This is the question in our time when WordPress dominates the content management CMS market or “Content Management System”.

The website developers agree on the position of Woocommerce as the best Ecommerce platform.

WooCommerce stands out as the best eCommerce extension for WordPress. (An extension is a module that can be added to WordPress to increase its functionality beyond the basic functions.)

The e-commerce platform for WordPress: WooCommerce

I like to think that WooCommerce is a platform that is good to do everything. It's easy to create your site from WordPress and configure it. 

Just add WooCommerce to turn the WordPress CMS into an e-commerce site. Of course, it will not compete with a Magento Enterprise site, but it's certainly one of the best options for many small businesses.

Let's take a look at the main features:

• Easy and turnkey solution;

• Integrates easily with an existing WordPress site;

• Very good SEO features integrated (for SEO);

• Many plugins available;

• Perfect for small product catalogs;

• WooCommerce / WordPress specialists are easy to find;

• Very well suited for businesses with a smaller budget

• Easy to manage day-to-day

• Almost seamless upgrade process

Overview

On your usual WP dashboard, you will then see new windows very useful for the management of your e-commerce (current orders, turnover, buyer reviews). 

The main WooCommerce Shop As Customer options are managed from the WooCommerce tab (switch account, countries allowed to order, colors, etc.).

https://codecanyon.net/item/woocommerce-shop-as-customer/28312616?s_rank=1

WooCommerce Special Pages

The pages necessary for the good functioning of your e-commerce, can be generated either automatically by WooCommerce as soon as it is activated, or manually.

When you are in user mode (in switch mode). The WordPress admin bar will notify you that you are in customer mode by showing the customer name as shown into the following image.

You will be back to original account, once clicked on to the “Switch Back” Button

Product sheet

Once you place an order on customer behalf, then you can send invoice to customer if requires. Invoice sending button will appear on to the Thank You page as shown below.

It is from the "Products" menu that you will add your items for sale. 

Everything is configurable (options, colors, taxes, weight, stocks, etc). 

You can also sell classic, dematerialized and / or downloadable products. Small peculiarity, the menu Products is very similar to the menu items of WordPress. 

You will be able to modify, add or delete, create categories and define keywords!

The compromise that Progos offers its customers

As a large amount of website for self-employed, organizations and corporations are created on WordPress, it is the natural progression of things to add WooCommerce for the e-commerce component of the site.

WooCommerce is free, quick to set up and easy to manage for the shop owner. It offers a host of additional modules with varying prices from just US $ 15 to US $ 49. Several independent vendors also offer additional modules for free or for sale through their websites.

Regular maintenance of the WooCommerce platform can be integrated into the regular maintenance your agency does anyway for WordPress. Additional fees are minimal.

Here the question to ask is simple: Can I really do without a shop as affordable to set up, as economical to maintain and as easy to use?

This option is very interesting because it gives the opportunity to sell online at low cost and refund the costs of setting up the shop faster.

The free-service

On the one hand, several players in the field offer self-service tools that allow business owners to create their own store. 

Some of these platforms are dedicated to e-commerce (3DCart and Shopify). Others are tools for creating a website and offer the option to add an eCommerce feature (Webs, Weebly and Wix).

Here you will trade your time rather than money to create a website / shop. While keeping in mind that time is money, that time is not spent serving your customers or developing your business and that the end result will not be perfect, you should ask yourself if your time is well used to create the site yourself.

 

Website created in an agency

At the other extreme, you can have your site created entirely by an agency in a platform dedicated to e-commerce such as WooCommerce Mix and Match.

In this case, the investment will be in cash. Now and for years to come.

Except Magento, all platforms listed are free. With all these platforms, you will need an agency with technical expertise to set up your shop and train you on autonomous management. Make sure the agency clearly breaks down creative costs and future maintenance costs to avoid surprises.

The question to ask yourself here is if you have the financial resources for such a project and most importantly, if it's really necessary. 

The Magento site is not transparent on its pricing, but a Google search reveals that the platform costs an annual license of 18 000 $ US in addition to the costs of creation and maintenance of the platform that your agency will charge you.

The other platforms are free and offer paid modules to add features. Here too, your agency will charge you its service for the implementation and maintenance.

Why is WooCommerce the leader?

You are probably wondering what is so special about WooCommerce and why is it the first in the world? Well, WooCommerce is the ecommerce extension of WordPress, the most popular content management system.

We think that WooCommerce is leading the e-commerce market. There are many WordPress users who have online shops, so WooCommerce is the most appropriate solution for them.

But it's not just that. WooCommerce provides excellent services, powerful features, it is very easy to manage by everyone and ... it's free. So, if you're already on WordPress, you're a winner, so to speak.

WooCommerce is at the top for its great and easy services, but it also has some disadvantages. Well, nothing is perfect. 

So let's talk a bit about the good and bad benefits of WooCommerce.

Advantages

Ø  It's free.

Ø  Allows you to add unlimited products and product attributes.

Ø  Works on all devices.

Ø  Once installed, everything is yours. It comes with a wide variety of easy-to-use customization options. You can control everything as you wish.

Ø  It's very easy to install and use. Provides an intuitive interface and you do not need coding skills to manage it.

Ø  It includes user reviews and ratings, which mean you, can give your customers the freedom to evaluate your products.

Ø  It looks more like a bonus ... It will be a piece of cake for people who already have their sites on WordPress.

Ø  WooCommerce is also easy to learn, especially if you are already familiar with WordPress and its plugins. The only real difference is that with WordPress and WooCommerce, you have to do the installation and maintenance yourself. Very honestly, nothing insurmountable but, you have to be focused and not be afraid to go. 

After, you can find help easily with very good tutorials or call a professional. If the budget is your battle line, you will find the necessary forces to get started and will be very proud of you after!

Disadvantages

·         It does not come with free hosting and you have to pay for it. In fact, WooCommerce is a plugin that only works on WordPress.

·         For a non-WordPress user, creating an online store can be a little difficult because you have to take a host, install WordPress on it, choose a theme compatible with WooCommerce install the WooCommerce plugin.

·         Even if the plug-in is free, it can be a bit expensive to set the store.

What about competition?

You could say that WooCommerce is not as efficient if it does not include a complete package, such as hosting and everything that is integrated.

WooCommerce is not a stand-alone platform, it's a WordPress extension. WooCommerce is a plugin, while OpenCart, Shopify and Magento are ecommerce platforms only.

Shopify is the only platform among the most popular with hosting integration. But, at the same time, it comes with some limitations and does not give you total control over your site. For example, it only provides product attributes 3: size, color, and material. More, you will not be able to make all the customizations you need and you have to stick to what the platform has to offer. You can not come with something from the outside. Shopify does not offer a free plan either. But given the fact that it brings free hosting, it seems somehow legitimate. Plans start at $ 9 and end at $ 179.

The other platforms 2 are free and you must also play for hosting. But, most important of all, you have better control over your entire site. You can customize and change every detail of the appearance, operation and features of your site.

Magento also has a paid plan for businesses, which also includes more complex features for major international online stores such as Amazon.

Conclusion

While each of WooCommerce's direct competitors surpasses anything but lacks other important features, WordPress has it all: open source CMS, total control of your site, many free and paid services, intuitive interface for beginners and the ability to development for the advanced level, the ability to create a versatile site (with an online store included), prizes for all budgets and other things that are just waiting to be explored.