WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plug-in that provides developers and website owners with a customizable way to create an online store for selling their products. The plug-in has certain distinct benefits which make it a popular WordPress tool. Like everything else though, there is also a flip side – and before you launch your eStore – or that of your client – it is important to understand the pros and cons of WooCommerce.
Benefits of WooCommerce
WooCommerce has certain distinct benefits – particularly for non-developers – in that it is an open-source tool that is free for use – and that is perhaps its biggest advantage. That is not all though – there are many more WooCommerce pros and cons of which you may be unaware.
Free and Open-Source
Open-Source means that anyone – pro or novice – can make changes to the website with ease. This may be something of a double-edged sword in that one small inadvertent error – particularly when modifying or writing code – can cause serious damage. On the other hand, the ease of design and development makes it adaptable to your brand’s specific requirements.
Worth mentioning here is the fact that though the tool is free to use, it is just that – a tool – and you must pay for domain and hosting with WordPress or other providers.
Highly Customizable
Interestingly, WooCommerce – which is itself a tool – has more than 400 extensions supporting various business functions such as marketing, shipping, and payment. Not only that, but it also has a whole spectrum of styles and an in-built API allowing you to let your imagination loose. On a note of caution, however, adding too many extensions may slow down your website so it’s best to strike a balance between using ready to use extensions and getting a WooCommerce development company to write custom code.
Recommended: 16 Mistakes to Avoid while Designing and Developing an Ecommerce Website
Designers Paradise
Of the many WooCommerce pros and cons the one that has website owners drooling, is that it lets your website stand out with a plethora of customizable themes that you can tweak and align to your products and brand identity.
WooCommerce Themes services allow users to tweak every aspect and component of their website to perfection so that it fits perfectly with their positioning. Not only that, but it also lets you categorize endlessly helping your customers narrow down their search and reach the product of their choice. You can map your customers’ journey travelling through reviews, suggestions, up-selling and cross-selling right up to the point he makes a purchase.
The flip side of this, of course, is that it requires careful planning and mapping skills and perhaps some coding too.
No Limits
The WooCommerce platform is not time-bound nor are there any limits as to the number of products you can sell or the payment options you can use. This means that you can sell just about anything through WooCommerce be it physical goods, services, software, or anything else.
As we mentioned earlier, you can categorize endlessly so that scaling your eStore is a seamless process – simply add a new category or sub-category and you are ready to go. There is also no limit on the number of filters you can use. So no matter what product you are selling you can group them by your chosen filters and offer your customer the flexibility to find what he needs – whether he searches by location, size, colour, features, or any other criteria.
SEO Friendly
Of the many pros and cons of WooCommerce, this is perhaps the best benefit you can get. Most WordPress plug-ins are compatible with WooCommerce allowing you specific functionality to meet the SEO goals for your eCommerce website. This means that you need not spend hours analyzing and fretting over keywords, phrases, and long-tail keywords. The software is updated regularly so that you not only get the latest and most trending SEO but also other functionalities such as security and privacy.
Recommended: 14 Best WooCommerce Plugins for Your Store
Disadvantages of WooCommerce
WooCommerce has many more benefits than those listed above – such as providing your users with a secure journey through your eStore and a good many payment options which you can easily include into your website. It is perhaps the best WordPress plug-in you can have but there are some things that you should know before you launch your eStore.
For instance, WooCommerce is simply a plug-in tool that you can use to improve the functionality of your website. It is undoubtedly easy to install and use but you need to pay for enhanced features, themes, domain, and hosting.
Also, even if the WooCommerce plug-in is easy to install and use, you might still need the services of a ‘WooCommerce Development Company’ to configure some complex functionalities. If you are dealing on a global platform, implementing multi-currency payment gateways can be tricky. The WishList functionality which is important for eStores is also hard to implement.
And lastly, if you are going it yourself, it is important to keep track of updates so that you are aware of new as well as downsized functionalities and features – particularly the latter – lest they impact your website or e-Commerce store.
So! There you have it – the pros and cons of WooCommerce and if you are looking for a website that gives your customer great and seamless shopping experience, LitmusBranding is at your service to help you set up your eStore and serve your customers.