Most people overcomplicate their first WordPress store. They spend weeks comparing themes, reading affiliate reviews, and second-guessing every plugin. Meanwhile, the store never goes live. I’ve launched over a dozen stores on nights and weekends, and the difference between a launch and a stall is a checklist. Here’s the exact one I use.
**Friday evening: domain and hosting.** Buy your domain from a registrar like Namecheap or Porkbun. Don’t overthink the TLD — .com if you can, .co or .store if you must. For hosting, you need a host that supports WooCommerce without drama. I use SiteGround or Cloudways for client stores, and I’ve had good luck with Hostinger for side projects. Install WordPress with their one-click installer. Set your permalinks to ‘Post name’ immediately — you’ll forget later and break links.
**Friday night: theme and essential plugins.** Skip the multipurpose themes that bundle 40 plugins. Use Astra, GeneratePress, or Kadence. They’re fast, lightweight, and work with any page builder. Install these plugins in this order: WooCommerce, WooCommerce Stripe Gateway, WooCommerce PayPal Payments, and a caching plugin like WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache. That’s it. You don’t need a page builder yet — WooCommerce blocks are enough for a basic store.
**Saturday morning: configure WooCommerce.** Run the setup wizard. Set your store address, currency, and product types. Under Settings > General, set your tax rates — even if you’re not charging tax yet, set the base customer address to your state so you can enable it later. Under Settings > Payments, connect Stripe and PayPal. Test mode first. Create a $1 test product and run a test transaction. If it works, switch to live mode.
**Saturday afternoon: add products and shipping.** For digital products, skip shipping entirely. For physical, set up flat-rate shipping zones. Don’t use table rate shipping on day one — it’s a rabbit hole. Create three products: one simple, one variable, one digital. This forces you to learn the product types you’ll actually use. Set product images to 800x800px, compressed with TinyPNG. Add short descriptions and a clear call to action.
**Saturday evening: pages and checkout.** Create these pages if WooCommerce didn’t: Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account. Assign them in WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced. Customize the checkout page with a plugin like Checkout Field Editor if you need to remove fields. Test the checkout on mobile — most of your traffic will be mobile. Make sure the cart button is visible and the checkout loads in under three seconds.
**Sunday morning: legal and email.** Create a privacy policy, terms of service, and refund policy. Use a generator like Termly or Shopify’s free generator (yes, it works for any store). Install an SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP so order emails don’t go to spam. Connect your store to Mailchimp or ConvertKit for abandoned cart emails. This alone can recover 10-15% of lost sales.
**Sunday afternoon: test, test, test.** Run through a full purchase as a customer. Use a different browser and a different email. Check order confirmation emails, download links (if digital), and the thank-you page. Ask a friend to do the same. Fix anything that confuses them. Then remove your test products and publish.
**Sunday night: launch.** Post on your social channels, email your list, and tell five friends. You don’t need a grand launch. You need a live store. The first sale will come from someone who knows you or finds you through a specific search. Then you iterate. The store you launch this weekend will be better than the one you’re still planning next month.
If you want the exact checklist with screenshots and copy-paste settings, grab our Weekend Store Launch Kit. It includes every step above, plus the configs for tax, shipping, and email that I use on every build.