Why Should You Choose WooCommerce for eCommerce Development

If you are looking to start an eCommerce business, then you would need a platform to build your website. There are different platforms available out there, everyone has their own pros and cons. But with the rapid rise of eCommerce solutions, businesses easily get confused about which eCommerce builder or plugin to choose. If you are starting small, then WooCommerce for eCommerce development is the right choice - mostly because of the platform’s flexibility and ample customization options.

Speaking of, WooCommerce powers more than 28.19% of all eCommerce stores online. What makes it more suitable is that it can alone accommodate over a thousand products and still run fine! In this blog, I will clue you in on some of the pros and cons of using WooCommerce to build your next online store. But first things first!

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is one of the most popular open-source eCommerce building platforms and WordPress plugins. 22% of the top 1 million eCommerce websites make use of WooCommerce, followed by Shopify and Magento.

This plugin turns your website into a fully functioning eCommerce store. Because since it's a WordPress plugin, it is super compatible with WordPress websites too. WooCommerce is built by an estimated 350 contributors from all over the globe. Moreover, you can find over 900 plugins for WooCommerce on WordPress and more than 1000 themes on ThemeForest. 

Some Popular Features of WooCommerce for eCommerce Development 

• It is an open-source platform - meaning businesses can customize and modify the design as they see fit. 
• WooComemrce works really well alongside other WordPress plugins.
• It has a huge community of developers from all over the world such as Canada, South Africa, Japan, et al. 
• WooCommerce is built on WordPress, therefore it is easier to work with. Developers with WordPress knowledge can easily find their way around it. 
• It offers more than 400 extensions.
• You can find extensive documentation on WooCommerce on the internet and on GitHub. 
• WooCommerce comes packed with in-built blogging capabilities for brand awareness. 
• You can help customers narrow their search through categories, tags, and other product attributes such as product sorting and filtering.
• Customers can easily leave their reviews through reviews and rating features.
• You can add as many products as you want, along with unlimited variations and images.
• Additionally, you can integrate various payment gateways such as stripe, PayPal, and others.
• Geolocation support along with shipping options. 
• Get inventory and order management systems.
• WooCommerce stores are search engine friendly.
• Highly responsive designs.
• Suitable for both physical and digital products.
• Ability to generate coupon codes for special offers and so much more. 

5 Advantages Of WooCommerce

It is User-friendly

One of the many pros of WooCommerce for eCommerce development is that it is both user and developer-friendly. If you are new to the eCommerce industry, then setting up your online store using WooCommerce is the right choice.

Plus, if you have experience working on WordPress - then you don’t really have to worry about WooCommerce’s functionality. The user interface is designed to cater to those with the least technical experience - one can easily list store items, edit and update details or install and configure.

So if you prefer WordPress, WooCommerce is great for you!

It is Scalable and Flexible

WooCommerce is self-hosted, unlike other builders, giving you full control over your website for growth management, which makes it highly scalable - meaning you are responsible for making sure that your site is updated, secure, and backed up. But the best part is you can find many plug-ins to automate these tasks for you.

Moreover, you can add as many product lists as you want - it keeps up with the increase in web pages, content, and traffic as the business grows and still ensures fast site load speed.

Over a hundred thousand businesses are using WooCommerce to make plenty of sales every day without a hitch. One of the reasons you should choose WooCommerce is because of its flexibility - meaning you can sell anything and everything such as physical and digital items, downloadable products, affiliate products, etc.

In short, it enables businesses of all sizes and kinds to successfully set up their shop.

It is Customizable

WooCommerce enables businesses to create exactly what they are hoping for, with unlimited customization options. You can get free plugins from the WordPress plugin directory to design highly-customized storefronts and more.

The availability of free themes is as impressive as the plugins and super affordable. Even if you couldn’t find a suitable theme, you can always customize it according to your design needs to showcase your brand.

Customization options with WooCommerce not only help your business stand out from the crowd but also help you deliver engaging customer experiences. 

It is Optimized for Search Engine

Nowadays, search engine optimization has become crucial for the success of online businesses. There are so many eCommerce website builders out there that are not SEO-friendly but that’s not the case with WooCommerce.

WOoCommerce’s SEO features meet the necessary requirements and ensure that your website ranks in the top Google search results for prospects to find you through organic keywords.

Additionally, you can easily optimize your web images with alt text, URL structures, meta descriptions, page titles, etc. through the WordPress Yoast plugin for SEO.

AIO SEO (all-in-one SEO) is yet another powerful plugin for WooCommerce. Moreover, the plugins let you add highly optimized product descriptions and simple navigation ensures that people find what they are looking for. 

It has a Vast Community

Yet another advantage that makes WooCommerce an excellent choice for eCommerce development is its huge community of developers, contributors, and users. You can easily find all the help you need through extensive documentation, guides, and other online resources,

Plus, you can interact with the community through specialized platforms such as WordPress support forums, WooCommerce Help & Share, and advanced WooCommerce groups on Facebook. 

Some Disadvantages of WooCommerce 

• WooCommerce is specific to WordPress alone.
• The highest quality themes are paid along with some extensions. 
• The website performance can be affected by installing a number of plugins.  

Whether you want to develop an eCommerce store or need well-researched insights on the eCommerce industry, For this, check out our informative articles on eCommerce

How to Get Started with WooCommerce? 

Step 1: Buy hosting from either  Bluehost, SiteGround, or WordPress.com.

Step 2: Download WordPress and start the installation process. 

Step 3: As mentioned earlier, WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin - once WordPress has been downloaded and all set up, you can easily install WooCommerce from the WordPress plugin directory to get started.  

Step 4: Follow the setup wizard to set up and activate the plugin i.e. WooCommerce. 

Step 5: Set up the details, choose the industry, and add product and business type, payments, and shipping method. 

Step 6: Pick a theme to determine the layout of your store. You can choose from both free and paid themes - the choice is yours. 

Step 7: Start adding functionalities with extensions and plugins.