Online shopping has been a staple for people around the world, and a lot of eCommerce stores are now meeting the demands of their respective audiences. With the urge of budding entrepreneurs to run their online stores, there has been a significant uprise in CMS platforms.
Drupal and WooCommerce services are among the best CMS solutions to get your online store ready and running in no time. Both are widely popular for their impactful features and enhanced functionalities to make your online store successful.
If you are a newcomer to the eCommerce industry and are willing to get your Drupal or WooCommerce store ready, you must follow certain steps. People with no technical background or in-depth knowledge of CMS solutions can always hire experts to help them in the process. A wordpress website can be made ore attractive with WordPress Gallery Plugin.
But, to give you a glimpse at the process of creating an online store with Drupal or WooCommerce, this article will elaborate on the step-by-step procedures for you to count on.
What are the Steps to Create an Online Store Using Drupal?
Drupal helps you create a powerful eCommerce website that has a perspective to grow big. Unlike WooCommerce, it isn’t limited to just the small eCommerce owners, but even the consistently growing brands can get the required amount of scaling with Drupal’s interface and modules. The steps that you must follow to create an online store using Drupal are as follows:
Step 1: Download the eCommerce Module and Install It
The first thing you should do is download the Commerce Core module, which will add essential features to your website. This module by Drupal consists of many features for you to start your eCommerce business. Some of those features include:
- Order Types
- Products
- Payment Gateways
- Tax Calculations
- VAT Support, etc.
Step 2: Install all the Essential Submodules
Go to the ‘Advanced’ tab and turn on the specific submodules, such as cart, log, product, store, price, tax, etc. Unless you enable these submodules, your store won’t be working efficiently as it should. If you have hired a professional Drupal web development company, they will help you in this entire process to make it hassle-free.
Step 3: Set up the New ‘Commerce’ Menu
Now, you will see a menu on the main admin page. You must click ‘Commerce’, choose ‘Configuration’ and then customise the store per your needs. There are multiple options for you to customize your store based on your target audience and business requirements. For instance, you can select a multi-currency option for your store.
Step 4: Add the Products
The next step is all about adding your category of products to the store and giving information about them to the audience. Remember to look out for SEO factors while adding product descriptions and titles. Before you finalise uploading your product(s), ensure there are sufficient images to help the audience relate to it.
Step 5: Seek Some Professional Help
Even though you have set up the foundation of your Drupal website, you might still be lagging in terms of getting brand recognition and enhancing the responsiveness of the site. In that case, you should hire a professional Drupal web development company, and they will help you derive the best version of your online store.
Setting up a fully functional and rewarding Drupal online store yourself is pretty complex! And as you have a lot of other core business operations to plan and execute, hand over the job of creating a website to professionals.
What are the Steps to Create an Online Store Using WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is not a CMS platform but a plugin that works well with WordPress installations. WordPress is partnered with some of the hosting firms which offer you pre-installation of WooCommerce and the Storefront theme. Compared to Drupal, WooCommerce demands you to follow a bit lengthier process while setting up the store.
It is better to seek the help of expert WooCommerce services to get the setup done in a breeze. But even with professional backing, you must know what steps it takes to create a WooCommerce store:
Step 1: Install WordPress
Gain access to WordPress, which allows you to use a space for building your website. To lay the foundation, you must use the free platform. Several hosting firms offer you a one-click installation of WordPress. Do check if your hosting platform has that functionality! If not, you can always download it from WordPress.org.
Step 2: Activate WooCommerce
Follow the sub-steps to activate WooCommerce:
- Create an account on WooCommerce.
- Download the WooCommerce plugin.
- Go to WordPress website > Dashboard > Plugins > Add New > Upload.
- Select your downloaded plugin.
- Run the installation.
Step 3: Pick a Theme
Once you install the plugin, you will be prompted to use the ‘Setup Wizard’. Choose your desirable theme from the option and decide on the layout and appeal of your store.
Step 4: Add Professional Customizations
There are paid extensions available on WooCommerce or WordPress for you to improve your store’s functionality. You can also hire a WooCommerce development company to help you create custom extensions for your online store to extend its capabilities beyond the competition.
Can WooCommerce and Drupal Be Integrated Together?
The biggest question that most budding eCommerce entrepreneurs ask is, can the WooCommerce plugin be integrated into Drupal? Well, WooCommerce evidently works with Drupal, but there are a few things that you would consider before getting this done.
Before seeking this integration, you must ensure that Drupal and WooCommerce are the latest versions. There might be compatibility issues if you rely on outdated versions of both platforms.
Technically, WooCommerce isn’t compatible with the Drupal platform. But if you want to integrate them, you will need a third-party tool to make it possible. You must contact the WooCommerce and Drupal development experts to get an idea of how to achieve this integration.
Upon successful completion of the procedure, you will be able to use your Drupal website in collaboration with all features or functionalities of WooCommerce, without losing the foundational security or stability. Connect with the experts to learn more about it!
Parting Words
Creating an eCommerce store with either Drupal or WooCommerce can turn out to be productive for your business milestones. This article educated you on the basic steps needed to kickstart your online store. But it needs a lot more consideration to make it a viable competition for the existing players in the industry.
In that case, you must hire professional Drupal or WooCommerce services to help you with the complete development and customization of your online store.