Over a year ago I wrote about three WordPress eCommerce plugin that I was using for client projects, however, a lot has changed over the past year.
Over the past 6 months we have built three eCommerce sites for clients with the WooCommerce Plugin from WooThemes. And I have been very impressed by the diversification and functionality built into this plugin. Not to mention the huge library of “Extensions”, add-on plugins, that add functionality to the WooCommerce core features. It’s important to note that WooCommerce is a FREE plugin, however, the extensions are not, the range in price from $29 to $99.
When using a solution like WooCommerce, because of its scalability this WordPress eCommerce plugin can literally meet the needs of your project no matter how small or large. My only advice is to plan and strategize before you actually start setting up your eCommerce site.
Knowing which features you need, which extensions will be necessary and how your shopping experience will be are important elements to a successful eCommerce website. You want to make it as quick and easy for your customers to find what they want and then making the payment process so simple that there is no time second guess their decision. That’s why Amazon.com has the “1-Click” ordering (which incase you did not know has been patented by Amazon).
There are a lot of strategies to a successful eCommerce website, but it all starts with the platform, what you use to build your eCommerce website. A good WordPress eCommerce plugin is going to make it easy for you to build your store and integrate your other services like, PayPal, MailChimp, Affiliate Tracking, and so on. Make sure that you start with a solid foundation and one that can easily grow with you. Out growing your eCommerce solutions sounds like a good thing, because that would imply growth, but if you out grow your ability to provide what people want and have to start over with a new platform, you stand a good chance of losing business now and in the future.
Can you do it yourself? Yes, without a doubt. The hardest part is establishing your strategy and plan of action so do not skip this step because of its complex nature, you will regret it! If you need some assistance with the strategizing and planning, please contact us for help. It is better you have some help and do it right then have a failed business.
For extremely simple eCommerce sites with only a handful of products/services and for digital products/services I have a much more simplistic solution. I recommend this because WooCommerce has enterprise-level capability, which makes it a heavy-duty WordPress plugin. Not everyone needs that.
So if you’re looking for something simple, and elegant, that works out of the box I still highly recommend WP eStore.