You have followed our other WordPress review guideline blogs from the past. You have chosen your host site and downloaded multiple plugins to generate a killer, easy-to-use website that makes any competitor jealous. But, now you realize that you need to sell products on your website as well. What do you do now? Enter – another plugin – one that is an open-source eCommerce solution. One that allows you to run an eCommerce website with no developer needed. Oh yeah, we are talking about WooCommerce. The free plugin from WordPress that allows you to customize your eCommerce site from start to finish. Start by customizing your products, cart, and checkout – then customize your payment and shipping options. Did we already mention this product is free – and incredibly user friendly?
So, wait – what is eCommerce? eCommerce is the activity of electronically buying or selling products on online services or over the Internet. eCommerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no barriers of time or distance. So basically every time you order off of Amazon, Walmart – or any other business where you are generating a transaction online – you are participating in eCommerce.
While eCommerce is probably the most used form of money exchanging in our world today, it is also a vast world that can be quite problematic. If you do not have the right security, your customers’ privacy or payment method can be hacked. If you do not have ownership of your materials or forms, then it can be sold through third parties. This is where WooCommerce comes in.
WooCommerce gives you complete control over your site. If in the future, you decide to go with another hosting provider, it is easy to take all of your information with you. You can also choose to opt-out of all forms – meaning that WordPress is not allowed to store your information or your customer’s information without your permission. It gives you complete control over all eCommerce action happening on your site.
Complete control of your eCommerce site for free? What else could be better than that? Well, WooCommerce actually lets you customize your shopping experience. How you display your products, how you market your products, what type of shipping options you offer, and tax calculation. You can choose from hundreds of free templates that take out the customization work for you – just download and go – or take the time to truly make your site yours.
When your customer has the product they want in their cart, then you can customize what your shipping options are and how much they cost. You can choose to do free shipping, flat rate shipping, or even overnight/expedited shipping. You choose how everything is set up from beginning to end with tutorials that are available through the plugin or online. Everything is easily spelled out for you so there is no room for error.
WooCommerce also allows you to choose payment methods that you accept, ie. Visa, Mastercard, and even allows you to have a cash payment option. You can also create subscription-based offers that are on recurring payments. Just have your customer put in their information and they will automatically be charged weekly, monthly, or yearly – whatever you choose. You can take deposits for bookings or down payments for larger deals – the possibilities are endless.
One final free add on that throws WooCommerce over the top? The ability to integrate your site with Google Analytics– for free. Yep, we said it again, free. You not only have the ability to see your site’s traffic per day, week, and month, but now you can break down how well your sales are doing. Take the guessing out of when people buy or what is the most popular product on your site. Google Analytics takes care of everything for you, allowing you to easily see your user’s behaviors.
While we have raved about the fact that you can do a lot of things with WooCommerce for free, there are also a lot of additional add-ons you can purchase. You can pay money for a more customized theme, additional plugins, and even add ons to your site. Giving the customers an option to subscribe or create a membership is an additional fee, or getting shipping rates from USPS or UPS is an additional fee as well. All of their fees are plainly laid out on their website, so there is no need to guess what you will have to pay for in the future.
WooCommerce is relatively easy to use and full of customizable solutions for your eCommerce needs. A high majority of the plugin itself is free with the option to customize or add on different options for different fees. Check out those fees here so there are no surprises in the future. If you want an easy, reliable way to sell products on your website, WooCommerce is the best option for your business.
Need help setting up a killer site or need some advice on how to market your materials? Contact Monkey VA today and we would be happy to assist you in any way possible.
