How-to › Start here
How to Build Your First Store with WP EasyCart
Go from a fresh WordPress site to a store that is ready to take orders. You install, run the wizard, add a product, get paid and launch. 10 parts.
Quick links
Where to find it:WP Admin › EasyCart › Settings › Setup wizard
Before you start
What you need
What is free, what is not, and how to install the plugin.
What you need
The free plugin is enough to open a store
no stored settingsWhat you need. A WordPress site on PHP 7.3 or newer, and admin access. The free WP EasyCart plugin includes unlimited products, orders and customer accounts, so you can build and launch a complete store without paying for anything.
Payments. Bill later, where the customer orders now and pays you offline, is free. Stripe, Square and PayPal connect in a few clicks through EasyCart Connect, with a 2% EasyCart fee on each sale on the free edition. A PRO or Premium license removes that fee and adds more gateways. There is a 14-day free trial if you want to try it first.
The whole job takes eight steps: install, run the setup wizard, check your three store pages, add a product, connect a way to get paid, set shipping and tax, place a test order, then work through the launch checklist.
Step 1. Install and register
Plugins, Add New, then a trial or key only if you want PRO
no stored settingsIn WordPress go to Plugins › Add New Plugin, search for WP EasyCart, press Install Now and then Activate. A new EasyCart menu appears in the admin sidebar.
The free plugin needs no key. Skip registration if you are staying on the free edition.
To add PRO or Premium, open EasyCart › Registration. The page called Registration & activation offers three routes: the 14-day trial, which installs and activates the PRO plugin in one click with no card required, entering a key you already own, or buying a license. A license covers one site, and entering the key on a new site moves it there.
💡 Note: Registration and license keys are covered in Registration. Adding extensions later is covered in Installing Extensions.
Set it up
Eight steps to a working store
The wizard, your three pages, a product, payment, shipping, tax and a test order.
Step 2. Run the setup wizard
Four short steps that set up location, payments, shipping and the basics
no stored settingsThe first time you open EasyCart with no products, the Setup wizard starts. You can leave with Save & exit at any step and come back.
Location & currency. Where is your store based? Choose your Country, State / province and Currency. The wizard pre-fills them from your WordPress settings and shows a preview of how prices will print. It also asks if you charge sales tax. Say yes and it adds a starting rate for your state, which you refine in Settings › Taxes.
Payments & checkout. Turn on manual payments now for no fees, or connect PayPal, Stripe or Square. To connect one you first agree to the EasyCart Connect terms. This step also has the Allow guest checkout switch, which lets customers buy without creating an account. It is on the recommended side, because forcing an account loses sales.
Shipping. Pick a starting point: Flat rates, By cart total or By weight, or choose Downloads, services or collection only if you ship nothing. You refine the rates later in Settings › Shipping rates.
Finish up. This step shows your store pages, terms and privacy policy pages, and order email settings. It comes back in the launch checklist below.
Step 3. Check your three store pages
Store, Cart and Account, each one holds a shortcode
no stored settingsA WP EasyCart store is three ordinary WordPress pages. Open EasyCart › Settings › Store details and find Store pages:
Store page: your catalog. It must contain the [ec_store] shortcode. Product, category and manufacturer links are built under this page’s address, so changing its slug later changes those links.
Cart and checkout page: where shoppers review their cart and pay. It must contain the [ec_cart] shortcode.
Account page: where shoppers sign in, register and see their orders. It must contain the [ec_account] shortcode.
If a page is missing, use Create a new store page, Create a new cart page or Create a new account page. Then add Store, Cart and My Account to your site menu so shoppers can find them. The wizard’s Finish up step has an Add all three to your menu button that does it for you.
💡 Note: Every page setting lives in Settings › Store details.
Step 4. Add your first product
A name, a price and a photo is all it needs
no stored settingsGo to EasyCart › Products › Products and press Add New. The Create a product panel asks only for the essentials:
Title and Price are all you must fill in. SKU generates from the title if you leave it blank.
Product type stays on its default for now. Subscriptions, downloads and gift cards are PRO product types.
Tax offers Not taxable, Sales tax, VAT, or Sales tax + VAT, and uses the rates you set in Settings › Taxes.
Choose image picks a main image from the Media Library.
Weight is optional, but fill it in if you plan to charge shipping by weight or use live carrier rates.
Press Create & open editor to keep going in the full editor, or Create product to finish. Open the Store page on your site and the product is there.
Step 5. Connect a way to get paid
Stripe, Square, PayPal or Bill later
no stored settingsOpen EasyCart › Settings › Payment. On the free edition, Bill later works with no setup and Stripe, Square and PayPal connect with a click. Until a live card gateway is connected, shoppers cannot pay by card on your site.
The full walk-through, with test cards and the switch to live, is in How to Take Your First Payment.
Step 6. Set up shipping and tax
Starter rates from the wizard, then tune them
no stored settingsThe wizard gave you a starting point. Before you sell, tune both so you do not lose money on shipping or charge the wrong tax.
Shipping: see Set Up Shipping That Does Not Lose Money.
Tax: see Set Up Sales Tax and VAT.
Step 7. Place a test order
Buy from your own store as a customer would
no stored settingsOpen your store in a private window, so you are not logged in as an admin, and buy the product you made. Go through the cart, checkout and payment exactly as a customer would.
No gateway yet? Turn on Bill later in Settings › Payment and choose it at checkout. The order goes through without a card.
Using Stripe, Square or PayPal? Connect the sandbox, described in the payment guide, so no real money moves.
Then open EasyCart › Orders › Orders. Your test order should be there, with the right total, shipping and tax. Check that the receipt email arrived in your inbox, and your spam folder.
💡 Note: Order emails are set up in Settings › Email, and the readiness checks are explained in Store Status.
Go live
Launch and troubleshoot
The checks to pass before you announce the store, and what to do when something is off.
Step 8. Work through the launch checklist
Five checks before you tell anyone
no stored settingsThe wizard’s last step, and Settings home, show a launch checklist that ticks items off as you finish them. These are the ones that matter:
Turn off test mode. In Settings › Payment, the banner names every gateway still in test mode and has a Turn off test mode button. Orders are not charged while any gateway is in test mode.
Publish your legal pages. In the wizard’s Finish up step, pick or create your Terms & conditions and Privacy policy pages. The terms link from checkout, and you can require customers to accept them before they place an order.
Check email deliverability. Open Settings › Email and look at the Deliverability section. The Email health card shows how many emails were delivered or failed in the last seven days, and Delivery checks flags problems with your sender setup. Send a test and confirm it arrives.
Check Store Status. EasyCart › Store Status runs four readiness checks: Products, Taxes, Shipping and Payment. A failing Payment check means nobody can check out. A failing Taxes or Shipping check means the store is taking orders and not charging for something.
Review the recommended settings. Cache compatibility, secure checkout (SSL) and SEO-friendly product links are set for you. Confirm they show as on.
⚠️ Careful: A store left in test mode takes no money. Check Settings › Payment shows nothing in test mode before you announce the store, and place one real order to confirm.
If it does not work
The usual first-store problems
no stored settingsShoppers cannot pay by card. No live card gateway is connected. Open Settings › Payment and connect Stripe or Square, or turn on Bill later.
Product links show ?model_number= instead of a clean address. WordPress permalinks are set to Plain. Change them to Post name under Settings › Permalinks, and EasyCart turns on SEO-friendly links by itself.
The Store, Cart or Account page is blank. The page is missing its shortcode. Check Settings › Store details, or use the Create button to make a fresh one.
Checkout is not secure. Your site is running on http. Ask your host for a certificate, and EasyCart forces secure checkout once https works.
No order emails. Order emails go through WordPress mail, which many hosts handle poorly. Use the Deliverability section in Settings › Email to test, and consider an SMTP plugin.
Still stuck? Open a ticket at wpeasycart.com/my-account.
Keep going
Related panels
The Store, Cart and Account page settings and currency.
Every payment gateway and the test mode switch.
The rate tables behind your shipping method.
Sales tax, VAT, GST, duty and tax services.
Sender addresses, deliverability and the email log.
Licence state and the four readiness checks.
Ready to run your store on WP EasyCart?
Everything in this guide works with the free plugin. PRO and Premium add subscriptions, memberships, wholesale pricing and more. Try every PRO feature free for 14 days.
