unexpected regions from seeing wrong or missing tax data.
It takes five minutes now, and can save you from a year’s worth of awkward refund emails later.
2. Manually typing in rates (please, don’t)
WooCommerce lets you enter tax rates by hand — but that doesn’t mean you should. Instead, use built-in tools like WooCommerce Tax (powered by Jetpack) or integrations like Avalara or TaxJar to pull verified rates automatically.
Tax laws change constantly. Automation keeps you compliant without needing a spreadsheet and a prayer.
3. Ignoring inclusive vs. exclusive pricing
Decide whether your store shows prices with or without tax — and stick to it. Mixing the two confuses shoppers and can make your products look inconsistent across pages.
Most EU stores show tax-inclusive prices by law. U.S. stores usually don’t. Check your local requirements before you publish a single price tag.
4. Rounding rules that don’t add up
You’ve probably seen it — totals off by a few cents, and no one knows why. That’s rounding inconsistency. Set WooCommerce to round at the subtotal level (not per-line item), and make sure your payment gateway does the same.
It’s a small detail that keeps your invoices clean — and your accountant less grumpy.
5. Forgetting to test checkout like a customer
Before you go live, place test orders using different addresses and shipping zones. Check that tax rates update correctly and totals make sense across all combinations.
It’s not glamorous work, but catching mistakes early saves you legal headaches, customer confusion, and refund requests later.
The bigger picture
Taxes may be boring, but they’re the backbone of a trustworthy business. When your pricing feels consistent and compliant, customers trust you more — and that trust translates directly into sales.
Think of this as one of those grown-up business habits: set it once, test it twice, and sleep well knowing you’ll never get that email from your accountant again.
That’s a Wrap
Edition #6 is complete — and your store just became a little wiser, a little stronger. 🌱
This week, you took on the practical heart of e-commerce — taxes, trust, and how real customers think when they’re ready to buy. These aren’t just small tweaks; they’re the foundations of a sustainable business that plays by the rules and wins hearts.
Next week, we’ll explore the soul of your brand in “Branding Your Website: Logo, Colors, Fonts.” You’ll learn how to express who you are — visually, confidently, and authentically.
Keep going — you’re not just building a website. You’re shaping an identity.
Catch you in the next edition! 📬
Gabor, for WP Growth Weekly