Ever wondered how to start with Drupal Commerce? Let`s go inside the Drupal Commerce Platform in 2025. This article will explore a detailed process for setting up Drupal Commerce for your online store, no matter what you're selling.

Step-by-Step Drupal Commerce Setup for a New Online Store

1. The first step is to choose Drupal as the core platform for your online store. Make sure you have the latest version of Drupal from the official website. After this, it is necessary to unzip the files to your web server and create a database for your project. Run the installer, specifying the database settings. Once it's done, you should create your admin user account.
2. The next step is to add some Commerce modules. The best way to install is through Composer. Just run the command:
   composer require drupal/commerce.
3. The basic setup of the store starts with the currency configuration. Go to Administration > Commerce > Settings > Currencies to add and configure the currencies that will be used in your store. Make sure you set your primary currency and customize how the price format will look on your store.
4. The next thing you'll do is create a store. You can do it via Administration > Commerce > Stores > Add Store. Here you will specify the store name, country, default currency, and other basic settings. For most projects, creating a single store is sufficient. Anyway, Drupal Commerce supports multiple stores if necessary.
5. Before starting to add your products, you will need to configure product types and their attributes. The next required step is to choose Administration > Commerce > Product Types and create the desired types (e.g., "Physical Product," "Digital Product," "Service"). For each product type, configure the necessary fields such as description, image, specifications, etc.
6. If you sell products with different colors, sizes or materials, you can set these in Administration > Commerce > Product Attributes. The admin user should create the desired attributes and their values, which can later be used for product variations.
7. Alright, after configuring the types and attributes, you are ready to add products. Choose Administration > Commerce > Products > Add Product. Select a product type, then fill in all the required fields, and create product variations if necessary. Set the price and availability for each variation.
8. To configure how your customers will pay, you need to go to Administration > Commerce > Settings > Payment Gateways. Drupal Commerce has integration with many popular payment systems, such as PayPal, Stripe, LiqPay, and others. Keep in mind that for every payment, you`ll need to install and configure the appropriate modules.
9. Now let`s talk about shipping.  You need to go to Administration > Commerce > Settings > Shipping. This is where you'll define how you ship your products, methods, rates, and rules for their application. The cool thing is that you can configure different shipping options based on address, order weight, or other parameters.
10. The checkout process can be configured in Administration > Commerce > Settings > Checkout. The next step is to define the checkout steps, required fields, and their order. The standard process includes collecting contact information and selecting a shipping and payment method, but you can customize it to your needs.
11. To configure taxes, go to Administration > Commerce > Settings > Taxes. Create tax rates according to the legislation of your country and configure the rules for their application depending on the type of product and the place of delivery.
12. Don't forget to configure notifications for the administrator and customers about new orders and their statuses. This can be done through Administration > Commerce > Settings > Email Templates.

To make your store UX, you can configure additional functions like product search, filtering, comparison, wishlist, and others. For this, use additional modules such as Search API, Facets, Commerce Wishlist, etc.
Once you've got all settings, test your store, check the process of placing an order, payment and receiving notifications. We recommend to configure SEO for products using the Metatag and Pathauto modules to improve the visibility of your store in search engines.

Key Modules and Extensions for Drupal Commerce Platform

Out of the box, Drupal Commerce includes the necessary components to run the store. However, to expand the capabilities and add more features, it is worth find the additional modules.
Commerce Shipping is an indispensable module for stores selling physical goods. It allows you to configure different delivery methods, delivery zones, and tariffs. Integration with popular delivery services significantly improves the user experience and automates the calculation of delivery costs.
Commerce Discount provides flexible options for creating a system of discounts and promotional offers. Any user can configure different types of discounts: fixed, percentage, for individual products or categories, with a time limit, or for certain groups of users. This option is especially useful for seasonal sales and loyalty programs.
Commerce Stock helps to manage warehouse inventory. It tracks the number of products, automatically updates information after orders, and can notify administrators when inventory reaches a critical level. This is a very useful technical tool, especially for stores with a large assortment of products.
Commerce Reports provides detailed sales analytics that allow you to track store performance. Sales statistics by period, product, category and other parameters help to make informed business decisions and optimize your assortment.
Facets, combined with the Search API, create a powerful product filtering system by various parameters. With this option, users can filter products by price, brand, size, and other attributes, greatly simplifying the search and selection process.
Commerce Add to Cart Link allows to create links to quickly add products to the cart, which is especially useful for email marketing and special promotional pages. By the way, Commerce Wishlist provides a wishlist functionality where users can save items for future purchase.
Commerce Recurring is a must-have module for stores that offer subscriptions and recurring payments. The most useful function is to set up different subscription plans with different frequencies and automate the recurring payment process.

Practical Tips for Optimizing Performance and Conversion in Drupal Commerce

To make your Drupal Commerce-based online store run as quickly as possible, we recommend setting up a few important things that will significantly improve performance and user experience.
Site acceleration
If you want your site to feel quick and responsive, implement caching. You can use the Memcached or Redis modules. It is also very useful to enable CSS and JavaScript aggregation and minification — this will help reduce the amount of data transferred.
Media optimization
Let's not forget about images. It is worth setting up their caching, as well as optimizing the size and format of files (for example, using WebP where possible). Got a lot of images, style files, and scripts that don't change much? CDN will help deliver these resources closer to the user. We also recommend paying attention to HTTP caching via Varnish, which is another effective way to speed up your site.
Performance analysis
Make it a habit to regularly check your site speed using services such as Google PageSpeed ​​Insights and GTmetrix. Pay attention to loading pages on mobile devices because it affects user convenience and SEO.
Improving the buyer experience
If you want to boost your sales, make the checkout process as simple and clear as possible. For example, the automatic cart saving function lets your buyers return and complete purchases later without losing selected products.
Product recommendations
To improve sales, you can add blocks with recommended or related products. This is conveniently implemented through the Commerce Recommender module. It lets you offer something extra that may interest the buyer.
Design and functionality testing
The Golems` development team recommends conducting A/B testing when developing or updating the site. This will help you understand which interface elements (for example, “Add to cart” buttons, order form, or product card) work best in terms of user engagement.
Also, set up automated email campaigns to bring back customers with abandoned carts and implement a loyalty program to encourage repeat purchases.

By the way, pay your attention to performance and conversion rates. As they can help you a lot. Use a responsive design for different types of devices. As an option, utilize lazy loading technology to improve UX and site speed.
Another good idea is to display product availability and delivery times on pages. It builds customer trust. Implement a review or rating system to the website. Lastly, focus on SEO with unique meta descriptions and meta tags to boost your conversions. 
But! If you need help with your Drupal eCommerce store, you can always contact us.