FixBuild .com

UK wellness brand offering science-backed supplements, with a growing audience in the UK and EU.
Products include vitamins, probiotics, and functional formulas; sold DTC via WooCommerce. thehealios.com

What they do

Operate a subscription-friendly, DTC storefront designed for clean, reliable conversions.
Serve UK as primary market with demand signals from EU and South Africa.

Context
The client’s WooCommerce store ran Salient + WPBakery with seven products and Stripe as the main gateway. Despite local success in South Africa, UK/EU customers reported failed payments. The brief was a targeted WooCommerce Checkout Fix with no redesign, but with currency and selling-region corrections to restore UK/EU revenue.

Why We Started This Project

The client reported that UK and EU customers couldn’t complete purchases. Payments worked in South Africa but failed elsewhere. They requested no design changes, only a WooCommerce Checkout Fix to restore successful checkouts across regions rapidly.

Key pain points

Payments failing for UK/EU customers
Currency confusion (ZAR visible despite UK focus)
Possible misconfiguration of selling locations
Unknown plugin conflicts and intermittent PHP errors
Urgent timeline tied to ongoing ad traffic and lost orders

Business Impact

Meta ads were driving traffic, but buyers abandoned at checkout due to regional and currency blockers.
Lost revenue across primary market (UK) and secondary market (EU).
Eroding trust from repeated payment failures and unclear delivery messaging.
The client needed a same-day path to turn traffic into completed orders, making a WooCommerce Checkout Fix the highest-leverage move.

Technical Challenges

Performance
- Random HTTP 500s during admin and checkout suggested unstable PHP execution and potential bloat.
- INP/LCP risk from extra scripts and emojis; no persistent object cache.
Stability
- Plugin/theme conflicts likely between WooCommerce, Stripe, and ancillary plugins.
- Redirect loop risk from mixed HTTP/HTTPS or www/non-www rules.
- REST/loopback issues blocking cron and webhooks.
Commerce
- Selling locations limited to South Africa + UK. EU buyers couldn’t even select their country, so they abandoned before Stripe.
- Base currency showed ZAR in contexts where GBP should have been default, creating friction.
- Stripe not fully verified for UK/EU SCA flows, increasing “Stripe payment failed” experiences and webhook misses.
Security
- XML-RPC exposed and noisy.
- SMTP not reliably configured, risking lost order and receipt emails.

Diagnostic Workflow

Reviewed WooCommerce general settings for selling and shipping locations; confirmed EU restriction misconfiguration.
Audited Currency settings and gateway currency handling for a targeted WooCommerce Checkout Fix.
Enabled WP_DEBUG log and checked server error logs to catch 500s.
Entered Safe Mode approach: deactivated non-essential plugins, re-enabled sequentially to isolate conflicts.
Validated REST API responses and loopback; tested webhooks against Stripe’s endpoints.
Ran sandbox test payments, including SCA/3DS flows, and traced webhook lifecycle from Stripe to WooCommerce.

Key Insights

EU countries were excluded from “Sell to” which blocked checkout progression entirely.
GBP wasn’t enforced as the single base currency; ZAR visibility created confusion and cart churn. WooCommerce allows one base currency; multi-currency display requires the right extension and careful gateway handling.
Stripe configuration needed test-mode hardening, 3DS readiness, and clean webhooks to prevent the dreaded “payment failed” loop.

Solution

Initial stabilization

- Restored default .htaccess and permalinks to stop 500s and redirect loops.
- Safe-mode plugin isolation to identify and neutralize conflict sources.
- Verified REST and loopback; fixed 403s blocking AJAX and webhooks.

Code/plugin remediation

- Removed inactive and redundant plugins; cleaned custom snippets that interfered with checkout logic.
- Ensured child/parent theme linkage and reduced admin Heartbeat noise.

Commerce reconfiguration

- Selling to UK + all EU countries; SA enabled for delivery only.
- Set GBP as the base currency; removed ZAR from checkout contexts in line with Woo guidance.
- Clear checkout note about delivery to SA and EU for expectation setting.

Payment gateway hardening

- Stripe connected in test mode, verified SCA/3DS flows, and configured webhooks end-to-end.
- Executed sandbox test orders in GBP and EUR to validate authorization, capture, and status transitions.

Performance + reliability

- Hardened XML-RPC; enabled object caching; deferred non-critical JS; emoji/embeds cleanup.
- Configured SMTP with Google Workspace for reliable transactional email.

QA, regression testing, handover

- Full checkout path QA across UK/EU geos, mobile Safari/Chrome.
- Provided go-live checklist and rollback notes for the WooCommerce Checkout Fix.

Results

Outcomes

Checkout unblocked for UK + EU; orders process in GBP by default.
Stripe test flows passed including 3DS; webhook delivery confirmed.
Reduced errors: 500s, 403s, and redirect loops addressed; admin and checkout stabilized.
UX clarity: delivery message for SA and EU; currency confusion removed.
Performance uplift from caching and script deferrals improved perceived speed on mobile.

Proof of completion

- - Test orders executed post-fix in GBP and EUR with successful end-to-end processing.
  - Store-side email reliability restored via SMTP.

Want results like this? Contact wpFixBuild today and get a free audit

Request a Free Audit

WordPress Fix for Fatal Theme Error on WebMedicalInfo

See how a rapid WordPress Fix resolved a PHP fatal theme error, restored site stability, and cleared on-page database notices for a health news website.

WooCommerce Loyalty Program: Custom Build & Fixes

See how wpFixBuild built a custom WooCommerce Loyalty Program, fixed SMTP and coupon conflicts, and boosted retention with automated rewards.

⭐ Fiverr Reviews

Real words from the client behind this case study

After completing the work, the client shared direct feedback about their experience. Their review demonstrates the professionalism, attention to detail, and expertise wpFixBuild brings to every WordPress project delivered worldwide.