Getting Started with Your Managed WooCommerce Store

You have a new managed WooCommerce hosting plan with INNOVATECH GROUP — congratulations! WordPress and WooCommerce are already installed on your hosting account. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to log in for the first time, complete the WooCommerce setup wizard, add your first product, accept payments, configure shipping for South Africa, and manage incoming orders.

By the end of this article you will have a working online store ready to take its first order.

Prerequisites

• A managed WordPress / WooCommerce hosting plan with INNOVATECH GROUP
• The login credentials provided to you when your hosting account was provisioned (check your welcome email)
• A web browser — no special software is required

Step 1 — Log In to Your WordPress Admin

Your WordPress administration area lives at:

https://yourdomain.co.za/wp-admin

Replace yourdomain.co.za with your actual domain name. Enter the admin username and password from your welcome email.

Forgot your password? On the login screen, click Lost your password?, enter your admin email address, and follow the reset link that arrives in your inbox.

Tip: Bookmark your /wp-admin URL for quick access in future. All WooCommerce store management happens here — the INNOVATECH GROUP portal does not include a separate WooCommerce management panel.

Step 2 — Complete the WooCommerce Setup Wizard

The first time you open WooCommerce in your WordPress dashboard you will see the Setup Wizard. This wizard walks you through the essential store settings. If the wizard does not appear automatically, navigate to WooCommerce → Home and click Set up my store.

Store Details

• Country / Region: Select South Africa or the region where your business is registered.
• Currency: Choose South African Rand (ZAR) — this sets the currency symbol displayed on product pages and at checkout.
• Industry: Select the industry that best describes your business (e.g. Fashion & Apparel, Electronics, Food & Drink).
• Address: Enter your business address. This is used for shipping calculations and tax settings.

Products

WooCommerce asks what type of products you plan to sell:

• Physical products — items that require shipping (clothing, electronics, handmade goods)
• Digital / downloadable products — files customers download after purchase (e-books, software, templates)
• Subscriptions — recurring billing products (requires an extension)

Select the types that apply to your store and continue.

Business Details

Answer the brief questions about the size of your product catalogue and whether you are already selling elsewhere. These answers help WooCommerce tailor recommendations — they do not lock you into any configuration.

Theme

If prompted, you can keep the theme already installed by INNOVATECH GROUP or browse the free themes available. You can always change your theme later under Appearance → Themes.

Complete the wizard before adding products. The currency, country, and shipping settings it configures are used throughout the store.

Step 3 — Add Your First Product

Navigate to Products → Add New in the WordPress sidebar.

Simple Product

A Simple Product is a single item with one price — most physical goods fall into this category.

1. Product name: Enter a clear, descriptive title (e.g. Handmade Leather Wallet).
2. Product description: Write a detailed description that helps customers understand what they are buying. This appears on the product page.
3. Short description: A brief summary shown next to the product image on listing pages.
4. Regular price: Enter the price in ZAR (e.g. R 450.00). You can also set a Sale price if you are running a promotion.
5. Product image: Click Set product image and upload a high-quality photo. Add additional photos in the Product gallery section.
6. Inventory: Under the Inventory tab, enable Track stock quantity if you want WooCommerce to manage your stock levels. Enter the quantity you have on hand.
7. Product category: On the right-hand panel, assign the product to a category (e.g. Accessories, Clothing). Create new categories as needed.

Variable Product

A Variable Product is for items that come in multiple options — for example, a T-shirt available in sizes S, M, L, and XL, or in different colours.

1. Change the product type dropdown from Simple product to Variable product.
2. Under the Attributes tab, add the attribute (e.g. Size) and enter the values (S | M | L | XL). Tick Used for variations.
3. Under the Variations tab, click Generate variations. WooCommerce creates a variation for each attribute combination.
4. Set the price, stock, and image for each variation.

Save or Publish

• Click Save Draft to save without making the product visible on your storefront.
• Click Publish when the product is ready for customers to see and buy.

Tip: Start with one or two Simple Products to get comfortable with the editor before adding Variable Products.

Step 4 — Connect a South African Payment Gateway

WooCommerce supports a wide range of payment gateways. For South African stores, the two most popular options are:

• PayFast — accepts credit/debit cards, Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, and Mobicred
• Yoco — accepts credit/debit cards with a simple checkout experience

Both gateways provide free WooCommerce plugins that you install from Plugins → Add New Plugin. Search for the gateway name, install, and activate the plugin.

Setting up a payment gateway involves creating a merchant account with the provider, obtaining API credentials, and entering them in WooCommerce → Settings → Payments. For detailed step-by-step instructions for each gateway, refer to our dedicated guide on configuring South African payment gateways for WooCommerce.

Important: Test your payment gateway in sandbox or test mode before going live. Both PayFast and Yoco provide test credentials for this purpose.

Step 5 — Configure Basic Shipping

If you sell physical products, you need at least one shipping zone so that customers can see delivery options at checkout.

1. Navigate to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping → Shipping zones.
2. Click Add zone.
3. Zone name: Enter a descriptive name (e.g. South Africa — National).
4. Zone regions: Select South Africa. If you want to create separate rates for different provinces, you can add province-level zones instead.
5. Click Add shipping method and choose one of the built-in options:

6. Configure the rate for each method and click Save changes.

Example: National Flat Rate with Free Shipping Over R 500

• Add a Flat Rate method at R 99.00.
• Add a Free Shipping method with the condition A minimum order amount of R 500.00.

Customers whose order total is below R 500 will see the flat rate option; those above R 500 will see the free shipping option.

Note: WooCommerce matches customers to shipping zones from the top of the list downward. If you have multiple zones, order them from most specific (e.g. a single city) to least specific (e.g. national). The Rest of the world zone at the bottom is a catch-all for addresses that do not match any zone.

Step 6 — Receive and Manage Your First Order

When a customer completes checkout, several things happen:

1. You receive an email notification at the admin email address configured in WooCommerce → Settings → Email. The email contains the order number, items purchased, shipping address, and payment status.
2. The order appears in WooCommerce → Orders in your WordPress admin.

Understanding Order Statuses

Fulfilling an Order

1. Click on an order with the Processing status to open it.
2. Review the order details: items, quantities, shipping address, and any customer notes.
3. Pack and ship the order.
4. Optionally add a tracking number in the order notes.
5. Change the order status to Completed and click Update. The customer receives an Order Complete email automatically.

Getting Help

If you run into a question that this guide does not cover — for example, a plugin conflict, a site performance issue, or a domain configuration change — you can reach the INNOVATECH GROUP support team directly from the client portal.

1. Log in to the INNOVATECH GROUP portal.
2. Navigate to your hosting service under My Services.
3. Click Submit a Ticket to open a support request.

Our team manages the hosting infrastructure (server, PHP, and WordPress installation) so that you can focus on running your store.