With over tens of thousands of plugins in the WordPress fountain and many ecommerce platforms available, choosing one seems daunting. How do you possibly choose the best plugins for your business needs? In this guide we help you choose the best ecommerce.
What is an e-commerce platform?
The buying and selling of goods and services over the internet is known as ecommerce. The consist of various types such as:
- B2B (Business to Business)
- B2C (Business to Consumer)
- C2C (Consumer to Consumer)
- C2B (Consumer to Business).
An ecommerce platform is the software application where both the seller and consumer engage in exchanging goods or services for money.
Basically, your customers should use your e-commerce platform to find your products, do online shopping using a virtual cart, and then use the check out point. The latter is where you get your moola.
What to Do Before Choosing a Platform to Activate Ecommerce for WordPress
Hang on, before you look for the best platforms to enhance your ecommerce store; you need to ensure that your WordPress website is well rounded.
A Decent Web Host
You could opt for an affordable plan. However, page speed is such a crucial part of a quality ecommerce experience that a good web hosting service is worth the investment.
A trustworthy web host can also guarantee restricted downtime and high bandwidth. It is super important to get high bandwidth so that you don’t miss out on sales.
A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate.
Ecommerce shops use personal and financial information. For this reason alone, enhancing your WordPress security is not negotiable. When you install an SSL certificate, your data will be encrypted and as a result safeguards data between the web host and web server.
The best and most common way to tell if a website is secure is if it includes “https” into the website’s URL.
Google Chrome users are all too familiar that this web browser habitually warns you on the address bar if the website is not secure.
HTTPS does not only enable and communicate with your website’s security. Another cool thing about HTTPS is that it is also a vital Google search ranking signal. This means that you have an increased probability to be discovered by potential clients, simply by climbing higher on Google’s ranking index.
Important Issues to Consider When Choosing An Ecommerce Platform
There are many things you will have to think about when choosing an appropriate WordPress ecommerce platform.
We have noted them down below.
Updated WordPress version
Fresh versions of WordPress are regularly released. This is oftentimes problematic when it comes to compatibility
Platform developers need to ensure that they stay updated with the newest WordPress core version to avoid compatibility problems from hindering your website.
The Effect on Your Page Speed
Some platforms are not always designed to consider your bandwidth speed. This can cause your website to function at a snail’s pace
The best option here would be to check out some WordPress ecommerce platform reviews.
The most authentic reviews would be on forums. This is where users share their delight or frustration when using each platform they have used. No “paid review” BS here.
Existence of community.
The best WordPress platforms have many devotees who are eager to pay tribute of these handy tools.
These seemingly zealot users, can be a go-to resource for identifying and fixing uncommon issues. You will find that some problems are not addressed in platform support paperwork.
There are a few ways to determine community around WordPress ecommerce plugins:
- Have a look at the number of platform downloads to give you an idea of its popularity. You should weigh out the total number of downloads versus the total active installations. This will give you a churn rate over multiple platform options. The Churn rate is an indication of a platform’s inability to keep to its agreements when used.
- You can find the churn rate of a platform by using WordPress’ Plugin Directory. When you can’t find the platform, it may be on offer as a paid tool. Other than that, it can only be a clear warning sign when it comes to the platform’s value. WordPress has mentioned a few potential problems that stops a platform from being registered on their Plugin Directory. Issues such as security, documentation, and presentation are all carefully analysed here. If you have any problems or concerns about a platform, you should reach out to the commercial seller and post an inquiry. No response? Get out of there fast!
- Avoid putting your trust in platforms popularity statistics. Again, read a couple of good reviews to get a decent feel of what it’s really like using the platform. A decent analysis of how (if ever) the platform’s developers respond to bad reviews is very important.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a powerhouse WordPress ecommerce platform which is freely available.
They have made it simple for anyone to create an ecommerce store with just a few clicks. With WooCommerce you will be able to sell both digital and physical goods.
You can also choose from a variety of extensions and themes. With this added convenience, it will be easy for you to increase fresh features to your WooCommerce store. This includes cart abandonment features, managing your product catalogue, sending out discount codes, and the list goes on.
If you dabble in affiliate marketing you will be able to add external products to your site while easily managing your own goods. With WooCommerce you can even assign this to a store manager.
It also features fixed support for widespread payment gateways. Speaking of payment, you will also be able to add multiple payment options with the use of plugin extensions.
If you are worried about where your money goes, don’t worry. WooCommerce analyses your taxes, shipping costs, and other expenses.
The platform also provides outstanding support systems. They include a knowledge base, help desk, and community forums with all your questions and concerns.
With ease of use and an innate ability to handle your products, it’s no wonder WooCommerce is the most commonly used ecommerce platform.
SureCart
SureCart is a fresh ecommerce platform, which is powered by the same technology as Shopify, Stripe, and Twitter.
SureCart’s main goal is to provide simplified online store solutions without the use of multiple plugins on your website. This platform uses its own individual setup through connecting to WordPress by using a plugin.
Creating products and checkouts can be done on your WordPress Dashboard, but dealings are used using the SureCart platform.
In this way you won’t risk the speed of your website and you don’t need to install many plugins.
SureCart is stack with important features to increase the financial gains of your business. Some of these features are not even available on the best ecommerce platforms, let’s have a look.
With SureCart You Can:
- Perform Upsells, Downsells, and Order Bumps
- Manage Your funnels and sales reporting
- AutomaticTax Calculation
- Provide specific details on your checkout forms
- Customers and set their own price and give donations
- Create coupons, cards, checkboxes
SureCart is more for thoser who work independently like artists and content creators. We are excited to see this platform develop from its Beta phase, to a premium option by 2023.
Summary
Even though there are many ecommerce platforms for you to choose from, doesn’t mean that they will all be suited for your business. This is where WordPress gives you flexibility and choice. Think about your very own business needs and how you would like to make online dealings better when choosing an ecommerce platform.
