What Is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an open source free plug-in that seamlessly integrates with your current WordPress website, turning your website into a fully fledged WordPress e-commerce site with only a few clicks. The plug-in was created in 2011 by Automattic (the corporate wing of WordPress) and quickly became the main solution for people looking to build their own online stores.
WooCommerce currently powers more than 99 percent of WordPress e-commerce sites in the US, UK, and Canada. With millions of active installations and more than 27 million downloads to date, WooCommerce is certainly the inspiration behind countless web shops.
What WooCommerce Does
WooCommerce makes selling products and services easier and affordable. You can sell physical and digital products, manage shipping and inventory, sort taxes automatically and take secure payments. WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress e-commerce plug-in and also the top e-commerce option across all sites – currently used by more than 42% of all online stores.
WooCommerce Is Free
Ecommerce has transformed the way people shop as well as conduct business. The majority of e-commerce platforms provide users with a high level of service and functionality, though this often comes at a cost. Fortunately, WooCommerce is free to download and aside from their own support system, business owners who use the platform can find a lot of helpful information and advice online. There are free plugins and extensions too, though to get the best out of your store you may find you’ll need to purchase some premium versions.
Easy Payment Modes
It’s important for your customers to have options when it comes to paying. If they are familiar with a system, or find they can pay easily they are more likely to complete the checkout process. WooCommerce includes Paypal and Striple as standard which provide a range of payment options. However, web store owners can choose from a large number of other payment gateway extensions to add to their WooCommerce store. There is also no limit so you aren’t tied to one option. When it comes to accounting there are also several extensions available to make bookkeeping easier.
It’s Highly Customizable
WooCommerce is designed to be used with a myriad of WordPress themes which means your store can look as unique as you want. If you have the budget, you can even hire a freelancer to create a store that better fits your brand and mission statement. Websites like themeforest.net contains thousands of WordPress themes, many of which are designed to integrate seamlessly with WooCommerce. WooCommerce has also released their new official Storefront theme. Aside from themes, there are countless plugins and extensions to further tweak your web shop and improve the user experience.
Analytics and Reports
WooCommerce has a built-in reporting section which allows you so see sales by date, product and category. You can also view other information such as data for each customer, including how many people order as guests. You can keep on top of inventory as well as taxes.
With the option of integrating WooCommerce with Google Analytics you will have all the data required to adjust your store so you can get more sales. For instance, you can figure out what products or services get the most views and compare this with sales to see if you need to improve your CTA; as well as those that get the least attention so you can remove or change them.
WooCommerce Is Familiar and Easy to Use
WordPress currently supports millions of sites, and you’ve probably used it before. As WooCommerce is a plug-in for WordPress, past users will have no difficulty figuring how to use the ecommerce platform. Even if you don’t have prior experience with the popular CMS (content management system) it’s incredibly user friendly and has an intuitive user interface.
Overall, it’s easy to see why WooCommerce is such a popular ecommerce platform. It’s affordable and simple to use, but can make any web store look highly professional. The fact that it’s so customizable also means you can make your shop stand out from the crowd and better promote your brand.
