Did you know that there are over 5 million current shops using Woo Commerce? So, could Woo Commerce be the right choice for your business? Maybe you have stumbled across the name in other blogs, research, or in talking to other business owners? Perhaps you have been trying to decide between Woo Commerce and Shopify for your DTC selling model. Whatever the case maybe it’s important to know more about this popular selling platform.

What is Woo Commerce

Woo Commerce is an open-source e-commerce plug-in for WordPress. It is designed for small to large-sized businesses currently using WordPress for their e-commerce site.  If your website is powered by WordPress, then Woo Commerce allows you to easily set up an online store. Woo Commerce was launched in late 2011. It quickly became popular for its simplicity to install and customize its free-based product. Simply put, it’s a tool for you to sell either products or services in a safe, secure, cost-effective, and easy-to-use environment.

Pros of Woo Commerce

  • Free and easy to use. Nothing can be better than free, right? Also, easy-to-use is a must, especially if your skills are not a pro when it comes to website building and integration.
  • Full control of your content and store. As the brand owner, you want to be able to steer your own ship. Woo Commerce provides a lot of built-in tools to optimize your site. Your brand identity is just as important as many other aspects of your business. With Woo Commerce you never lose control as it is easy enough for anyone to self-manage the basics without needing website developers.
  • Wide variety of themes and products (many of them free). If you really want to set yourself apart from the competition a unique look is available for you.
  • Readily available support

Cons of Woo Commerce

  • To be most proficient, you must be an expert in both WordPress and Woo Commerce. Many of us are not experts in either site and lack the time and energy to get there. In order to fully utilize the suite of offerings, you must be willing to dedicate the time to learn the platform.
  • Many upgrades of Woo Commerce are not free. A lot of plug-ins and optimization tools require a small investment must be made. Everyone wants to invest in their brand, but each investment must be carefully selected and determined if there is an appropriate ROI (return on investment). This is a decision each and every brand owner must make.
  • On-going maintenance is the responsibility of the brand owner. As you are growing your revenue and engaging your customers website maintenance might not be your cup of tea. Consider building this time into your schedule monthly to make sure your website is optimized, speedy and safe for your customers.

Best Woo Commerce Plug-Ins

Most all e-commerce marketplaces operate by having 3rd party applications (plug-ins) available to help optimize your site. These are several of our favorites for Woo Commerce:

Live Chat – Every serious e-commerce site has to have a live chat option. This appropriately named application is free and very intuitive. Did you know that nearly 2/3rds of customers abandon their carts? A lot of it is because they can’t find the answer or talk to someone about a question they have. Use proactive chat to help convert your customers.

Pirate Ship – If you are selling small and light items the cheapest way to ship is USPS. And if you are shipping USPS you need to be using Pirate Ship. From its publicly discounted rates to its intuitive platform, there simply is not a better shipping platform out there. Also, there customer service is world-class. We have worked with Pirate Ship on several instances and couldn’t recommend it more.

Constant Contact – If you have been successful in driving customer traffic to your website, you need to be sure you are capturing email addresses and communicating with previous and potential new customers. Building an email list is crucial, but having a great email client to manage your campaigns is equally as important. Constant Contact comes with dozens of free email templates and the plug-in allows you to do some basic customer segregation when emailing. Constant Contact makes it easy to integrate a mail sign-up widget into any website.

Trust Pulse – Customers react to FOMO (fear of missing out). Trust Pulse provides your customers with social proof that others are purchasing goods on your website. They are little notifications that appear on the bottom of your browser. This app provides some cool free real-time shopping analytics, too.

Conclusion

You need a solid, reliable solution for your website in order to move your direct-to-consumer product.  Woo Commerce, while cost-effective, also takes a lot of expertise and time to both build and manage as you maneuver through your business needs.  This could be an excellent choice for your business if your background supports these technical tasks to drive success. An ROI analysis needs to be conducted prior to choosing a platform to make sure that the capital you are investing will pay dividends in your business’ future.  Just blindly upgrading to new themes or plug-ins without understanding the cost, ease of use, and return you will get is a quick way to waste precious time and money.

When deciding if Woo Commerce is right for your business – good news for you – Lessgistics integrates seamlessly with over 100 marketplaces, including Woo Commerce.  We have extensive experience with this platform.  If you are using or are considering using Woo Commerce for your website needs we are here for you from a third-party logistics (3PL) standpoint.  We use a Warehouse Management System (WMS) that integrates seamlessly with Woo Commerce and syncs converted shopping carts to fulfillable orders. Then, our team of warehouse specialist pack and ships orders directly to each of your customers. Full visibility is provided during the entire process and, of course, tracking is provided to your customers, too. We see our services as an extension of your team and understand that making your customers happy is the #1 priority.  To get more information on a potential partnership- please reach out to human@lessgistics.com!