Is WooCommerce the Right Ecommerce Solution for Your Business?
WooCommerce is WordPress’s most popular eCommerce plugin and the Internet’s most-used content management system.
WooCommerce started in 2011. The theme/web design company was small.
Download the WooCommerce plugin for free.
Automattic bought WooCommerce from WooThemes in 2015 Automattic was run by Matt Mullenweg, the original WordPress author.
The development of Automattic’s self-hosted WordPress.com, as well as its hosted WordPress.com by Automattic, has been closely coordinated since the beginning of WooCommerce.
This is enough information. WooCommerce’s reputation has grown rapidly and WooCommerce works well for some store owners, but not all.
WooCommerce: What’s it all about?
To make an eCommerce site, you only have to include a few functions. An order function, product listing, shopping cart, and payment processor are the essential components.
eCommerce platforms that are the best have many similarities to other website software but offer a bit more functionality.
Your desire to customize and control your software will determine which website software you select.
This is similar to real estate. A hotel does not have any control or customization but they can take care of all the details.
WooCommerce is the customizable and more controlled side of the spectrum.
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that allows you to add eCommerce functionality (aka CMS) to your website.
WordPress makes a website. It is just one of three parts.
- domain (your Internet address)
- Hosting: Where your website files are kept
- Software is what creates pages and files for your website.
WooCommerce can help WordPress build a separate store instead of a house.
The first choice for WooCommerce is
WooCommerce can be included in the 3-part bundle. This plugin competes with all other WordPress eCommerce plugins.
This product also has competition against large-scale bundled eCommerce products. Large competitors combine domain hosting, software, and server costs into one monthly fee.
It’s great! Bundling has many benefits and drawbacks.
It will still be done. Here are the cons and pros of WooCommerce compared to other direct and indirect rivals.
WooCommerce’s Pros
WooCommerce is no exception. WooCommerce is not an exception.
Long-term Value & Cost
WooCommerce is available for download and can be used free of charge. If you have WordPress already installed, WordPress can also be added to your site.
WooCommerce is as intended. It doesn’t require extensions.
Depending on your hosting plan, the annual cost of hosting your website could drop to $120 annually.
A low-tier eCommerce package will include a hosted service. It costs around $360 per year for a single site.
WooCommerce is even more amazing.
Hosting costs the most. You can boost the hosting account’s value by hosting more websites.
If you have four websites powered by WooCommerce, your annual hosting cost would be $30.
The annual cost of 4 small online shops using Shopify and Wix is approximately $1,440/year.
My first client had her website and blog. She also owned a shop that sold cat collars. Her embroidery shop was also available. These websites all were hosted under the same account.
These 4 websites were built using WordPress and WooCommerce to manage the 2 stores.
WooCommerce is even more amazing.
WooCommerce has all the features you need. WooCommerce’s per-feature cost will remain lower over time.
Most WooCommerce extensions charge a flat fee of less than $100. A flat fee that allows you to access a wide range of complex ecommerce features at an additional cost.
WooCommerce integrates into WordPress, giving you a double advantage for premium and free plugins that you use.
Redirection is the most popular plugin for WordPress. WooCommerce also has it for free. WooCommerce can integrate with your site.
Your JetPack subscription can be extended to add speed, security, and anti-spam protection to your WordPress website.
Any third-party software can be combined based on cost, compatibility, and other factors.
WooCommerce lets you sub-lease rental rooms to keep in line with housing. You can get your security bill paid for your home office. There are many options available.
There are some important caveats to all these cost-savings for WooCommerce. These are the cons. WooCommerce provides incredible benefits to store owners in the both short and long term.
Integration With WordPress
WordPress powers more than 1/3 of the Internet.
WooCommerce is also a part of the larger WordPress community and has enjoyed many benefits over time.
WooCommerce can pull features from a wide range of themes, plugins, and tutorials. This seamless integration is vital.
Yoast SEO is a well-known plugin. It supports many languages and has advanced SEO capabilities. The plugin is very easy to use.
This is the only platform hosting something like that. Yoast also integrates with WooCommerce so that can work with Woast.
These are also valid for most popular themes. WooCommerce users will appreciate the bonuses that WordPress developers offer to their themes.
Since its conception, WordPress has upheld Open Web values. WordPress provides full RSS support and nice URLs. It is cross-browser and browser compatible. You also have complete control of your code and data.
You can easily exit WooCommerce. The only people who have access to your data are you (not other users).
WooCommerce plugin allows you to add ecommerce functionality to WordPress websites.
Automattic Support
Automatic was created by Matt Mullenweg, who also wrote the WordPress software.
WordPress software can be used openly and is free to the public. Automattic however is a commercial company that sells WordPress tools.
The company also runs WordPress.com which includes JetPack which offers speed, security, and utility kits to WordPress sites.
Many for-profit WordPress companies offer themes and plugins as well as support.
Automation is better for WooCommerce, its longevity, and consistency.
Many WordPress companies offer a wide range of eCommerce software. These plugins are mainly used for digital products.
In the end, WooCommerce should be considered alongside other plugins like Shopify Squarespace and Wix.
Automattic is still private and venture-funded, but it’s still growing. They will invest further in customer service and new features.
WooCommerce is owned by WooCommerce, making it an appealing choice for ecommerce plugins. This puts WooCommerce in line with the other eCommerce solutions available to large and stable businesses.
Flexibility and compatibility
These are some interesting facts about WooCommerce
- You can use it to sell memberships
- You can use it to buy recurring licenses
- This can be used for digital product sales
- You can use it to book appointments
- This can be used for Amazon products and drop-shipping or affiliate products
- You can “hack” the system to make it more profitable.
This tool is very versatile and can be used with many other applications
This plugin automatically creates and manages pages. It includes product pages, product category pages, order confirmations, and orders.
This plugin is compatible with all WordPress single-use plugins as well as large plugins like the BuddyPress social networking plugin and bbPress forums plug.
With one WordPress install, you can create an online community, forum, and store.
Integrations With 3rd Parties
WooCommerce is rapidly expanding its Apps and Extensions shop. These extensions include premium extensions that allow you to use third-party software such as inventory management and shipping.
This extension allows you to add an external processor to WooCommerce to allow offline merchants to use Square.
WooCommerce is likely to integrate with third-party shipping and inventory software you like.
Easy Use & Onboarding
There is a caveat to the pro. If you are new to WordPress, this will be mentioned in the pros section.
WooCommerce is a great way to get started if you have an existing WooCommerce account.
Once you’ve added WooCommerce to your cart you will immediately be taken to a setup sequence. This will enable you to create page types, list your first products, and set up all your settings.
WooCommerce can be set up in minutes. WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that folds media and pages so they are exactly where you need them to be.
Customization and Control
WooCommerce is a PHP-based plugin that integrates with WordPress. It gives you access to the code via FTP or a browser.
Add, remove, and edit other code to your heart’s content Your checkout flow, error codes, or CSS can all be edited
There are no platform restrictions or code access limits that limit your choices.
WooCommerce extensions developers can create custom extensions.
Do you own a business that requires Dogecoin? or do you require a shipping method? WooCommerce will be your only choice.
WooCommerce: Cons
Every ecommerce platform has its disadvantages. Each platform has its disadvantages.
These are the major drawbacks of WooCommerce or WordPress as an online shop.
Easy Use & Onboarding
WordPress and WooCommerce both try to be intuitive to use and easy to get onboarded (i.e. Move a new user from being an active user into a user span>
many resources on the Internet can help you.
Control and ease are important.
WooCommerce is more difficult than WordPress for newbies. These include checkout flow, listing, and payment tokens, as well as checkout.
WooCommerce can be a challenging learning curve for new users.
But, WooCommerce is more complex than other drag-and-drop stores builders such as Wix and Weebly.
Technical maintenance
Do you know how it feels to call your landlord and tell him what’s wrong with your house or apartment?
WooCommerce cannot do that. You have several options.
Unlike a landlord, there are no people who can just drop by and check the basic structure or HVAC filter.
WooCommerce is like owning your house. They are often cheaper than landlords and will help you take care of it faster than you think.
You are the only one responsible for your website’s functionality and availability.
You will be notified via plugins about any security updates. However, they will require you to install them and manage them yourself.
These are directly related to the advantages of maximum control.
WooCommerce Customer Support is offered. Many hosting companies offer WooCommerce Hosting and Management.
WooCommerce is not as easy to maintain as online store builders like Wix & Weebly or ecommerce platforms like Shopify.
WordPress.com can only be used as a hosted site. Automattic manages WordPress.com. This means that you can enjoy all the benefits of WooCommerce without paying extra.
Speed & Security
Security and speed of websites are increasingly important due to the rise of smartphones and hacking profits.
WooCommerce can be compared to technical maintenance because you have complete control over speed and security. There are also many third-party and native options.
WordPress or WooCommerce can be inherently secured if installed and managed by a trusted hosting provider.
WordPress or WooCommerce can be installed quickly by reliable hosting companies, provided they follow basic speed best practices.
The weakest link in a chain can make it the most complicated to secure speed and security.
Hosted platforms such as:
- Weebly
- Wix
- Shopify
- WordPress.com
They shine here. The team of experts monitors the website’s infrastructure to ensure it runs smoothly.
There are many bounty programs available that allow hackers to take advantage of vulnerabilities in systems. These partnerships will enable them to work directly with payment processors to alert fraudsters.
All HTMLCommerce store owners should be concerned about security and speed.
WooCommerce has this problem. This is especially true when your store has a rapid growth rate, from just a few users to hundreds.
Growth & Scaling
The WooCommerce plugin should work with WordPress core functionality.
WordPress is not designed to be used for eCommerce. It was built for flexibility.
WooCommerce functionality fails when more than one query is submitted to the database.
Ecommerce can, in contrast to browsing content and other types of functionality, generate many queries quickly.
Think of WooCommerce as a single individual who is responsible for requesting books and returning them. The guy can be pushed to take on multiple requests at once.
Picture them all coming together on Thanksgiving to place book orders. Then they start giving books back, and all of them want to make the full payment at once.
He will become confused and tired, then crash.
WooCommerce’s main problem is handling multiple add-to-cart and checkout events simultaneously.
WooCommerce does not have this issue in platforms that are built from scratch like Shopify. They use another set of technologies to avoid WooCommerce’s inherent issues.
WooCommerce can handle hundreds of thousands of orders. WooCommerce provides many examples to back this claim.
Yes, that’s true. You have to work hard and be a skilled professional in order for this scaling to happen.
It isn’t a problem for small businesses.
This is an issue if you want to quickly start a huge ecommerce site.
Long-term potential costs
WooCommerce is free! WooCommerce’s price is very affordable and has a lot of potential long-term value for anyone with a limited budget.
It is possible to require third-party assistance with WooCommerce.
We were hired by our client to solve several urgent problems she didn’t have time to fix before the deadline.
WooCommerce was selected by her to lower costs. These costs will be much more expensive than Shopify plans.
WooCommerce does not come with other software and hosting. Managed hosting, automatic backups, security scanning, and managed hosting could increase your monthly expenses.
These are all “potential” expenses. There is always a downside.
Future of Ecommerce
Ecommerce has been rapidly evolving. The pace of change is ever-increasing.
With apps like Poshmark or Depop, eCommerce can be seamlessly done within the app using a “headless” backend eCommerce system.
Many eCommerce platforms can be described as order and inventory tracking systems. A third-party app handles the actual shopping, cart, and payment.
WooCommerce is open in many ways. However, cutting-edge eCommerce relies on APIs and direct connection, which are not WooCommerce’s strengths.
Shopify has the infrastructure, size, and technical team to create cutting-edge integrations.
It’s not enough just to say Amazon.
This is to state that WooCommerce faces a challenge in ecommerce right now.
This could prove to be an enormous advantage. You can always control and own the space.
You should consider this risk. All it comes down to your future goals and vision. Wix and Squarespace offer basic ecommerce capabilities.
These are some of the direct examples.
WooCommerce Alternatives
Many eCommerce options are available online. It is difficult to find the right solution for you. Here is a listing of WooCommerce’s major competitors with links to other posts.
WooCommerce and other WordPress Ecommerce plugins
There are many eCommerce plugins, however, most are not good.
- Easy Digital Downloads – A focus on digital goods.
- WP Simple Cart is simple and offers few add-ons
- WP eCommerce is not an Automattic option. It is best for developers.
- NinjaShop: A focus on simplicity with limited add-ons
WooCommerce is available on WordPress.com in a package. However, this option increases WooCommerce costs and takes away some of its freedoms.
Shopify
If you don’t have a compelling reason to use WooCommerce and plan on expanding your eCommerce business, Shopify is probably better.
WooCommerce vs. Wix
Wix makes it easier to use than WooCommerce. Wix can be more restricted than WordPress.com and hosted eCommerce platforms like Shopify. Wix works well for smaller stores that want drag-and-drop convenience.
WooCommerce vs. Magento
Before the purchase of Magento, Magento was a formidable competitor to WooCommerce.
WooCommerce vs. OpenCart
OpenCart, an open-source ecommerce platform that is well-respected and widely used by many people is no longer in use.
WooCommerce vs. Ecwid
Ecwid can be used as an “anywhere shopping portal” rather than an ecommerce platform.
WooCommerce vs. Prestashop
PrestaShop, an open-source eCommerce platform that is well-respected and widely used by many people is still in use.
WooCommerce Review Conclusion
WooCommerce offers the most efficient eCommerce solutions for 3 kinds of store owners.
- Shopowners with the technical skills to modify their stores or develop unique functionality.
- Website owners who are content-driven want to create a seamlessly integrated store.
- Shopowners that are budget-conscious and willing to spend their time rather than money on their websites.
Hosting solutions can be a good option for people who do not fit into these categories.
Planning your marketing strategy is just as important as your software.
