Most WordPress stores don’t fail because of the theme. They fail because of a checkbox someone forgot. I’ve launched enough small stores to know that the last 10 percent of setup is where the money leaks out, so I keep a checklist and I run it every time. Here’s the exact list, in the order I do it.
First, confirm your permalinks are set to Post name. It sounds trivial, but if you’re still on the plain setting, product URLs look like /?p=123 and every link you share looks broken. Go to Settings > Permalinks, pick Post name, save. Do this before you add products, not after.
Second, install one caching plugin and leave it alone. I use a simple one and I don’t stack it with three others. Caching conflicts are the number one cause of a cart that says it’s empty when it isn’t. If you’re on shared hosting, check whether the host already caches; if they do, skip the plugin.
Third, set up your payment gateway in test mode and run a real test order. Not a preview, an actual order with a real card number from the gateway’s test list. Confirm the order shows up in WooCommerce > Orders and that the confirmation email arrives. If the email doesn’t arrive, fix that now, because your first customer will email you asking where their download is.
Fourth, configure taxes before you configure shipping. Tax rules are the thing people put off and then panic about. If you’re in the US, decide whether you’re collecting in your home state only or using a service. Write down the decision. Fifth, set your shipping zones even if you sell digital products. WooCommerce will still show a shipping step if a physical product sneaks into the cart, and an empty zone blocks checkout entirely.
Sixth, create a legal page with your refund policy and link it in the footer. Seventh, add a contact email that actually receives mail, not a form that goes to a dead inbox. Eighth, set your store’s base address and currency correctly; changing currency after launch means re-pricing every product.
Ninth, install an SMTP plugin so order emails don’t land in spam. Tenth, run a test order from your phone on cellular data, not office Wi-Fi, because that’s how half your customers will buy. Eleventh, check your checkout page for required fields you don’t need. Every extra field costs you orders. Turn off the company name field unless you sell B2B.
Twelfth, add your products with real weights and dimensions even if they’re digital; it keeps the cart logic honest. Thirteenth, set up a basic backup before you announce anything. Fourteenth, and this is the one people skip, place one real order with your own card and refund it. You’ll learn more in that five minutes than in an hour of reading.
That’s the list. It takes about two hours if you’re focused and don’t get distracted by theme demos. The goal isn’t a perfect store. It’s a store that can take money without embarrassing you. Run the checklist, fix what fails, and launch.