The plugin you choose for your WooCommerce shopping cart can have a tremendous impact on your success. After all, if your visitors are not satisfied with their experiences, they are likely to simply abandon their carts and your site altogether, then choose a competitor, instead. Here are some of the most important things you should look for in a WooCommerce cart plugin and a few examples to help you on your way.
Does it Give You what You Need?
Just because you think a WooCommerce cart plugin might be a great option for your visitors, that does not mean it will work for you. When it comes to choosing one, there are four things you absolutely must keep in mind if you hope to make the best possible decision:
Simple Dashboard & Ease of Use – If the setup is complicated, or if it takes too long to find what you need on the dashboard, you will slow yourself down and grow frustrated in short order. Find a cart plugin that is easy to use with a simple interface.
Plenty of Customization – If there’s something about the cart you’ve always wanted to change, there’s likely a plugin out there that can do it. Consider the customization options and make sure the plugin you choose has enough to suit your needs.
Compatibility with Popular Payment Methods – Visa, Mastercard, and others might seem like no-brainers, but what about gateways like Stripe and PayPal? If your cart plugin doesn’t support these, keep looking.
Compatibility with your Theme – The theme you choose for your shop becomes part of your brand, so it’s important that your WooCommerce cart plugin works with that theme. If not, or if you have to choose a new theme to utilize the plugin, it is probably not worth the time.
The Best WooCommerce Cart Plugin Options & How They Hold Up
With all the above information in mind, it becomes a little easier to narrow down the list of available WooCommerce cart plugin options and choose the one that’s best suited for your needs.
WooCommerce Direct Checkout – What if your visitors wanted to make a quick, easy purchase without having to navigate the cart at all? WooCommerce Direct Checkout can give them this experience. It gives you the option to ask customers whether they want to “Continue Shopping”, which can help them buy more. You might also opt to change the “Add to Cart” text to something entirely different.
WooCommerce Checkout Addons – This simple set of add-ons bundled into one convenient WooCommerce Cart Plugin is another great way to help boost consumers’ confidence in you. With it, you can provide value-added services like gift wrapping, rush orders, extra shipping insurance, and more.
Checkout Field Editor – If you think you could use an additional field during the checkout process, and even if you think there are too many, the Checkout Field Editor WooCommerce cart plugin is a great way to edit this. You can edit the Billing, Shipping, and Additional Fields sections, and you can add or edit custom fields, too.
WooCommerce One-Page Checkout – Today’s consumers are drawn to the simplest processes possible, and this plugin truly provides. You can show the product selection and the checkout form on the same page, which means they never have to leave the page to complete their shopping. There are four templates available and you can choose which products you want to show on each page. You can even make a template if you don’t find one you like.
PayPal Express Payment Gateway – PayPal is one of the world’s largest payment processing gateways. Consumers around the world appreciate the top-notch security and simplicity that only PayPal offers. With the Express Payment Gateway plugin, customers can completely skip the WooCommerce checkout, fill in their PayPal login information, and then come back to WooCommerce to finish setting up their shipping preferences. It’s safe, it’s secure, and it’s much faster for consumers who choose PayPal for their online shopping.
WooCommerce Menu Cart – Finally, if you want consumers to be able to see their shopping carts from anywhere, the Menu Cart WooCommerce Menu Cart plugin is a most have. You can display a cart icon in the navigation bar, giving visitors a quick glimpse with just a hover. You can even choose to have the plugin display items, prices, or both in the navigation menu! Consumers appreciate the transparency.
The WooCommerce shopping cart is one of the most vital parts of ecommerce. Without it, consumers would have no idea what they are buying, or even what their total cost will be. There are many WooCommerce cart plugin options available to help you customize their experiences and make their shopping (and buying) experience a positive one.
