Most people spend their first weekend with WordPress fighting the block editor instead of selling. I’ve launched over 40 stores for solo founders, and the difference between a launch that works and one that stalls is almost never the theme. It’s the checklist. Here’s the exact one I use, updated for 2025.
**Step 1: Hosting and domain (30 minutes)**
Don’t overthink this. Any host with PHP 8.1+, MySQL 5.7+, and HTTPS support will run WooCommerce. I use SiteGround for small stores and Cloudways for anything expecting more than 10,000 monthly visitors. Point your domain, install WordPress, and enable SSL. If your host doesn’t offer free SSL, use Let’s Encrypt. This is non-negotiable — payment gateways will reject you without it.
**Step 2: Theme selection (20 minutes)**
Pick a block theme. Twenty Twenty-Four or Kadence are both fine. Avoid multipurpose themes that bundle 12 plugins you’ll never use. The goal is a fast, clean storefront, not a design award. Install your theme, delete the sample content, and set your permalinks to Post name under Settings > Permalinks. Do this before you add products.
**Step 3: Core plugins (45 minutes)**
Install and activate these in order: WooCommerce, WooCommerce Stripe Gateway, WooCommerce PayPal Payments, and WPForms Lite (for a contact page). That’s it. You don’t need a page builder, a slider plugin, or a ‘premium’ cart add-on. WooCommerce’s default cart and checkout work fine. Configure Stripe first — it’s the fastest approval and supports Apple Pay and Google Pay out of the box.
**Step 4: Tax and shipping settings (30 minutes)**
This is where most people mess up. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > General and set your store address. Then under Tax, enable tax calculations and set prices to exclude tax. Add your local tax rate. If you’re selling digital products, disable shipping entirely under Shipping > Shipping zones. For physical products, add a flat rate. Don’t offer free shipping unless you’ve done the math.
**Step 5: Products (60-90 minutes)**
Add at least three products before you launch. Even if you only have one, create two variations or a bundle. An empty-looking store kills trust. For each product, write a 50-word description, set a price, and upload one image. Use the same image dimensions across all products — 1200×1200 pixels works well. Set inventory management if you have limited stock.
**Step 6: Email and legal pages (45 minutes)**
Install WP Mail SMTP and connect it to your email provider. Without this, order confirmations land in spam. Create four pages: Contact, Refund Policy, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy. WooCommerce has a built-in privacy policy generator. Link them in your footer. Add a contact form using WPForms.
**Step 7: Testing (30 minutes)**
Enable Stripe test mode and place a test order. Check that you receive the order confirmation email, the customer receives theirs, and the order shows up in WooCommerce > Orders. Test on your phone. If something breaks, fix it now, not after a customer complains.
**Step 8: Launch (15 minutes)**
Disable test mode in Stripe, remove any ‘coming soon’ mode, and submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. Post your link on social media. You’re live.
That’s the whole thing. No magic, no expensive course. If you follow this checklist in order, you’ll have a store that takes payments by Sunday night. The settings you’ll forget are the permalinks, the SMTP, and the tax rates — so don’t skip those.