The simple answer…Yes
Now on to the more complicated and long-winded answer. Before I get into the Pros and Cons of using WordPress for ecom let’s talk about why you want to even think about using WordPress.
- WordPress is easy to use – Most of the hosting companies make it easy to install WordPress with a single click. No programming skills required.
- It’s FREE! – When I was starting out and not having a clue what I was doing, being able to build a lot of free simple sites helped me learn on the job.
- WordPress gets updated frequently ensuring great functionality and security.
- There are literally 1000’s of themes and plugins available to help you do anything you want.
- At last count, there are over 60 million websites built using WordPress
- One-sixth of the top million sites, based on the number of website visitors they receive, is powered by WordPress
60 Million Websites – WordPress has to be doing something right.
WordPress is a Good E-Commerce Platform
Well, that might be a tad bit misleading. In order to make WordPress function as an e-commerce store, you need a plugin called WooCommerce. Take a look at the picture below, there are lots of e-commerce platforms but WooCommerce makes up almost one-third of all the sites.
So, let’s take a look at what makes WooCommerce so popular and why you want to use it.
- It’s FREE! Like I said before, there are a lot of things you will have to buy so let’s take advantage of all the free stuff we can.
- No restrictions on the number of products you can put in your store.
- WooCommerce is very easy to install and work with.
- Also, because it’s the leading e-commerce platform it’s very easy to find help if you need it.
- It’s FULLY customizable. You can make your ecommerce store look exactly how you want it to.
- A review system is built in so you can get tons of reviews to help sell your products with that much needed social proof.
- It allows you to track your sales from purchase to shipping
- There are loads of APPS to help with taking payments, shipping products and taxes.
WooCommerce is the leading eCommerce platform, used by 30% of all online stores and over one million websites.
It’s great for a new online store, or if you’re looking for an easier, more user-friendly option to change over to, and for huge big-box retailers.
Adding functionality to your online store is easy with themes and plugins that will allow your store to grow as you do.
WooCommerce Features
WooCommerce provides functions from a Core+Extensions model. It includes every one of the core functions you need right out of the box. You are able to start selling right away with the basic WooCommerce system. However, if your company needs advanced checkout and shipping features, you will need to spend a bit of money on add-ons.
This past year WooCommerce put out a huge upgrade of the software: WooCommerce 3.0. Most of the adjustments in this update are on the developer side, but the release does include some improved product gallery features. Take a look at pretty much everything the update covers.
These are some of the newest features you get free with each and every WooCommerce download:
- Mobile Friendly Structure: Both your storefront along with your admin area function great on mobile devices. Customers can shop on the go, and you can now manage their purchases from any place.
- Sell Digital & Physical Products: Just click a box to indicate that your online products do not require shipping.
- Geo-Location Support: Geo-location finds your customers’ addresses to be able to streamline shipping and tax calculations.
- Organize Your Products: Group your items by category, add variants to each product, and sell affiliate products.
- Inventory Management: Use Woo Commerce’s built-in inventory organization to track your stock level, hold stock when the order is canceled, and hide out-of-stock items from your storefront.
- Shipping Options: Have access to a shipping calculator right on the cart page, that way there are no surprises at checkout. Provide separate choices for customers’ billing and shipping addresses.
- Search Engine Ranking: Take advantage of WordPress’s built-in SEO best practices.
Create Coupons & Discounts: Have your promotions apply to only one product or every product in the cart.
- Checkout Options: Enable your customers to make an account on your site or just check out as guests.
- Enable Product Reviews: Let customers post reviews of your products. It’s also possible to make sure that those comments are written by verified customers.
- Analytics: Use WooCommerce reports to evaluate your earnings and track orders, visitors, and growing trends. Integrate Google Analytics which is also free, to get more detailed in-depth analytics.
Final Word
Are you a DIY kind of person? If so, then WooCommerce is right up your alley.
WooCommerce is a great option at a low price, (as long as you don’t go crazy with add-ons and apps), that does a great job with WordPress’s SEO and systems to help you build your ecom site.
If you can work through some minor technical issues with some YouTube videos and guides, then WooCommerce is a great option.
Ready to get started with WooCommerce for your WordPress E-Commerce website? Click the link below.