Power your Online Shop Easily with WooCommerce

WooCommerce is taking over online shopping.
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11/19/2017
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Online shops are not just for e-commerce giants anymore. The spike in affordable ecommerce technologies means more small- to medium-sized startups can get a piece of those 1.2 billion online buyers. Innovative ecommerce platforms are leveling the playing field and making it easier for you to sell your products and services — whether they’re handcrafted jewelry or online training courses — in your own online shop.

WooCommerce is hands-down the most popular of the ecommerce platforms – other well-known ecommerce solution providers are Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, and Squarespace – and it’s responsible for the recent seismic shift in online shopping.

In this blog, I’ll tell you what WooCommerce is, what it offers, and why it’s an excellent way to broaden your website’s current offerings.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a free ecommerce content management system designed to help merchants sell their products and services easily online.

Developed by WooThemes – a provider of high-quality WordPress themes – WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that cooperates with most WordPress themes. To date, it has over 7 million downloads.

One-third of ecommerce websites are powered by WooCommerce across the globe; that’s over 1.4 million online shopping sites.

WooCommerce is Perfect for Ecommerce Startups

WooCommerce makes it easy for people to give you money.

The online platform enables a range of useful ecommerce functionalities to most any WordPress website. This means you can create a fantastic looking and functioning online shop. You aren’t restricted to specific, predetermined WordPress themes. You can choose the style/layout you like, and just ‘plugin’ the WooCommerce platform.

Then you can easily categorize your products, and give them sale prices, independent attributes, and more.

There are also loads of add-ons (extensions) you can download that will operate perfectly with your WooCommerce-powered website to make doing business easier.

Because WooCommerce is a plugin, it’s super easy to install on your WordPress site. Say you already have a WordPress site, but it’s not ecommerce enabled. WooCommerce is a simple and free solution to transform your website from a static brochure to an interactive channel between your visitors and buyers. Installing WooCommerce and turning your site into an ecommerce site also improves your SEO (page rank on search engines) and enhances the entire user experience (UX).

While WooCommerce is free to download, there are some costs to bear in mind if you want your Woocommerce-powered online shop to be optimized for sales:

  • WordPress theme for your website: There are free themes available, and premium themes starting at AED140
  • Plugins: There are loads of free plugins, but sometimes you’ll need to pay for certain features, like Yoast WooCommerce SEO, which will boost your online store and ensure great service quality. From AED170 to AED290
  • Extensions: These are similar to plugins, but made for WooCommerce and add useful ecommerce functions, like credit card preprocessors, shipping options, a customer data export function and much more. From AED0 to AED900
  • Developer Costs: The technical know-how required to get the most out of WooCommerce is medium to high, depending on business needs and custom setup. You may need to hire a developer or tech support. Costs for developers can range considerably — from AED500 to over AED30,000. Be cautious when hiring freelancers.

Erica Solomon is a writer with over 10 years experience writing copy and editing. An avid marketing researcher, she stays up on the latest trends in everything digital.

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