Pros and Cons of the WooCommerce Plugin for Online Merchants

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The WooCommerce plugin is recognized for its simplicity for creating shopping portals that provide clients with a smooth purchasing experience.

It's a WordPress plugin that transforms any website into a potent eCommerce store. In 2015, Automattic, the entity responsible for WordPress, included this popular plugin in their line-up.

Every year we see several businesses launching an online portal. There is no dearth of choices that are available when going for portal development that works best for their business.

Statista claims that online sales were worth more than $5.2 trillion globally in 2021, and it is expected that this amount will only rise in the years to come.

If you are looking to build an online store, it’s fine to be unclear about the best platform for you. It's normal to feel a little apprehensive about the selection of hosts available at your disposal.

It's constructive to be informed about the core advantages and disadvantages of using the WooCommerce plugin before hiring a web development company.

What is WooCommerce Plugin?

WooCommerce is one of the most widely used and perhaps even the finest software plugin that enables eCommerce functionalities on WordPress. It also offers excellent SEO for businesses selling products and services online.

There are only a few extra features and functionalities required when building an eCommerce site. This includes lists of products or services, order management, payment gateway, or processor that combines and handles all the database information.

• WordPress WooCommerce is open source which makes countless customizations possible. You can even benefit from the assistance of a thriving community.

• This plugin was acquired by Automattic in 2015 and progressively incorporated into the WordPress realm. More than 3.3 million sites utilize the well-known WordPress plugin as of right now, claims BuiltWith.

• WooCommerce’s expansion was only accelerated by the partnership between WordPress and WooCommerce. Automattic is still actively developing the WooCommerce marketplace today and is pushing and expanding its capabilities.

• WooCommerce offers amazing power, flexibility, and capabilities while being incredibly user-friendly, making it especially helpful for startups.

Let's examine the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing WooCommerce, one of the top plugins available online.

Pros of WooCommerce

Simplicity and flexibility

WooCommerce can be set up to sell tangible, intangible, or downloaded products. Additionally, it may be modified to fit affiliate networks and different business structures.

• One of the factors contributing to its popularity is the ability to incorporate any kind of business or product.

  • Any kind of tangible product such as furniture or cosmetics

  • Downloadable items like books or audio files

  • Services or events such as coaching or webinars

• Quite a few businesses find WooCommerce scalable as they are able to grow beyond the plugin’s potentialities.

• It has limitless customization selections and a large number of free plugins in the directory. There are also paid versions available on Codecanyon and WooCommerce.

• The sum of themes is equally remarkable. Even if there isn’t a theme that particularly appeals to you and the team, you have the option to pick a theme closest to it and alter parts of it to meet your requirements. These parts include a header, footer, checkout, etc.

• The WooCommerce plugin makes it ideal for both beginners and professionals as you don’t need a team who is tech-savvy to make modifications to your site. They don’t need to know HTML or CSS for this.

Incorporates potent analytics

• Another core benefit of using the WooCommerce plugin is the presence of built-in analytics. This enables you to gain a deeper understanding of how your consumers are interacting with your brand and products.

  • To give an example, the sales data can give an insight into the products and services the consumers prefer. This will aid you to work on consumer profiles and increase sales.

• A simple and intuitive interface provided by WooCommerce subscriptions for analytics is powerful. You can easily incorporate external analytic tools such as Google Analytics with WooCommerce.

SEO-friendly

• SEO is crucial when you want a wider reach. WooCommerce SEO allows your potential users to discover your brand and services in search engines.

• The editor on WordPress makes it very easy to modify the content, metadata, URL, and other significant components. This is also available on WooCommerce, and your team doesn’t require coding proficiency for this.

Maximum Security

• Secure options such as Stripe and PayPal are available under WooCommerce payments Security is extremely crucial for popular platforms as it keeps the user’s data and credentials safe.

• It’s a well-known platform, hence, it is a common target for hackers. One demerit is that WooCommerce doesn’t provide backups and if there is an attack, data restoration is impossible.

  • Web developers keep upgrading and updating it frequently to help avert cyber-attacks.

• The team has the option to include a backup that can store encrypted consumer data to ensure confidentiality.

• Security plugins can be incorporated which enables frequent scans on the website, giving an extra layer of protection.

It’s free

WooCommerce is free to download, and this is a significant advantage. As a result, it is an excellent replacement for small enterprises, startups, and organizations whose primary source of revenue is not retail.

WooCommerce app is at par with other popular eCommerce portals. However, with this plugin being free, any company can use it without signing up for pricey maintenance agreements or exclusive licensing.

Contributor-rich community

The contributor-rich community in WooCommerce includes users and developers who constantly share and discover content online. You can get assistance from a sizable user community in the event of issues or technical questions.

There are also several forums specifically for this platform. WooCommerce Support Forum is a fantastic one to start with.

Cons of WordPress WooCommerce

A few extensions need to be paid for

• Despite being free, the WooCommerce plugin has a wide range of pricey extensions which are necessary for businesses to incorporate.

  • To give you an example, PayPal is a pre-configured WooCommerce payment method that needs to be bought. This applies to those who wish to initiate credit or debit card payments.

Limited scalability

• WooCommerce has a drawback in that it might not be appropriate for companies that want to grow rapidly.

  • If rapid expansion is something your company is expecting in the near future, you might want to think about switching platforms.

Requires hosting

WooCommerce needs you to select your hosting provider. This is not mandatory on other platforms like Shopify.

Not as advanced as other options

• WooCommerce isn’t a platform, it’s a plugin that cannot be utilized on websites not hosted by WordPress. The program cannot handle numerous storefronts, different languages, or different currencies.

  • Existing companies who want to utilize WooCommerce membership must redesign their websites, making it a difficult endeavor.

• WooCommerce is easy to install on a WordPress website. However, there's a possibility your existing theme won't support it. Furthermore, modifying the appearance of your complete site after it has already been developed might take some time.

As you can see, WooCommerce’s advantages exceed its drawbacks, resulting in a seamless experience for both consumers and organizations. However, if you have very specific requirements for your website, you might want to consider the other alternatives available in the market.

Conclusion

Should you pick Magento, Shopify, or the WooCommerce plugin? Should you choose the simplest option or one that can help your business expand? It's up to you to decide based on your company's needs and goals.

Hiring a web developer and web designer is crucial if you want to build a new website for your eCommerce platform or redesign the current one utilizing SEO and other pertinent techniques. Remember, that eCommerce website development requires staying at par with current trends,  systematic SEO strategy, cooperation, and meticulous execution.

If you are looking to develop a secure and user-friendly eCommerce site, BluEnt’s website development services and expertise always meet global standards.

We're only a click away if you need a complete web solution.

Ready to revamp or build your robust eCommerce website? Contact us now!