Running a shop

Shop mode turns ShopClass into a store. You add the products, shoppers fill a cart and check out, and you ship the orders. It needs a theme made for shops, such as Aisle.

1. Turn it on

1. Settings → General → Site is a: pick Shop. In shop mode only admins add products. A shop also sells digital goods and credit packages. A classifieds site keeps the cart, orders and payment plugins too.
2. Settings → Billing: switch Enable billing on and set your currency.
3. Settings → Billing → Shop: set the delivery charge, the amount that makes delivery free, cash on delivery and its fee, how long unpaid orders wait before they are cancelled, and the order number prefix.
4. Appearance: activate the shop theme. If it asks for plugins, one screen installs and turns them on for you.
5. Install a payment method (see below), or use the built-in bank transfer and cash on delivery.

2. Add a product

Add a listing as an admin, then use Sell this item on its edit screen. Tick Buyers can add this item to a cart and set the SKU, price, stock and weight.

For a product that comes in sizes or colours, add option rows: one row per combination, such as Black / M, each with its own SKU, price, stock and an optional “was” price. The shopper picks the options on the product page.

• Stock is counted per row. At 0 the row is out of stock. Leave it blank to not count.
• Weight and Shipping class are for the Shipping plugin.
• A card payment takes the stock when it comes in. Bank transfer and cash on delivery hold it from the moment the order is placed.

3. Orders

Billing → Orders lists every order. Open one to see its items, address and buyer.

Status	Meaning
Pending	Placed, not paid. Bank transfer and cash on delivery orders wait here.
Paid	Money received. It shows in To ship until you send it.
Shipped	You marked it shipped with a carrier and tracking number. Cash on delivery is shipped before it is paid.
Delivered	You marked it delivered. A cash on delivery order is marked paid now.
Cancelled	Closed before payment. The stock goes back on sale.
Refunded	The money went back. The stock goes back on sale.
Failed	A card payment failed or never came. The order is closed.

If two shoppers pay for the last unit at the same moment, the second order is still paid and is marked Oversold so you can sort it out.

Unpaid bank transfer and cash on delivery orders are cancelled after Cancel unpaid orders after (days). A shopper may hold at most the number of open unpaid orders you allow.

4. The order mails

The buyer is e-mailed when an order is:

1. placed (bank transfer and cash on delivery, before payment),
2. paid, with the receipt,
3. shipped, with the carrier and tracking link,
4. delivered,
5. cancelled,
6. refunded.

You get a “New order” mail for each order. A mail that cannot be sent waits on the job queue and is tried again, once per order and kind. Developers change the wording with the MailComposing event; see Order mails.

5. Plugins that add to the shop

Each one is free, works on plain shared hosting and does nothing until you set it up.

Plugin	What it adds
Shipping	Delivery zones by country, state or PIN code, Standard and Express, weight prices, free delivery, delivery dates and tracking links.
Tax	Tax lines from a default, country and category rates, prices with or without tax, and a tax invoice.
Tax GST	India GST on top of Tax: CGST and SGST in your state, IGST elsewhere, GSTIN and HSN on the invoice.
Promotions	Coupon codes, automatic discounts, a first-order offer and use limits.
Shop emails	A newsletter sign-up list with double opt-in and CSV export, and one reminder for a signed-in shopper’s left cart.
Analytics	Google Analytics 4 and Meta Pixel shop events, with a consent bar. Nothing loads before the visitor accepts.
Digital Goods	Downloadable files for a product, with links in the receipt.
Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay	Card and wallet payments. Buyers pay on the provider’s page.

What shoppers see in their account

A signed-in shopper gets a buyer account: the dashboard with their recent orders, Your orders, profile, password and delete account. The seller pages (listings, public profile, alerts, credits and API access) are hidden, and a link to one leads to the dashboard. With Digital Goods on, a Downloads entry lists what they bought. An admin signed in sees everything.

6. Customise

If your theme supports it, Appearance → Customise edits the home page sections and the look beside a live preview. Nothing shows to visitors until you press Publish. See Customise your theme.

Before you open

• Place a test order with bank transfer, then ship and deliver it, and read each mail.
• Check that cron or the auto-cron runs: hold days, retries and reminders depend on it.
• Write your delivery and refund terms into your Terms page.
• For the money side, see currencies and paid listings.