Most people who try to launch a WordPress store over a weekend fail for one boring reason: they do the steps in the wrong order. They install WooCommerce, then pick a theme, then realize their permalinks are wrong, then redo the theme, then discover their SSL certificate never finished issuing. By Sunday night they have a half-built store and no checkout.
This checklist fixes the order. Follow it top to bottom and you’ll have a store taking real orders in a weekend, assuming you’ve already bought a domain and hosting. If you haven’t, do that first — a domain from any registrar and shared hosting with cPanel or a one-click WordPress install is enough to start.
Step one is boring and non-negotiable: point your domain at your host and wait for DNS to propagate before you touch WordPress. I’ve watched people install WordPress on a temporary URL, build half a store, then migrate it and break every image path. Do the DNS first, confirm your site loads at your real domain, then install WordPress. While you’re there, turn on SSL and confirm the padlock shows. Most hosts have a one-click Let’s Encrypt option. If your store loads over http:// at any point during setup, stop and fix it — WooCommerce will throw checkout errors later and you’ll waste an afternoon.
Once WordPress is installed, set your permalinks to Post name before you create anything. This is the setting people forget, and changing it after you’ve published products means your old URLs break. Settings > Permalinks > Post name > Save. That’s it. Do it now, not later.
Next, install your theme. For a store, pick something lightweight and WooCommerce-aware rather than a heavy multipurpose theme with forty demo sites. Storefront, Astra, or GeneratePress all work and won’t fight WooCommerce. Install it, activate it, and resist the urge to customize anything yet. You’re going to change colors and fonts after the store works, not before.
Now WooCommerce itself. The setup wizard will ask about product types, payments, and shipping. Answer honestly: if you’re selling digital downloads, skip shipping entirely. If you’re selling physical goods, set up one shipping zone for your country with a flat rate and expand later. The wizard’s default pages — Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account — should be created automatically; check that they exist under Pages before moving on.
The setting everyone forgets is in WooCommerce > Settings > Accounts & Privacy: turn off “Allow customers to place orders without an account” only if you actually want accounts. For most new stores, leave guest checkout on. Fewer steps at checkout means fewer abandoned carts, and you can add accounts later.
Then payments. Stripe is the shortest path for most solo founders: install the official Stripe plugin for WooCommerce, connect your account, and run a test transaction in test mode. Don’t skip the test transaction. I don’t care how confident you are. Put a real product in the cart, check out with Stripe’s test card number, and confirm the order shows up in WooCommerce > Orders. If it doesn’t, fix it now while you still remember what you changed.
Add your products next. Keep it simple: name, price, one image, short description, and a category. If you’re selling digital goods, tick “Virtual” and “Downloadable” and attach the file. Set a download limit if you’re worried about sharing, but don’t obsess — most small stores don’t need DRM. Publish three or four products so the store doesn’t look empty, then move on.
Configure taxes only if you actually need to. In the US, sales tax rules vary by state and most solo founders starting out can defer this for a few weeks. If you’re in the EU or UK, you’ll need VAT settings, and you should talk to an accountant before your first sale rather than after. WooCommerce’s tax settings are capable but not intuitive; the guide that ships with your purchase walks through the common cases.
Now the part people skip: the storefront check. Open your site on your phone. Add something to the cart. Go to checkout. Does the layout break? Does the cart icon show the right count? Does the checkout page load fast enough that you’d actually buy from it? Fix anything that looks wrong before you announce the store, because your first ten visitors are the ones who decide whether the store feels real.
Finally, email. WooCommerce sends order confirmations from your server by default, which means they often land in spam. Install WP Mail SMTP, connect it to a real email service, and send yourself a test order confirmation. If it arrives in your inbox rather than spam, you’re done.
That’s the whole checklist. DNS, SSL, permalinks, theme, WooCommerce, accounts setting, payments, products, storefront check, email. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the difference between a store that works on Sunday night and one that’s still half-finished next month.