How to Add a Buy Now Button in WordPress (3 Easy Methods)

Back when we started selling online, the process of adding a Buy Now button to WordPress was unnecessarily complicated.

After years of testing different solutions and helping other business owners set up their payment systems, we’ve discovered the most effective ways to do it right.

The key is choosing a method that matches your business needs while making the purchase process simple for your customers. It’s something our partner brands have mastered, and it’s made a huge difference in their conversion rates.

In this guide, we will walk you through three proven methods for adding a Buy Now button to your WordPress site. These solutions work for businesses of all sizes, and we’ll help you choose the one that’s perfect for your specific needs.

Why Add a Buy Now Button in WordPress?

The main reason to add a ‘Buy Now’ button is to make the purchasing process faster for your customers. By sending shoppers directly to checkout, you can reduce cart abandonment and increase your sales.

Here are the key benefits of using a Buy Now button:

• Increases Conversions: A direct checkout encourages impulse purchases and can boost conversions, especially when used on sales or landing pages.
• Reduces Cart Abandonment: By removing extra steps like the cart page, you give customers fewer chances to change their minds before completing a purchase.
• Improves Customer Experience: A quick and frictionless buying journey creates a better experience, encouraging customers to return to your store in the future.

In this guide, we will show you 3 different methods to add a Buy Now button. Here’s a quick overview to help you pick the best one for your website:

Which Method Should You Choose?

• WP Simple Pay: This is the perfect choice if you want to accept simple one-time payments without setting up a full eCommerce store. It’s great for services, single products, or donations.
• Easy Digital Downloads: If you sell digital products like eBooks, software, or courses, this plugin is the best solution. It has a built-in ‘Buy Now’ feature designed specifically for digital goods.
• WooCommerce Plugin: For those who already run a full online store with WooCommerce, this method uses a simple plugin to add a Buy Now button to your existing product pages.

Simply use the quick links below to jump to the method you want to use:

• Method 1: Adding a Buy Now Button With WP Simple Pay (No eCommerce Plugins Required)
• Method 2: How to Add a Buy Now Button to Your Digital Downloads
• Method 3: Add a Buy Now Button to Your WooCommerce Store
• Bonus: More Online Store Tricks to Boost Sales

Ready? Let’s get started.

Method 1: Adding a Buy Now Button With WP Simple Pay (No eCommerce Plugins Required)

You can add a simple buy now button to any page, post, or widget-ready area using WP Simple Pay.

This is a great option for service-based businesses, non-profits, or anyone who’s looking for a quick buy now button option for WordPress.

WP Simple Pay is the best Stripe payment plugin for WordPress. During testing, we found it super easy to accept credit card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank debit, and more. This makes WP Simple Pay the perfect choice if you want to add a buy now button to a sales page without having to install anything special.

For more details, see our WP Simple Pay review.

Step 1: Install WP Simple Pay and Connect to Stripe

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WP Simple Pay plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the plugin will automatically launch the setup wizard. Go ahead and click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button.

In the next step, you’ll need to connect a Stripe account to WP Simple Pay. Stripe is a beginner-friendly payment processor for website owners.

To get started, click on the ‘Connect with Stripe’ button.

On the next screen, you can either log into an existing Stripe account or create a new one.

If you already have a Stripe account, then simply type in the email address and password for that account.

WP Simple Pay will now show you how to connect your Stripe account to WordPress.

If you are not already registered with Stripe, type in your email address and follow the onscreen instructions to create a Stripe account.

Step 2: Create a New Payment Button

Once your Stripe account is connected, click on the ‘Create a Payment Form’ button.

If you’ve clicked away from this screen by accident, then don’t panic. You can reach the same screen by going to WP Simple Pay » Add New.

The free WP Simple Pay plugin has a few different templates that can help you create a payment form quickly. You can unlock extra templates by upgrading to WP Simple Pay Pro, including a template that adds a Stripe donate button in WordPress.

Since we want to create a buy now button, hover over the ‘Payment Button’ template and then click on ‘Create Payment Button’ when it appears.

Step 3: Set Up Your Payment Details

On the next screen, give your payment button a ‘Title’ for your own reference.

You can also use the ‘Description’ field to add some information about your button.

Again, WordPress won’t show this to your site’s visitors, but it can be useful for your own reference or for anyone else who shares your WordPress dashboard.

After that, click on the ‘Payment’ tab.

By default, WP Simple Pay will create your button in test mode, meaning you can’t accept real payments yet.

We recommend leaving the ‘Global Settings (Test Mode)’ radio button selected so you can test your buy now button before you start accepting payments.

If you want to start collecting payments straight away, then you can select the ‘Live Mode’ button instead.

Next, you can decide how much the button will charge the customer. Go ahead and type this number into the ‘One-Time Amount’ field.

Step 4: Customize Your Button and Checkout Form

Once you’ve done that, select the ‘Form Fields’ tab.

By default, your button will have the label ‘Pay Now,’ but you can change this to anything you want by typing into the ‘Button Text’ field.

You can also change the ‘Button Processing Text,’ which is the message that WP Simple Pay will show to shoppers while it’s processing their payment.

By default, WP Simple Pay will use the same button style as your WordPress theme.

It also has a ‘Stripe blue’ style that you can use, as you can see in the following image. If you want to use this button style, then simply select the ‘Stripe blue’ radio button in the ‘Payment Button’ section.

​Next, select the Stripe Checkout tab and choose the information that WP Simple Pay will collect from visitors at checkout.

For example, if you are selling a physical product, then you can get the customer’s shipping address by checking the ‘Collect Shipping Address’ box.

If you think that customers may want to buy multiple products, then make sure you check the ‘Allow quantity adjustment’ box.

This adds a dropdown to the Stripe checkout page, which allows customers to change how many products they’re buying.

Step 5: Publish and Test Your Button

When you are happy with how the buy now button is set up, it’s time to make it live by clicking on the ‘Publish’ button.

You can now add this buy now button to any WordPress page, post, or widget-ready area using the ‘Form Shortcode.’

For more details on how to place the shortcode, you can see our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.

If you’ve published your button in test mode, then the Stripe dashboard won’t show any payments you get during this time, which makes it difficult to test your buy now button.

To see your transactions, you’ll need to enable test mode in Stripe. After logging in to your Stripe dashboard, look for a toggle switch to view test data.

This is usually located in the upper-right corner of the page.

As soon as you’ve enabled test mode, you can test your buy now button, and the payments will appear in the Stripe dashboard.

Step 6: Go Live and Start Accepting Payments

Once you’ve finished testing your button, you can start accepting payments by going to WP Simple Pay » Payment Forms.

Here, just hover your mouse over the buy now button and click on the ‘Edit’ link.

You can now go ahead and select the ‘Payment’ tab and then click on the radio button next to ‘Live Mode.’

Finally, click on ‘Update.’ Your buy now button is now live, and you’re ready to start accepting payments from your visitors.

Method 2: How to Add a Buy Now Button to Your Digital Downloads

WP Simple Pay lets you add a straightforward buy now button to any WordPress blog or website. However, if you want to sell digital downloads on WordPress, then you’ll need an eCommerce plugin that has a buy now feature.

Easy Digital Downloads is the best platform to easily sell digital products. In fact, we use this plugin ourselves to sell many of our premium WordPress plugins.

To learn more about our experience, see our Easy Digital Downloads review.

The plugin gives you a few ways to add a buy now button in WordPress.

By default, Easy Digital Downloads will show an ‘Add to Cart’ button on all its product pages. However, you can replace that with a buy now button instead.

When the customer clicks on the button that you can see in the image above, they’ll see a popup where they can type in their email address and credit card details.

After that, they just need to click on ‘Purchase’ to go ahead and buy the product.

Easy Digital Downloads also comes with an ‘EDD Buy Button’ block that you can add to any page, post, or widget-ready area.

You can connect this block to any of your downloadable products. The visitor can then simply click on this button to add the product to their basket and go straight to checkout.

With that in mind, we will show you how to use both methods.

Step 1: Install and Activate Easy Digital Downloads

To start, you may want to add a buy now button to your product pages. This gives the customer less time to change their mind and abandon their purchase.

If you use SiteGround as your hosting provider, then Easy Digital Downloads comes pre-installed, so you can start using the plugin straight away.

If not, you can check out SiteGround EDD hosting and get started for as little as $2.99 a month!

If you are using any other hosting provider, then you’ll need to install and activate the Easy Digital Downloads plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

In this guide, we’ll be using the free Easy Digital Downloads plugin, as it has everything you need to create a simple buy now button. There’s also a pro version that has more advanced features, including wishlists, purchase rewards, fraud monitoring, and more.

Step 2: Configure Your Payment Gateway

Before you can create a buy now button, you need to set up Stripe or PayPal. To configure your payment gateway, go to Downloads » Settings and then click on the ‘Payments’ tab.

You can now check the box next to ‘PayPal’ or ‘Stripe’ depending on the payment gateway you want to use.

Important: For the instant ‘Buy Now’ popup to work, you must select only one payment gateway. If you enable multiple gateways, the button will still work, but it will redirect users to your main checkout page to choose their payment method instead of showing the popup.

After making your decision, click on ‘Save Changes’ to store your settings.

If you want to use PayPal, then click on the ‘PayPal’ tab.

You can then select the ‘Connect with PayPal in live mode’ button.

This opens a popup where you can type in the email address and password for the PayPal account where you want to receive payments.

To set up Stripe instead, click on the ‘Stripe’ tab and then select ‘Connect with Stripe.’

This opens a setup wizard, which will help you connect your website to Stripe.

After configuring your payment gateway, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button. You can now add a buy now button to any Easy Digital Downloads product page.

Step 3: Create a New Downloadable Product

To create your first digital product, go to Downloads » Downloads. Then, click on the ‘Add New’ button.

You can now add a title and a description for the product, upload an image, add categories and tags, and more.

Step 4: Set the Product Price and Upload the File

The next step is uploading the product. This might be an ebook download, video training, a PDF guide, digital art and graphics, or any other file that WordPress supports.

Pro Tip: If you want to sell a file type that WordPress doesn’t support, such as SVG images, PSD files, or others, then see our guide on how to allow additional file types in WordPress.

To add your downloadable file, scroll to the ‘Download Files’ section.

In the ‘File Name’ field, type in a name for the downloadable file. Once you’ve done that, click on the ‘Upload a file’ button.

This will launch the WordPress media library. Here, you can choose the file that you want to sell as a digital download.

Step 5: Change the Button Behavior to ‘Buy Now’

When you are happy with how your product is set up, it’s time to add a buy now button.

In the right-hand menu, find the ‘Button Options’ section. Here, click on the ‘Purchase Button Behavior’ dropdown and choose ‘Buy Now.’

You can now make the product live by clicking on ‘Publish.’ Now, if you visit this product page, you’ll see the buy now button.

You can add a buy now button to any product page simply by following the same process described above.

Step 6: Add a Buy Now Button to Any Page or Post

Sometimes, you may want to use buy now buttons in other parts of your online store.

For example, if you have a landing page that promotes a particular product, then you might allow customers to start the checkout process directly from that landing page.

This can get you more sales by encouraging impulse purchases while also removing multiple steps from the buyer’s journey.

You can do this easily using the ‘EDD Buy Button’ block. To use this block, you first need to set up a payment gateway and create at least one product following the same process described above.

After that, simply open the page or post where you want to add your buy now button in the content editor. Then, click on the ‘+’ icon and start typing ‘EDD Buy Button.’

When the right block appears, click to add it to your layout.

You can now open the ‘Select a Download’ dropdown and choose the product that will be added to the customer’s cart.

By default, Easy Digital Downloads will show the product’s price on the buy now button.

If you want to hide the price, then click to disable the ‘Show Price’ toggle.

You can now publish or update the page to make it live. Now, if you visit your WordPress website, you’ll see the buy now button in action.

Method 3: Add a Buy Now Button to Your WooCommerce Store

If you run a WooCommerce store, then you may want to add a buy now button to your product pages. This allows customers to start the checkout process directly from the product page, which often reduces cart abandonment rates.

The easiest way to add a buy now button to your online store is by using the Buy Now Button for WooCommerce plugin.

It automatically adds a Buy Now button to your product pages, and you can easily customize how it looks and works from your WooCommerce settings.

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Buy Now Button for WooCommerce plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Step 2: Configure the Buy Now Button Settings

Upon activation, head over to the WooCommerce » Settings » Buy Now » General page from your WordPress dashboard. Here you need to check the ‘Enable Buy Now button’ box.

After that, you can choose to redirect customers straight to the checkout page (skipping the cart page) or display the checkout form in a pop-up instead.

You can also set the button’s position on the product page to appear before or after the ‘Add to Cart’ button, or even before or after the quantity input.

Additionally, you can change the button text to something like “Buy Now,” reset the cart before a new purchase, and remove the quantity input to streamline the checkout experience.

Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Next, switch to the ‘Customize’ tab from the top to adjust the button’s appearance.

You can use your theme’s default style or customize it with your preferred text, background, and border colors, including hover states.

You can also tweak the button’s dimensions, adding padding, margins, and adjusting width or height. For more control, you can add custom CSS.

Once you’re happy with the settings, be sure to save your changes.

Step 3: Check Your Product Pages

Now, visit any product page on your WooCommerce store. You should see the new ‘Buy Now’ button displayed alongside the standard ‘Add to Cart’ button.

When a customer clicks it, they will be redirected straight to checkout or see a pop-up, depending on your settings.

Bonus: More Online Store Tricks to Boost Sales

Now that you’ve learned how to add a Buy Now button, here are a few more proven strategies to improve your online store and sell more:

• Show Product Recommendations: Suggest related products to help customers find items they might like. This improves their shopping experience and can be done through upsells, cross-sells, or automated emails.
• Add a Customer Reviews Page: Build trust with new customers by showing them positive experiences from past buyers. For step-by-step instructions, see our guide on how to add a customer reviews page in WordPress.
• Use FOMO to Increase Conversions: FOMO, or the ‘fear of missing out,’ creates a sense of urgency. You can use this tactic by promoting limited-time offers or displaying countdown timers on your site. For full instructions, see our guide on using FOMO to increase conversions on your WordPress site.

These tricks will help you boost sales and take your store to the next level.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add a buy now button in WordPress. You can also go through our guide on how to easily add a download link in WordPress or our tutorial on how to limit purchase quantity in WordPress.

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