WooCommerce Checkout Checklist — Free Audit Tool

Readiness 0% (0/13)

Not ready yet. Check the unchecked items first.

Payments

Placed a real test order through each payment gatewayRun an approval, cancellation and partial refund in the sandbox. The pre-live step breaks most often.Full-site HTTPS and no raw card data stored (PCI)HTTPS only on checkout is not enough. Force site-wide SSL and let the gateway tokenize cards to shrink PCI scope.Offer several common payment methodsWithout the methods buyers prefer — cards, wallets, transfers — they drop at the last step.

Shipping

Shipping rate rules (weight/price/tier) calculate correctlyTest multiple cart combinations so free-shipping thresholds and surcharges apply as intended.Defined shipping zones and excluded non-served regionsIf you don't block orders from unserved areas you'll face refunds and disputes. Separate remote-area fees into their own zone.

Tax

Tax rates and basis match your store and selling regionsVerify inclusive vs. exclusive VAT, digital goods and per-country rates. Wrong rates cause reconciliation errors.Set a consistent tax display (inclusive/exclusive)If product, cart and checkout tax display disagree, prices look like they changed and trust drops.

Cart & UX

Allow guest checkoutForced sign-up is a top cause of abandonment. Enable guest checkout and offer optional account creation after.Minimized checkout steps and form fieldsFewer fields and steps lift conversion. Make company name and secondary address lines optional.Tested the full checkout on mobileMost sales come from mobile. Check keypad types, autofill and tap targets on a real device.

Legal & ops

Surface refund/return policy and terms at checkoutState withdrawal and refund terms required by consumer law, and add a terms-acceptance checkbox to reduce disputes.Order and payment notification emails actually sendDefault WooCommerce mail is often flagged as spam. Send via an SMTP plugin and test both admin and customer emails.Configured stock management and out-of-stock behaviorSet stock tracking, whether to block or back-order when sold out, and low-stock alerts to prevent overselling.

Common traps that hurt checkout conversion

A feature "working" is not the same as protecting revenue. These points break most often.

Forced sign-up: blocking guest checkout drives drop-off at the final step.
Long forms: extra fields and steps raise abandonment.
Untested mobile: keypad types and tap targets often look fine only on desktop.
Tax display mismatch: prices that differ between product page and checkout erode trust.

What to test before launch

Right before going live, running the real transaction flow end to end is the surest check.

In test/sandbox mode, verify the gateway through approval → cancel → partial refund like a real order.
Vary cart price and weight to confirm free-shipping thresholds and surcharges apply as intended.
On order completion, check both admin and customer emails reach the inbox, not the spam folder.

Legal and operational readiness

Stating withdrawal/refund terms and adding a terms-acceptance checkbox are baseline safeguards against disputes. Define stock tracking and out-of-stock behavior to prevent overselling and undelivered orders. Confirm your checkout page has no HTTP resources with the mixed content check, and review the underlying WordPress security with the WordPress hardening checklist.

Where each checklist item lives in WooCommerce

Most checklist items stall not because they're hard, but because you don't know where the setting is. Here's the admin screen and key option behind each group (WooCommerce 8.x / 9.x).

Group	Settings path	Key option
Payments	`WooCommerce → Settings → Payments`	Live API keys, test mode off, currency (General tab)
Shipping	`Settings → Shipping → Zones`	Per-zone flat/free rates, free-shipping minimum, product weight/dimensions
Tax	`Settings → General` + `Settings → Tax`	Enable taxes, prices entered inclusive/exclusive, cart/checkout display
Cart UX	`Settings → Advanced` + Accounts & Privacy	Allow guest checkout, cart/checkout page mapping, terms page
Emails	`Settings → Emails`	New order (admin) & processing (customer) enabled, from-address
Stock	`Settings → Products → Inventory`	Manage stock, hide out-of-stock, low-stock threshold & alerts

Worked example: a leaky free-shipping threshold

Let's trace the most common revenue leak. You enabled "free shipping over $50," yet some customers still get charged shipping. Here's the diagnosis path.

Add $48 to the cart and apply a $5 off coupon → subtotal becomes $43.
If your free-shipping rule uses "minimum order amount" with the coupon option set to after coupon, the cart now falls below the threshold and shipping is charged.
Conversely, with $52 in the cart but tax shown exclusively, some gateways evaluate the threshold against the tax-inclusive total, throwing the comparison off.

So the same "$50" behaves differently depending on whether coupons and tax count toward the threshold. Make your policy wording match the actual option, and test the ±$1 band around the threshold directly.

Common pitfall

The most frequent mistake is shipping a gateway that's still in test mode. Sandbox keys make payments look "successful" while settling nothing. If day-one revenue is zero, this is almost always why — run one small real charge with your own card right after launch and confirm it appears in the gateway dashboard.

Frequently asked questions

Is HTTPS only on checkout enough?

No. Force site-wide HTTPS — it avoids mixed-content warnings, and letting the gateway tokenize card data keeps your PCI scope small.

Why aren't my WooCommerce emails sending?

The default PHP mail() lacks authentication and is easily flagged or blocked. Use an SMTP sending plugin and test both admin and customer notifications.

Should I enable guest checkout?

Strongly recommended for conversion. Forced registration is a leading cause of abandonment. Let people pay as guests and offer optional account creation afterward.

Should tax be inclusive or exclusive?

Match your selling regions and customer expectations, but the key is consistency across product, cart and checkout. Mismatched display makes prices look like they changed.

Is my checklist data stored?

No. Your checked state stays in the browser only and is never transmitted or saved.