Perplexing and Bursting: A Guide to Create a Shopping Website with WordPress

Introduction

As an entrepreneur, you undoubtedly understand the intricate nature of business and technology’s crucial role in improving customer experience. One superb way of achieving this is through having an e-commerce website. Customers no longer have to leave their comfort zones to buy products, thanks to e-commerce’s revolutionary nature.

Why Use WordPress for E-commerce?

WordPress is an ideal content management system, powering some of the internet’s most extensive websites. A Netcraft study found that WordPress powers approximately 36.7% of the internet. Plus, WordPress enjoys exemplary developer support, with plugins, themes, and extensions continuously being modified to enhance the user experience.

Another reason why small to medium-sized businesses prefer WordPress is its versatility, especially with the right plugins. Such plugins can transform a simple website into an e-commerce store. WordPress is also user-friendly, even for non-coders.

Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Shopping Website in WordPress

Step 1: Choose a Hosting and Domain Provider

Choosing a hosting provider that meets budget and website traffic is crucial. The domain name should be short, memorable and match the business’s brand identity.

Step 2: Install WordPress

After choosing a hosting service and domain name, installing WordPress is the next crucial step.

Step 3: Choose a Theme and Install WooCommerce

WordPress has an abundance of themes and plugins to choose from. Choose a theme that reflects the business’s brand identity and is compatible with the e-commerce plugin. WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin and is free to use.

Step 4: Setup WooCommerce

After activating WooCommerce’s plugin, the business needs to set up the store by following the setup wizard. This primarily involves adding payment methods, shipping methods, currencies, taxes, and other general store settings.

Step 5: Add Products

After setting up the store, the next vital step is adding products. This involves adding product descriptions, prices, images, and variations to enable customers to better understand the products.

Step 6: Configure Payment and Shipping Methods

The business can configure payment and shipping methods to match customer preferences, such as PayPal, Stripe, and credit card payment.

Step 7: Enhance Customer Experience with Plugins

Plugins can help enhance customer shopping experiences. There are thousands of plugins available on WordPress, such as those enhancing the customer checkout process, social media sharing, and product recommendations.

Step 8: Promote Your Store and Drive Traffic

To drive traffic to the store, businesses should use different marketing techniques like SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, and Google Adwords.

Conclusion

Creating a e-commerce store with WordPress is easy and can significantly boost a business’s sales. WordPress has numerous plugins and themes to improve the website’s aesthetics and functionality. Follow these steps to create an e-commerce store while meeting customer needs and preferences.