Why You Should Integrate WooCommerce into Your Ecommerce Platform

One of the most widely used plugins for WordPress, WooCommerce has become one of the world’s most popular ecommerce platforms with almost 60 million downloads and 3 million active stores. It saw 13.6% growth in 2017, and it sees 24% of ecommerce sales volume.

Developers flock to WooCommerce for its open API and capability to support their extensions, while online retailers praise the software’s customizable nature. Furthermore, the online shopping cart allows you to create as many listings as you’d like. It’s hard to deny that overall, the online shopping cart has great appeal.

Take a look at these statistics if you’re not yet convinced.

WooCommerce Statistics:

• Back in 2011, WooCommerce offered only nine official extensions and six official themes.
• By 2016, WooCommerce had been downloaded 13.8 million times and had more than 1 million installations.
• WooCommerce is currently translated into 26 language.
• The online shopping cart has more than 400 extensions.
• WooCommerce powers 37% of all ecommerce sites.
• 28,864 of the world’s top million websites (0.6% of all websites or 3.7% of the top million sites) use WooCommerce.

The possibilities are endless when you have a WooCommerce store, which is why e-tailers are making the switch or simply integrating it into their existing ecommerce platforms. The best part is that switching and integrating are easy to do with the right tools.

Easy Integration

The “open API” mentioned earlier refers to the Application Program Interface of WooCommerce, or its capability to operate seamlessly with other platforms, extensions and third-party tools. As Bob Dunn of BobWP explains, an API acts like a handshake between WordPress, WooCommerce, and all of its compatible plugins.

Because WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, its API was created so it could work with other WordPress tools. However, because it’s so versatile, developers can integrate WooCommerce with other tools outside the WordPress realm.

This means even outdated ecommerce platforms can be brought in with the right tools and experienced developers or by contacting a business like Mode Effect to bring it in for you.

Open to Developers

Speaking of developers, WooCommerce is a developer’s playground with the open API explained more thoroughly above. With it, devs can build any kind of tool for WooCommerce and WordPress.

Online retailers benefit the most from all the third-party extensions, as WooCommerce on its own does not (and cannot) offer everything. For example, the WooThemes dashboard has basic analytics and reporting, but you can easily download an extension that gives you more robust data. If you’re curious as to what type of plugins you can find, here’s our pick for the top five WooCommerce Marketing Plugins.

Ecommerce is so multifaceted that these third-party plugins are a necessity. Between tracking web traffic and conversions to marketing efforts to inventory management, e-tailers have the open WooCommerce API and extension developers to be thankful for.

 Endless Extensions

Officially, WooCommerce has 286 extensions listed on its site in categories including: Store Management, Payments and Shipping. But what about tools for less obvious customizations, such as language/currency converting or aesthetic changes to your chosen theme? For those, you can look through the hundreds more plugins that you can find and download online.

Some of our favorite WooCommerce plugins are even free. And all have immense potential to boost your online store’s sales. The only drawback is that sometimes plugins conflict when operating together. So your best options are to look for “unplugins” that won’t interfere with your online store’s functionality.

Need even more tips on WooCommerce plugins? We’ve got you covered! Check out our related guide: 22 Game-Changing WooCommerce Plugins

Safe and Secure

Another major benefit of WooCommerce is its commitment to online safety and security. Like any site, it has its fair share of attempted hacking, but new password features have increased security for its users. Users can now auto-generate strong passwords or, when creating their own, gauge their strength against a meter.

WordPress also sends out regular emails to users about updating software and and plugins. Because hackers usually target old, inactive sites, updates are an effective way to ward them off. The simplest way to stay current is to look out for WordPress releases that end in “2” because those are important security updates.

Making the Switch

At this point, it’s hard to argue the benefits of switching to or integrating with WooCommerce for your online store. But you might have one concern: If you switch, you’ll lose all of your data during the move, and your contact list and order history will disappear. Fortunately, that’s not the case. ReadyCloud and Mode Effect make the transition smooth.

ReadyCloud Ecommerce CRM quickly connects to your sales channels and imports your store’s data in minutes. With the data safely stored in the cloud, you’ll be able to access it as soon as your new WooCommerce channel is connected to the CRM. You can then use the real-time reporting and your store’s history to start making smarter business moves.

Meanwhile, Mode Effect offers WordPress services, including these for WooCommerce:

• Website design
• Custom theme development
• WooCommerce Extension development
• API Integrations

In the end, it’s not much of a risk to give WooCommerce a try. Its costs are low, and its open API makes it a flexible tool that can be made to fit anyone’s needs. And because the switch is so easy with no store data loss, it’s easy to see why WooCommerce continues to grow so quickly. If you’re looking for a new ecommerce solution to add to your toolkit, WooCommerce is certainly worth a look.

WooCommerce Statistics Infographic

We leave you with this awesome infographic that gives you some great insight into the most recent WooCommerce statistics currently available.

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