WooCommerce Review: Pros And Cons Of The eCommerce Plugin
Introduction To My Woocommerce Review: Pros And Cons Of The eCommerce Plugin
In this article, we will introduce you to an e-commerce plugin known as “Woocommerce”. You will learn about all the pros and cons of using this plugin. We hope that this article will shed light on some of the problems and misbeliefs about this plugin.
What Is “Woocommerce”? An Introduction For Newbies
Have you ever thought about creating a website for your store in order to sell your products and services online? We know how hard it can be to create a website. Sure, social media platforms will be sufficient to display your products and services and then sell them to your potential customers. However, having a website and the physical address for your business will be more favourable than a social media platform.
You can either create your own website using programming tools or hiring someone to do this task for you. Or you can even skip this part and use a powerful platform to build your own website. This powerful tool is called WordPress. WordPress can help you create a website, but you will require an e-commerce plugin to set up your online store.
Fortunately, WordPress didn’t let you down, and it developed a plugin with which you can start your online store. This plugin called Woocommerce is included with the essential features you will require to finish your online store.
Here, we will tell you why using WordPress and its e-commerce plugin “WooCommerce” will be beneficial to your online store.
How Can WordPress And WooCommerce Benefit Your Business?
It is truly done. WordPress will help you make your own website, but the e-commerce plugin is the one thing that helps you add extra functionality to your e-commerce website.
If you use both of these tools, you will have a functional online store ready to publish online and attract customers by promoting your online store on social media platforms.
A Free But A Powerful Plugin
Today, it is hard to find something that is both free and applicable to our cause. The good thing about WordPress and WooCommerce is that you will be able to use this open-source WordPress plugin for free, and it doesn’t matter where you live. You can access these tools very easily, with one exception which we will cover in this article.
Now, if we look at the numbers, we shall see that almost 25% of the websites you see on the Internet have been using WordPress and WooCommerce to develop their website. It is truly a big achievement.
It is important to note that if you are using these two tools, you will be able to start your online store in a very short amount of time compared to the websites that designers and programmers make.
You Can Easily Customize Your Website Using The Themes
Tell me one thing, how many times have you tried to change the design of your website, and it took a couple of days to do so? Either you have to be professional to do the changes in a matter of days or have the right and easy-to-use tools to complete this mission. I know this task can be hard and challenging.
I have good news for you. By using WordPress and its dedicated plugins and extensions, you can actually use and apply different themes to your website. However, you must remember that some of the themes need to be paid in order to use. If you look at the themes provided by this platform, you will see that some of these themes can be worth up to USD100.
You Can Find Any Features That You Are Looking For
You need many features in order to initiate your online store, from listing new products to orders and billing. Unfortunately, these are the features that you cannot easily design and set up yourself unless you have the proper knowledge to do so.
After using WooCommerce, you will see that how this can simplify several steps that every online store will require. It is interesting to note that all these features are so basic and simple that you may think of them as unreliable, but I can assure you that you can learn the WooCommerce plugin and work with it easily, and there is nothing to worry about.
After reviewing the WooCommerce plugin, we have listed the main features of this plugin as follows:
Main And Best Features Of WooCommerce
- You will be able to customize your website with ease and without any restrictions on your design.
- You as the website owner will be able to manage your products and categories with ease.
- Both you as the web owner and your customers will be able to write reviews about the company, products and services and rate them as you like. As you know, product and service reviews and ratings are of great importance for improving the quality of these products and services. Therefore, you are looking at one of the most important aspects of WooCommerce that WordPress provides for their customers.
- Those who are visiting your website will be able to find what they are looking for by searching the name of that product or service in the “Search Bar.” In addition, they will be able to filter the products based on the category that each product is located in.
- Customers all around the world will be able to customize the currency, language, and measurement unit of the website based on the location they are located at. In other words, web owners are preparing themselves for working internationally.
Two Of The Most Important Extensions That You Can Find On WooCommerce
Do you like the features that WooCommerce is providing for you? Here I will introduce two of the most important extensions you can use to make your online store more appealing. Please note that the first tool, “WooCommerce Google Analytics,” will be available to you for free, but you will be required to pay an amount of USD49 for purchasing “WooCommerce MailChimp.”
- View the Number of Visitors to Your Website
When you own a website, it is important to track the number of visitors. In addition, you will need to know about the users’ behaviour when they are visiting your website, their interests and what they are doing at your online store, and most importantly, what they want from your online store.
The only way you can find this information is via the Google platform. I have good news for you. “WooCommerce Google Analytics” will integrate your website with the Google platform, and hence, your website will be able to show what the customers want based on their search history. All you need to do is to download this extension and use it for free.
- Track your past and present customers using MailChimp
Before the dawn of social media platforms and other means of communication, you were required to send an email to your customers, past or present, in order to notify them of your new products and services. Don’t underestimate the power of e-mail marketing because even the most reputable companies such as Apple and Microsoft started their first sales using nothing other than email.
Now, you may wonder what MailChimp can do for you? Using this extension, you will be able to personalize emails and send them to the customers that you have been working with for years, even before creating your own website.
You may also wonder how you can work with this extension. It is actually a simple process. When a new user comes to your website, he or she will be required to sign up at your website (please note that attracting customers is a different subject which is not discussed in this article) and where enter their e-mail. Then, you will be able to send an email to the customer based on specific data provided by them.
You And Only You Are The Manager Of Your Website
It is important to mention that when you are selling a certain product or service by signing a contract with a third party, the third-party would be able to claim some of the profit you are making from selling that product or service.
But we have good news for you. In the case of using WordPress and WooCommerce, you and only you are the manager of your website, and you are the only one using these platforms to set up and manage your online store. It is important to mention that you will be able to migrate from WordPress to another platform by making a backup of your website and content.
You Can Enjoy The Great Flexibility Of Woocommerce
Many web owners are complaining about the lack of flexibility in most platforms claiming that these platforms don’t have proper tools and feature to support their market niche or their product.
However, this is not true for Woocommerce. Whatever your product, service or market niche are, you will be capable of adapting your website to whatever you are offering and providing them on your website to the customers. It is important to mention that if you are thinking of initiating an affiliate marketing system or another business model, I can promise you that WordPress and Woocommerce are the tools that you have been looking for.
You Can Enjoy The Optimal Security Of Woocommerce
Unfortunately, we cannot deny the fact cyber-attacks are part of the internet, and no one can say that you will be safe from any cyber-attacks and hacking of your website. When you are starting your first online store, there won’t be anyone interested in your online store because unless you are making tons of money, thousands of dollars that that may attract the hackers, but there won’t be something like that.
However, you want to know even when this may happen, and hence, you want to take all the precautions you can in order to protect your asset. I have two great news for you:
- WordPress and Woocommerce are two of the most used platforms on the planet, and most newcomers use these tools to create their online store. For this reason, these platforms are updated on a regular basis in order to prevent any cyber-attacks because if such even occurs, the information of all web owners, customers, and the content of all websites, and even the assets of the web owners are in danger. Therefore, it is not something to mess with or not give attention to.
- It is also required to mention that you will be able to add secure gateways and electronic wallets, e.g., PayPal, Stripe, etc. Even now, you are able to add a bitcoin payment gateway for your website. In other words, the customers will be able to use the bitcoin payment gateway to purchase with ease using their bitcoin on their e-wallet.
You Can Enjoy A Large Amount Of Informative Guidance
You are not the only one who is trying to initiate his or her first online store, and there are a lot of people who haven’t gain enough knowledge and guidance in order to take the first steps. Sure, you can participate in web design classes and learn how to make your website using WordPress and Woocommerce.
However, it is important to note that there is a large community of people who are using WordPress and Woocommerce, and they have created lots of lots of information on articles and informative guidance manuals using which you can actually know how to use these powerful tools. This article that you’re reading right now is just a portion of what you can find on the internet.
There are actually support forums where you can ask your questions and find your answers for them. Note that WordPress and Woocommerce support is one of the best support teams you can find for similar platforms, and you won’t have any problem working with these tools.
In simple words, not only will you get help from the website support but also customers and clients who are using these platforms already. A truly large and supportive company, isn’t it?
The Disadvantages Of Using Woocommerce
Now that we reviewed the pros of using Woocommerce, it is time to see if there are any cons to using this eCommerce plugin. It is interesting to note that although the number of disadvantages is less than its benefits, we believe that knowledge will be a great help in choosing the right tools for making an online store.
Pay Or Not Pay For The Extensions
In the first paragraph of this article, we stated that using “Woocommerce” and “WordPress” will be completely free. You won’t need to pay for any widget or add-ons most of the time.
However, not all extensions will be free of charge, and you will still require to pay an amount of money for using certain extensions. In certain cases, you will also require to pay for certain plans, which will be charged to you on a monthly basis.
As mentioned in there about paragraphs, you will be able to use payment gateways, subscription services, and other utilities that you may require for your website. However, you must remember that some of the services will only be available after paying them.
It Is Not Adaptable To The German Language
If you are living in Germany, there is a high chance (99%) that you won’t be able to use this plugin because it is not meant for the German market. The best thing you can do is to find another plugin. However, I have good news for German citizens. WordPress has developed a certain plugin that you can use in your country that is called “Germanized for WooCommerce.”
I don’t know if you can actually name this section a disadvantage because WordPress has even developed other features that every German person can utilize. These features are as follows:
- PDF invoices
- Premium support
- Being capable of creating multiple shipments to order, etc.
Trust The Plugins Or Not?
You are using Windows 10 right now, right? Unfortunately, many users have issues with Windows 10 update, and they are totally right. When you are using this Windows, Windows Update will start to download new items and add new features to your computer.
However, as most users claimed, not all these updates are beneficial, and some of them have created several issues for the users. Some of these issues are as follows: the system is slowing down, and some applications aren’t working anymore.
This is exactly what is happening for the WordPress plugins right now. The plugins that are updating may not be adaptable with your online shop and can create an issue for you and your website. Hence, you will be required to test your online store with these updates within a closed test environment in order to make sure that your online store will stay intact.
At least, you are given a choice to test these updates before anything happens to your online shop. In the case of Windows 10, you will have no choice, and the download for updates will again start without notifying you, and before you know it, your system is updating and slowing down. I wish that Windows 10 had the same feature as WooCommerce.
Now that we have reviewed the pros and cons of using “WooCommerce,” do you still think this platform and its tools are the right choices for you?
There Is Insufficient Support In The Creation Of A Payment Gateway
The first thing that comes to mind when we are initiating an online store is to make extra money from that online store or making it the real job that you have been working hours for. A website without any payment gateway is just a normal website that you are just spending your precious time to complete its content.
The bad thing about WooCommerce is that this plugin doesn’t offer enough support to create a payment gateway.
As mentioned above, this plugin is capable of creating the payment gateway for PayPal and electronic wallets in order to make any purchase. It is important to mention that each of these gateways will require different configurations, and none of them is similar to each other. Unfortunately, I have to say that there is no sufficient support in order to guide the users through the process of creating these payment gateways.
Conclusion
Creating a website and turning it into an online store can be challenging, but it is not possible. You have to know how to make a website, programming and other required tools to make a functional website. “WordPress” can be your first option because of being totally free (unless you are using certain extinctions) and straightforward.
After you created your website design, it is time to make it functional and put it on the internet, and you can do this via WordPress's own plugin, “Woocommerce.” This plugin can actually be your first tool to use for creating an online store. The reason that these tools are popular among many users is that it is pretty easy to find your way around the tools, and even if you don’t have any knowledge in this regard, you will be able to learn them so fast by asking around in review and forum websites.
In this article, we aimed to review the Woocommerce plugin in order to give you good guidance about what you are dealing with and will it have any benefit to your cause or is it the wrong tool to use.
Based on what we have discussed in the above paragraphs, we believe that all the advantages of WooCommerce have can ultimately outweigh any of these advantages that it has.
What do you think of WooCommerce, now? Do you think it is the best choice for your small or medium-sized store? Can you use it in your country to turn your website into a professional online store? If you think that the above disadvantages and advantages are not enough for you to make a decision, you can still visit discussion forums and review websites to gain more information on WooCommerce.
I trust you enjoyed the WooCommerce review. Please stay tuned for more articles like this to come. Take care!
JeannetteZ
Your Opinion Is Important To Me
Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? I would love to hear from you. Please leave me your questions, experiences, remarks, and/or suggestions about this WooCommerce review in the comments section below. You can also reach me by email at Jeannette@WorkFromAnywhereInTheWorld.com.
