WooCommerce is an open-source plugin that can be downloaded free of cost, without paying any licensing fee. It is a platform for online stores. You can create your store with Woocommerce,similar to Shopify
Understanding Woocommerce
This eCommerce solution was formerly released as WordPress e-commerce (WooCommerce) by its founders, who later sold it to Automattic Incorporated. WooThemes initially developed this plug-in for their own use and eventually released it to the public for free under GPL License. As per a survey conducted by W3Techs in April 2016, WooCommerce is one of the topmost plugins used by 30% of websites using WordPress.
Features of Woocommerce
This platform provides basic features like shopping cart management functionality, payment options, product variations, etc., which are essential for running a successful online store. It allows you to build an online store with attractive product listings, multiple payment options, running an e-commerce website & thus it makes this plug-in cost-effective than others.
Themes
WooCommerce offers a variety of themes that can be easily customized according to your needs. The platform also provides plugin extensions that help users customize the plugin according to their needs. There are many reasons why WooCommerce is preferred over its competitors like BigCommerce or Shopify:
Free plugins
WooCommerce offers free plugins for all key functionalities required for running an online store. It also offers a wide range of themes for building websites with attractive color schemes, product listings, and layouts. As it is open source in nature, community support is varied and extensive across the globe.
Pre-packaged plugins are required for many features when working on other eCommerce software’s but WooCommerce comes with all these features pre-loaded so no extra purchases are required to start your online shop. There is detailed documentation available via the official website which helps users in setting up their own site step by step easily. This plug-in provides easy integration with WordPress.
user-friendly interface
WooCommerce has a simple user interface that allows even beginners to create professional-looking shops without any prior coding knowledge or web design experience. Those who wish to get high-end eCommerce features can purchase premium plug-ins from the official WooCommerce website.
While there are no hosting charges, WooCommerce may charge fees for certain add-ons. If you want to sell digital products like e-book or music files then it is not free and has to be bought separately.
Ease of use:
This plugin offers user- friendly interface & an easy installation process so that even newbies to the world of online shopping can set up their stores easily without much hassle. It also provides regular updates which give users access to the latest features in the minimum time frame.
Performance:
Performance-wise this software is very much compatible with SEO so it ranks high in google searches & other search engines & thus generates more traffic on the website. Security: This software keeps the data safe & secure by giving a high level of protection to it with 256-bit SSL. It also protects all transactions that take place within your business with purchase insurance so every transaction is 100% secure. Flexibility: WooCommerce offers tremendous flexibility as users can set up their store according to their needs & requirements they don’t need to depend on fixed templates neither there’s no need to upgrade or download anything extra for the smooth running of an eCommerce website. You can also sell services like cab, hotel booking, etc.
Easy to use
A feature that no other eCommerce platform is offering right now is its extremely user-friendly interface which can be easily handled even by newbies & one does not require any prior coding knowledge or design experience.
Add-ons are the additional features that are easily available on the WooCommerce platform by spending some extra bucks which help to personalize your shop according to your choice.
Data & Privacy:
All transactions take place securely with SSL encryption so customer data is safe with you. Customer support is another advantage of this plug-in as WooCommerce provides free user manuals, forums, FAQs & tutorials for its users. Ease of navigation around the site is also one of its great advantages as it can be managed very easily by anyone who has basic knowledge about eCommerce websites.
As there are no hosting charges but paid plugins may charge fees, therefore, making it cost-effective than other software you’re just starting out on WordPress since it’s completely free forever! All you need is a domain name & hosting provider - either area like BigCommerce - does not have free themes.
As WooCommerce plugins are available for purchase, they can be costly. The free version is limited in the number of products and shipping options, which could make scaling up difficult.
Summary
This plugin allows you to switch out your old website with a professional-looking e-commerce one within no time with its user-friendly interface. It also gives unlimited access to all its features which makes it best suitable for small businesses who want to get into online sales &/or startups looking for an affordable option than other premium solutions like Shopify or Bigcommerce. This is the best plug-in if
Benefits of Woocommerce
The benefits of using WooCommerce are far greater than the above. In order to provide a complete picture of what exactly you can get from this software, we have compiled a list of its benefits for your assistance.
1 ) Extraordinary Compatibility with E-commerce platforms:
The most striking feature of this tool is that it offers multiple compatibility options to let your store function on different e-commerce platforms. You can choose to have a WordPress-powered website or have an online store with the help of eBay, Magento, Bigcommerce, Shopify & Amazon.
2 ) Fulfill All Your Ecommerce Needs:
Today, WooCommerce offers all necessary features that are required for running an effective business website including payment gateways, inventory management system, shipping methods integration, and customer support services, etc.
3) 100% Open Source Solution:
As WooCommerce is a completely open-source software tool it is inevitable for you to save some money while working on your project. Moreover, it provides the flexibility of the drag-drop facility helped by which non-technical users can also generate good-looking results without having any prior coding knowledge. Additionally, this tool is constantly updated and improved which means you can be assured of getting the best of new features on a regular basis!
4) Professional Online Stores:
If you are looking for simplicity with professionalism then WooCommerce is your best choice as it lets you build online stores with full-width banner images, multiple column layouts & menu styles, etc.
5) Secure Payment Gateway Integration:
This software enables its users to integrate advanced payment gateways like Paypal that offer safe transactions internationally without letting any kind of risk occur. It also provides support for major local payment gateways in different countries including India’s CCAvenue, Australia’s eWAY, etc.
6) Unlimited Product Catalogs & Categories:
The number of available product catalogs and categories in the WooCommerce tool is a staggering number of a thousand! This means that you can have multiple catalogs & product listings on your site for different geographic locations, brands, price ranges, etc.
7) Viral Product Sharing:
The Marketers’ dream tool ‘WooCommerce’ offers an exciting feature that lets its users embed click to tweet buttons & share buttons over e-commerce products so as to let users share interesting products with others via social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
8 ) AddMultiple Payment Options:
If you have been out looking for a tool to increase your profit margins then this one from WordPress is what you should go for without any kind of second thought! It lets its users offer flexible payment options to their customers so as to let them pay online in a way that they feel comfortable with. One can also accept payments through checks & money orders etc.
9) Customize Catalog Pages:
This software provides you access to change the look of product categories, product listing pages, shopping cart pages,s, etc by making changes in CSS to provide customers an improved shopping experience. You can also put up banners or other promotional content on top of the catalog listings!
10) Mobile Desktop Compatibility:
The best part about using WooCommerce is it offers compatibility options for smartphones and tablets to make your website operable from different mobile devices without any error message. It is even prepared for operating on desktop browsers that are suitable for big-screen monitors!
11 ) Prevent Online Frauds:
As the payment transaction is ■■■■■■■■ by using Paypal or any other gateway, you are provided with an option to enable “Address Verification System” (AVS) in order to prevent online frauds & charge-backs.
12) Increase your productivity :
The advanced version of WooCommerce called ’ woocommerce +wordpress’ offers users plenty of features including product bundling, price slider custom fields etc which lets you have a unique website that meets all your requirements for being successful online!
13) Responsive Customer Support:
No matter what issues might occur during the installation process, don’t worry as the official support portal provides you with almost all necessary information regarding setup tutorials & faqs. You can find support staff ready to answer your queries by writing to support.
14) Regular Updates:
This awesome tool is updated on a regular basis with new features being added regularly for enhancing user experience.
15) SEO Friendly Website Structure :
If you are looking for an e-commerce platform that is search engine friendly then this one’s definitely meant for you! As the software comes integrated with default templates having optimized codes, it won’t be tough to optimize your website in both on-page & off-page optimization techniques.
16 ) International Languages Support:
You can choose woocommerce software in different languages including German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc so as to give customers an improved shopping experience across multiple countries without any language barrier.
17) Multi Currency Support:
With so many features being offered in a single pack, this software not only lets you have a global online presence but also offers support for multiple currencies to let its users accept payments from different regions!
18 ) Install the Latest version with ease :
It becomes necessary to update your plugin or theme regularly as hackers always look for security loopholes to exploit them and put your site at risk. This WordPress tool provides you access to easily install the latest versions of it on your website hosting server & eliminates all chances of manual debugging through FTP upload etc. You can learn how to Update woo-commerce easily by visiting the official help page.
19) Free WooCommerce Themes to meet your requirements:
Due to thousands of free as well as premium themes to choose from, you can create an online store with WooCommerce software having attractive designs and advanced features which met your business standards for being successful.
20) Unlimited Product Catalogs:
With unlimited product catalogs to manage & sell, the powerful woocommerce software lets you cater to a global audience. You don’t need to purchase additional licenses or pay hosting charges for creating different stores!
Disadvantages of woo commerce
There are some disadvantages of using WooCommerce. Let’s discuss them in detail here.
1) It is not flexible
WooCommerce, being a WordPress plugin, limits you to its functionality and does not provide much flexibility. You cannot use various plugins to enhance the functionalities your site offers.
2) Slow speed
One of the main reasons for low sales of e-commerce websites is the slow speed of their website. This is because WooCommerce stores all products in one database and works on a single database table which ultimately affects the speed of your site immensely. The solution for this problem would be to use MAMP or XAMPP so that each product gets its respective table and thus improves significantly.
3) Excessive use of database
One of the major problems with WooCommerce is that it works on one database table for all products. Thus, when you have many products in your website, it is difficult to handle them efficiently. And when the number of plugins installed in your site increases, you will face more problems because they keep adding data in the same database table and thus slowing down your site.
4) Adding new users is complicated
Adding a new user in WooCommerce becomes complicated when you have an existing user already present. You cannot add users easily into that case because it requires additional information like username or email ID to identify that particular user. This problem can be solved by using another plugin called “Members” which can solve this issue very easily.
5) Search engine optimization (SEO) is not easy
One of the major disadvantages of using WooCommerce is that there are very limited options for SEO. This makes it difficult to enhance your website’s rankings in search engines like Google, Yahoo etc. You can overcome this problem by hiring a specialist who will optimize your site easily and also provide various other services associated with SEO.
6) No support for email marketing
If you want to send newsletters or any promotional emails to users about sales or any offers, you cannot use WooCommerce as it does not support email marketing. Thus, if you need this kind of service then you should opt for third-party plugins like MailChimp that integrate well into your WordPress website and provide you with necessary functionalities.
7) No support for professional security
Keeping your e-commerce site secure from spammers and hackers is very important as they can have a direct impact on your sales. But WooCommerce has no direct integration into services that provide protection against such elements. You will have to hire a specialized company or use WordPress plugins like WP Defender to ensure this security feature.
8) Limited payment options
Using WooCommerce, you cannot accept various kinds of credit cards directly because it does not have any association with banking institutions like pick-up, cheque processing etc. Thus if you want to make sure that your customers can pay using various modes including cash on delivery (COD), then you must look for alternatives to WooCommerce like CubeCart.
9) It is difficult to use for beginners
WooCommerce requires you to have prior knowledge about WordPress and web development concepts. This makes it difficult even for beginner-level users to handle this plugin. Thus if your employees are not well-versed in these areas then you should look into the alternatives that provide simpler options like CubeCart whose setup process is easy and its functions can be used easily by novice developers.
10) You do not own WooCommerce
You might think that after installing WooCommerce, you would have full control over your website’s functionalities but it is not so. Since WooCommerce is a third-party plugin, all changes to its code are done by the original developer-only meaning if they want to change something, they will do it. You cannot even hire a developer of your own choice if required because you have no rights over the plugin.
WooCommerce is just one part of WordPress that can be used for e-commerce purposes but there are many other options available as well that are designed especially without these issues in mind so you should consider using them instead.
WooCommerce is not so effective in terms of SEO which adds to the problems of this ecommerce plugin’s users. The range of payment modes that WooCommerce offers is limited, and this limitation can pose a problem for people who want more choices while they are making payments of their products on an ecommerce website run by WooCommerce. Lastly, being a third party plugin for WordPress, WooCommerce cannot be run without the support of WordPress. This can pose a problem if your website uses only WooCommerce.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Very fast to implement if you have an existing website, especially WordPress | The UI/UX feels a bit behind other product offerings. |
| Offers a well-rounded suite of tools | Sometimes slows down websites when loading info. |
| Competitive pricing makes it attractive to small businesses. | Improvements in mobile UI |
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Steps to optimize woo commerce
For any website, user experience is the key to success, especially for eCommerce websites. For websites, user experience is defined by the user-friendly interface, usability, user research, and the most important is the page loading speed. According to an estimate by Amazon, a delay of only one second would cost them approximately $1.6 billion every year. Hence, the page’s loading speed is the most important for eCommerce, or else the customers will prefer to faster loading websites for products of their interest.
Hence, WooCommerce optimization is vital to your business growth. Furthermore, the variation of website user experience across different devices is also very important. After all, 55.4% of the online buyers shop using their mobile devices. If you are also looking for ways to improve Woocommerce Website speed, scroll down for the best effective tips.
WooCommerce settings**
If you notice a minor delay in your website’s loading times, the first go-to step is to optimize the WooCommerce settings in your WordPress website dashboard. Starting with the most basic step is to change the login page URL. The login URL is domain.com/wp-admin/ by default which is common to everyone and prone to database breaches and hackers. Changing the URL not only keeps from the hacking but rate-limiting HTTP errors such as 429 too many requests, as well. You can use free plugins for this purpose, such as Rename wp-login.php and WPS Hide Login.
Next, you must go to the Woocommerce – settings and get to the products tab. Now, ensure that the Enable AJAX Add to Cart Buttons on the Archive button are checked in the Add to Cart Behavior.
You can also try to limit the number of posts for a blog website, comments, reviews. Further, you can disable the pingbacks and the outdated plugins and themes.
1. Hosting provider
woocommerce speed optimization has a lot to do with the optimal hosting plan as well. Standard and cheap plans attract us a lot, I get it. However, you will soon have to get rid of them to improve Woocommerce Website speed. You can either choose to request more space for shared hosting or use managed hosting. Managed hosting is, however, an expensive plan yet perfectly efficient to drive lots of traffic. It would help if you bought hosting within the geographic boundaries that contain most of your audiences. Your host provider must have the following features;
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Datacenters at different points across the world.
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SSD based solution
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Flexibility to comply with the expanding Woocommerce business.
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Maximum uptime for high performance and the best user experience with the website.
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24/7 help service to address performance issues.
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High-end cloud infrastructure.
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Lastly, it must have a server nearby the potential audience.
2. Content delivery network
Integrating Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers that significantly helps improve website performance. Integrating CDN, you can store the static files of your websites like images and JavaScript on the CDN. The closer the customer is to its server, the faster the losing speed of the website will be. If you have a large business spread across different countries, you may choose among KeyCDN, JetPack photon, MaxCDN, and Cloudflare.
Images are vital to any WooCommerce website. Hence, to *speed up WooCommerce, you have to choose the right dimensions of the images. Furthermore, to **improve Woocommerce website speed, ensure that the resolution of the images you upload is up to the mark. Furthermore, there is no specific optimal number of images for the products at the eCommerce store. This is where the CDN proves to be the best solution. Images and videos take up most of the website page. Therefore, it is a good practice to optimize and compress images. You can compress your images in the way described below.
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Use the right format of images
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Use efficient tools to compress the images
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Responsive images help optimize the delivery for different devices.
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Lazy load off-screen and hidden images.
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Integrate CDN for offload image delivery.
Above all, WordPress offers built-in image optimization, but you must ensure using the latest version.
Checkout process
Reviews indicate that most of the bounce rates are at the checkout point. Therefore, to improve Woocommerce Website speed, the checkout process must be seamless. It is vital to get to the final goal of generating a conversion. One of the best approaches s for this is to reduce the UX friction between the users and final sale down to zero. Make the checkout process an easy, simple, and one-page procedure. The lesser they have to navigate through the website, the more likely they will convert.
Another way for WooCommerce Optimization is the software such as WooCommerce blocks or Divi Woo Modules. With such software, one may combine the WooCommerce shortcodes and design the whole checkout process, from discovery to shipment, on the same page.
Cache Plugin
A cache refers to either hardware or software that stores the data to attend to future requests at a faster pace. Hence, using a cache plugin proves to be helpful for WooCommerce optimization because it stores a version of the website on the user’s device. Therefore, much lesser data transfer between the user and the site database, which ultimately reduces loading times.
However, sometimes caching plugins prove to be problematic just because they are not set up properly. For example, you should never cache your checkout pages. If you find cache plugins useful, learn to configure the plugin or get a WooCommerce development agency on board.
Caching may be of two types; server cache and browser cache. The former enables the servers to remember the parts of the website and saves the data and time. The latter browser caching makes the browser remember the page, so there is less data exchange between the browser and server. However, it is only useful for visitors who happen to visit multiple pages.
Website code
The last but not least point of Woocommerce optimization is the website’s coding because the bloated code is one of the major causes of extended loading time for the page. As you obsolete certain features such as comment section or review, you must remember to minify, defer and optimize the Javascript, CSS, HTML code accordingly.
Summary
You can also use the cache plugins or themes available that minify the codes automatically. Minifying means removing the unnecessary spaces in the coding file. Such an approach is handy to improve Woocommerce website speed because the heavy coding of web page loading times is longer.
Frequently Asked Question
Here are some questions that people ask
1. What is Woocommerce?
Woocommerce is a platform that allows users to create eCommerce websites quickly and easily. It’s an open-source platform so it costs nothing to use.
2. What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new European Union data privacy law that took effect in May 2018. It imposes several new requirements on anybody who does business with EU residents, whether they are located in the EU or not.
3. Why do I need to worry about GDPR?
If you own an online store and it obtains information about its customers, then complying with this regulation will make your life easier. Not only will you protect yourself against the potentially high fines companies risk when they mishandle customer data but you’ll also be able to build trust in your brand by demonstrating that you care for your customer’s rights. Believing that time is money, using our plugin saves you precious time that you can use to do more important tasks.
4. Do I NEED the GDPR plugin?
It depends on what features your WooCommerce store has. If you sell physical goods, then yes. If you provide services (e.g., web design), then most likely not because this kind of service doesn’t require any personal data from customers to be stored in their accounts. Our plugin respects what information is mandatory for storage and it provides enough flexibility so that e-services could display an opt-in box asking customers whether they want to subscribe or not without breaking compliance with GDPR requirements.
5. How does the GDPR plugin respect user privacy?
The GDPR plugin allows users to log in without having to enter any personal data (email address). It allows registered users to stay logged in by default, but it also provides the option of forcing every user to log in again. Some WooCommerce extensions don’t respect GDPR compliance so we’ve created a filter that you can use if you need to remove certain form fields without breaking the plugin functionality.
6. What happens when I buy the GDPR plugin? Do I get updates afterward?
Yes! You will receive email notifications for future major releases. When you purchase the premium version of WP GDPR Fix, then you also gain access to priority support where our team responds within 12 hours on weekdays.
7. What is Woocommerce
Ecommerce has revolutionized the way we purchase and sell items. While some people still enjoy the experience of walking into a store and picking out their own items, many consumers have come to prefer shopping online. This is large because using e-commerce allows us to shop whenever we choose and from anywhere we choose - all at a fraction of the price! Of course, there are some things you should know before jumping on board this type of shopping and we’ll take a look at some points here.
8. What’s Involved in Purchasing Online?
Although eCommerce is rapidly changing consumer habits, it can also present its own set of challenges that need to be addressed. Before completing a purchase online, the consumer should be fully aware of what they are buying and from whom they are buying it. This means checking out a website’s terms and conditions in detail as well as ensuring you have read all the information about your purchase - including any stipulations on warranties or use.
9. What Can You Buy Online?
One great advantage of shopping online is that consumers can complete transactions for just about anything these days. In fact, many major companies now offer their products in web-based catalogs that allow consumers to order items right from their home computer anytime, day or night. Another option when purchasing through eCommerce is to choose from a list of “featured” items to find popular goods at lower prices.
10. Is e-commerce safe?
For online retailers, ensuring that transactions made over the internet remain secure is a top priority. This involves paying attention to securing both their own computer system and also how they process payments and use credit card services through popular sites such as eBay or Amazon.
Conclusion
Performance-wise Woocommerce software is very much compatible with SEO so it ranks high in google searches & other search engines & thus generates more traffic on the website. Security: This software keeps the data safe & secure by giving a high level of protection to it with 256-bit SSL. It also protects all transactions that take place within your business with purchase insurance so every transaction is 100% secure. Flexibility: WooCommerce offers tremendous flexibility as users can set up their store according to their needs & requirements they don’t need to depend on fixed templates and there’s no need to upgrade or download anything extra for the smooth running of an eCommerce website. You can also sell services like cab, hotel booking, etc.