WooCommerce stores require more server resources than a standard blog. This article covers the most common performance and configuration issues and how to resolve them.

Increase PHP memory limit

WooCommerce with many products, orders, or extensions frequently exhausts the default PHP memory limit. If you see a white screen or a "Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted" message:

1. Go to cPanel → Software → MultiPHP INI Editor.
2. Select your domain.
3. Set memory_limit to 256M or 512M.
4. Click Apply.

Enable object caching

WooCommerce makes frequent database queries. Object caching reduces these by storing query results in memory:

• Install a caching plugin such as W3 Total Cache or LiteSpeed Cache (if your server uses LiteSpeed).
• Enable object cache in the plugin settings.
• WooCommerce cart and checkout pages must not be served from full-page cache — add them to your cache exclusion list. WooCommerce does this automatically for most cache plugins.

Optimise the database

WooCommerce stores order data, sessions, and logs in your database. Over time these grow large and slow queries down:

• Go to WooCommerce → Status → Tools.
• Run Clear WooCommerce sessions to remove expired guest sessions.
• Run Clean up post revisions to remove old product revisions.
• Consider a plugin like WP-Optimize for regular automated database cleanup.

Common issues and fixes

• Checkout page shows 404 — go to WordPress → Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes to regenerate rewrite rules.
• Products not displaying — clear your cache plugin cache. Also check WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Display.
• Payment gateway not appearing at checkout — ensure SSL is active on your checkout page. Most payment gateways require HTTPS. Force HTTPS via .htaccess (see: How to Force HTTPS on Your Website).
• Emails not sending — WooCommerce uses WordPress's wp_mail function. Test with a plugin like WP Mail SMTP and configure an SMTP server. See: Why Are My Emails Being Blocked.
• "Sorry, no products were found" on shop page — the shop page setting may be wrong. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Pages and verify the correct page is assigned to Shop.

WooCommerce and Cloudflare

If you use Cloudflare, add the following to your cache bypass rules:

• Cart page (/cart/*)
• Checkout page (/checkout/*)
• My Account page (/my-account/*)

Serving these pages from Cloudflare cache causes cart and session issues. See: How to Set Up Cloudflare for Your Website.