What is WooCommerce? WooCommerce Review, Features

WooCommerce is an open source e-commerce plugin for WordPress that allows website owners to quickly integrate a fully functional online store on their existing WordPress website in just a few steps - and it’s free.

About WooCommerce

WooCommerce was developed by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. It is included in the official WordPress plugin directory and can be accessed directly from the WordPress website. WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin in WordPress. It has product list and shopping cart functions, suitable for online retail stores, B2C malls, B2B display websites, etc.

WooCommerce is a shopping mall plug-in based on the WordPress system. It is a free and professional feature-rich online store system with built-in shopping cart and electronic catalog mode. It can build exquisite website templates to create a very special and personalized online store, which is different from the common standardized stores built by ecshop or Shopex.

The WooCommerce system includes a plugin and the company’s library of themes, while also offering multiple payment gateway options, settings for configuring shipping rates, coupon support, email templates, a reporting panel for tracking sales and performance, and more.

How it works

WooCommerce is a plugin, a small piece of code that is added to the existing WordPress website "framework" provided by the WordPress core code. Once installed and activated, this plugin will add all the elements for setting up an e-commerce platform to an existing WordPress website, from managing contact forms to creating an entire e-commerce business with all the tools provided by third-party shopping platforms.

Because WooCommerce is installed on a self-hosted WordPress website, website owners have full control over their online storefronts without having to pay fees or transaction costs to a third-party host. WordPress integrated with WooCommerce provides store owners with a stable, secure online store management solution, from appearance to specialized features such as calculating shipping costs for specific countries and tracking analytics. With its range of extensions and customization options, WooCommerce can grow with your business so that new features can be added when needed.

Basic form

1. Templates for different product types, services, and digital downloads.

2. Options for various secure payment types, such as PayPal, Stripe or bank transfer.

3. Mobile responsiveness.

4. Inventory tracking.

5. Currency and shipping calculator for all countries.

6. Analysis of all product types.

7. Unlimited image uploads and product pages.

8. Complete shopping cart and checkout setup.

WooCommerce Plugin Installation

1. Prepare your website for WooCommerce: To get the most out of WooCommerce, it’s helpful to prepare your WordPress website to accommodate its features. WooCommerce can be installed on any WordPress site that’s compatible with the current version and can be integrated with most free and premium WordPress themes.

2. Install and activate WooCommerce: In your site’s dashboard, select Plugins > Install New to access the official WordPress plugin directory. Then search for WooCommerce, click Install, and click to install it on your site immediately. After installing the plugin, click Activate to access its features and start customizing your store.

3. Set up and configure the store: WooCommerce comes with a setup wizard that allows users to quickly and easily configure key aspects of the store, even if the user has no coding experience. It also allows users with web development experience to manually configure the store, which allows more customization. Regardless of which method you choose, users can set up major WooCommerce features such as product types, accepted currencies and delivery methods, and customize the appearance of the online store.

4. Add products to your store: With WooCommerce, users can sell almost anything, including services, music and video files, and digital goods that can be downloaded after purchase. To add a product, click "Add Product" in the site dashboard and start adding product images, descriptions, and prices. WooCommerce allows users to set various parameters as needed, including quantity, color, and style variations. Users can also add tags and categories for easy searching.

5. Add extensions to get more functionality: WooCommerce provides all the basic tools to build an online store, but some businesses may have more complex and specific needs. For these cases, WooCommerce can be customized through a variety of extensions and add-on plugins from the WooCommerce plugin site or third-party developers. These free and premium WooCommerce extensions can be added as needed to extend the functionality of a WooCommerce-powered store in a variety of ways—from adding specific language support to simplifying billing and taxes.

Development History

In November 2014, the first WooConf conference was held in San Francisco — focused on e-commerce using WooCommerce, it attracted 300 attendees.

- In 2015, WooCommerce currently powers over thirty percent of all online stores and has over 1M downloads.

-In May 2015, WooThemes and WooCommerce were acquired by Automattic, the operator of WordPress.com and a core contributor to the WordPress software.

-A study conducted in 2017 revealed that WooCommerce stores generated nearly $10 billion in sales.