WooCommerce powers roughly 40% of EU online stores, making it the single most common platform affected by the GPSR enforcement wave that began in December 2024. This step-by-step checklist covers everything a WooCommerce store owner needs to do to meet GPSR requirements — with specific plugin recommendations and settings paths.
1. Add manufacturer information to product pages
GPSR Article 9 requires manufacturer name, postal address, and electronic contact details to appear on product pages or their packaging. In WooCommerce, the cleanest implementation uses custom product attributes or a dedicated plugin.
Option A — Custom attributes (free, built-in): Go to Products → Attributes and create global attributes named "Manufacturer", "Manufacturer Address", and "Manufacturer Contact". Assign them to each product. Display them in your product tab by editing your theme's single-product/tabs/additional-information.php template.
Option B — WooCommerce Product Table or ACF (plugins): Advanced Custom Fields lets you create structured product fields visible on the front-end without touching PHP. Combine with the free "Product Metadata for WooCommerce" plugin to display these fields in a standardised way.
2. Add product identifiers (model / batch numbers)
Each product needs a traceable identifier — a SKU, model number, or batch reference. WooCommerce has a built-in SKU field under Products → [Product] → Inventory → SKU. Ensure this is displayed on the product page. Most themes display the SKU by default; if yours doesn't, add this snippet to functions.php:
add_action('woocommerce_product_meta_end', function() {
global $product;
if ($product->get_sku()) {
echo '<span class="sku-label">Reference: ' . esc_html($product->get_sku()) . '</span>';
}
});3. Update your legal pages
GPSR requires accessible legal information. Your WooCommerce store needs:
- Privacy Policy — linked in footer, GDPR-compliant
- Terms and Conditions — accepted at checkout
- Returns and Refund Policy — clearly linked from product pages and checkout
- Withdrawal Rights (Right of Withdrawal / Widerrufsrecht) — mandatory for EU B2C sales
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Page Setup to assign your Terms and Conditions page. This adds a checkbox to the checkout that customers must accept before completing a purchase.
4. Add GDPR-compliant cookie consent
Install CookieYes (free tier available) or Complianz (free + premium). Both auto-scan your WooCommerce store for cookies and generate a compliant banner. Critical: ensure Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and any ad retargeting scripts are blocked until explicit consent.
If you use WooCommerce Payments or Stripe, note that these payment cookies are "strictly necessary" and exempt from consent requirements.
5. Display contact information prominently
GPSR requires accessible electronic contact details. Add your business email, phone number, and physical address to:
- Your footer (visible on all pages)
- Your Contact page
- Your About page
- Ideally, product pages (as store contact details)
Use Appearance → Widgets or your theme's footer settings to add contact details. Alternatively, use the free WP Business Reviews or simply edit your footer template.
6. Add structured data (Product schema)
WooCommerce automatically generates basic Product schema, but it often misses GPSR-relevant fields. Install Schema Pro or Rank Math (both free tiers available) to extend product schema with manufacturer information, GTIN, and MPN fields that search engines and regulatory systems can parse.
In Rank Math: go to Schema → Product and map your custom attributes to the brand, manufacturer, and gtin fields.
7. Fix accessibility issues (EAA compliance)
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) became enforceable in June 2025 for ecommerce. Key WooCommerce-specific fixes:
- Product images: Add alt text to every product image. WooCommerce supports this in the product editor but doesn't enforce it — audit with EuroGPSR to find all missing alt attributes.
- Buttons: Ensure "Add to Cart" buttons have accessible labels. Some themes generate generic buttons without text — check with a screen reader or accessibility scanner.
- Checkout form: WooCommerce's default checkout is reasonably accessible, but third-party checkout plugins often break form label associations.
- Theme: Choose an accessibility-tested theme. Storefront (WooCommerce's official theme) is the safest option.
8. Enable HTTPS and set canonical URLs
Basic but often missed: ensure your store runs on HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Force Secure Checkout to redirect all traffic to HTTPS.
Set your canonical URL in Settings → General → WordPress Address (URL). Use the Yoast SEO or Rank Math canonical settings to prevent duplicate content between www and non-www versions.
9. Run a GPSR audit scan
Once you've completed the steps above, use EuroGPSR to scan your store. The free scan checks all 22 GPSR and EAA signals in under 2 minutes and gives you a severity-ranked list of remaining issues with WooCommerce-specific fix instructions.
Common WooCommerce-specific issues detected by EuroGPSR include missing product identifiers on variable product variants, footer contact details that aren't machine-readable, and cookie consent scripts that load Google Analytics before user consent.
GPSR compliance timeline for WooCommerce stores
GPSR came into force on December 13, 2024. There is no transition period for online sellers — compliance was required from day one. German and French enforcement authorities began issuing formal warnings to WooCommerce store owners in Q1 2025. If your store is selling into Germany, France, or the Netherlands, auditing and fixing GPSR issues is urgent.