Hey there and welcome to WordPress Wednesday.
When it comes to WordPress and ecommerce plugins, you have a lot of great options. There are a number of high-quality ecommerce plugins that allow you to turn your website into an online store in just a few clicks.
But which one is the right one for you? Which plugin is going to be the easiest to use? Which one will help you accomplish your goals?
So today let’s talk through some of the top ecommerce plugins to help you make your decision.
And before we get too far along, if you want more videos on WordPress, ecommerce and other website related topics, be sure to subscribe and to ring the bell for notifications.
Now let’s get started.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is hands down the best WordPress ecommerce plugin out there. And it’s probably the best platform on the market period. Google “WordPress ecommerce plugins” and it’s always going to be the top result.
And there are great reasons for that too. It’s a very powerful plugin that does a lot for you. It’s free to start out with, and it comes with built in support for payment gateways, shipping rates, customer emails and more. And that doesn’t mention the quality in which it displays your products.
Plus, there are different add ons that you can use to extend the functionality of your store even further. And if you want a theme that is specifically built for WooCommerce, they offer those as well.
There are a couple of downsides though. First, it’s owned now by Automattic, which is also the same company that owns Jetpack. And if that’s a concern for you, well, that might convince you to look somewhere else. Plus because it does a lot, there is a lot of sort of extra bloat that it adds to your site. Plus, some of options can get a little bit complicated. And some regular themes might not actually have the styling support for WooCommerce.
But I think those concerns are fairly minor, and the good really outweighs the bad. If you’re wanting to open up an e-commerce section to your website, WooCommerce is the way to go.
Easy Digital Downloads
Now, if you’re just selling online-only products, like WordPress plugins and themes, then you’re going to want to look at Easy Digital Downloads.
Easy Digital Downloads is essentially the digital goods version of WooCommerce. In fact, having set up both of them on websites before, the settings are almost identical. But EDD is simpler in the fact that you don’t have to worry about shipping physical products and you don’t have to worry about inventory. And I’ve found that it works well with well-built themes right out of the box, so you don’t really have to worry about styling or any of that.
And like WooCommerce, the Easy Digital Downloads has its own add on ecosystem so that you can extend its functionality even further.
I personally don’t really have negatives about Easy Digital Downloads. Obviously if you’re selling physical goods, then it’s out of the question. But other than that, it’s a powerful plugin that gives you a great online store for selling digital products.
BigCommerce
The biggest difference between BigCommerce and the other two plugins I’ve mentioned previously is that BigCommerce is a service outside of the WordPress ecosystem, rather than just a WordPress plugin.
And that takes some stress off your website compared to the other plugins.
To be completely honest, I haven’t used BigCommerce like I have WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads, so I don’t really have that personal hands on experience, but I’ve heard good things about it. It’s great for scaling up if you’re a medium sized business or if you’re a small business looking to grow up to be a medium sized business. That keeps your website moving quick and helps to protect you in case you get a sudden spike in sales.
And they take care of the PCI compliance, which is big thing when it comes to taking online payments. Plus, the plugin even has support for the block editor, Gutenberg.
One of the drawbacks, however, is that because BigCommerce is a service like this, there is a price that you’re going to have to pay compared to the other WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. And you’ll have to request a quote from them.
But if you think you’re going to end up growing quickly and need all of that flexibility, BigCommerce might be something worth looking into.
Ecwid Ecommerce Shopping Cart
Like BigCommerce, Ecwid is a service that the plugin connects to. But unlike BigCommerce there is a free tier with Ecwid that you can try out.
Ecwid makes it super simple to start selling right away. There’s built in support for Stripe and Paypal processors. Like BigCommerce, it has PCI compliance built into the checkout. And you can manage your products right from your WordPress dashboard.
And while I haven’t personally used it, there are a number of positive reviews in the repository, and that’s always a good thing.
The couple of drawbacks is that because it’s not quite as popular as WooCommerce, the support base isn’t as big. And themes might not have styling for it.
But if you’re intrigued by BigCommerce and want to try it out sort of for free, then Ecwid might be something that you want to look at.
Up next
So what questions do you have about any of these plugins? Have you used one of these before? What was your experience? Be sure to leave your answers down in the comments section below.
Next time we’ll be taking a look at planning out a new ecommerce website. As always, to see that video and other videos on WordPress, Ecommerce and other web related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and ring the bell for notifications.
Until then, happy WordPressing!
Leave a Reply