Maximizing Sales with the Best WordPress eCommerce Plugins
When it comes to having success with a WordPress-based eCommerce site, plugins are your friend. They can help make the website run better, facilitate cart management, and much more.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the best WordPress eCommerce plugins for your website.
What We Look for in WordPress eCommerce Plugins
Whenever we review plugins, software, or other elements, there are a few basic things that we look at. Some of these aspects include the following:
- Ease of Use – The best eCommerce plugins for WordPress are the ones that your staff can use with relative ease. Yes, sometimes you will want more complex features, but typically, people want the easiest possible features.
- Suitability – Not every plugin is suitable for every eCommerce enterprise. A plugin like Easy Digital Downloads is ideal for an eCommerce enterprise focusing on digital products. On the other hand, it’s not suitable for a business selling only physical products.
- Customization Ability – Most eCommerce enterprises require a fair bit of customization ability. You need to choose a plugin with enough features to reflect your store and brand.
- Essential Features – Essential features of this type of plugin include inventory management, secure payment gateways, shopping cart functionality and order tracking.
- Marketing Tools – Built-in marketing tools can be incredibly helpful when it comes to finding the right WordPress eCommerce plugins. Look for capabilities like discount codes, coupons, and gift card options.
- Scalability – Most businesses want to grow consistently. And that’s exactly why scalability is such an important aspect of WordPress eCommerce solutions.
- Budget – Before choosing from the best eCommerce WordPress plugins, it’s important to consider your budget. You should try and choose a plugin that offers the characteristics you want, but which you can still afford.
- Customer Support – While one always hopes that a plugin continues to operate efficiently, there’s always a chance of problems. In the case of a problem arising, it’s important to know that you have access to well-trained, helpful, customer support services.
These are just a few of the many things that we look at when analysing plugins. Let’s take a closer look at the plugins themselves.
Best eCommerce Solutions for WordPress: at a Glance
| Plugin Name | Price | Key Features | Best For |
WooCommerce | Free | Easy to set up Sell anything Flexible payment options Manage orders efficiently Product Display and Functionality Create attractive product pages Product categories and tags Built-in blogging Customer Experience Seamless checkout Guest checkout Customer accounts Scalability and Customization Open-source and extendable Affordable and scalable | Suitable for small to large enterprises selling either physical or digital products. Excellent for selling physical products. |
Easy Digital Downloads | Free core plugin, with paid extensions available | Streamlined for selling digital products Recurring subscriptions Software update APIs Sell digital products User-friendly checkout Discount codes & sales Track sales & reports | Suitable for selling digital products like PDFs, software, or online courses. |
MemberPress | $179.50-$399.60 per month. Depending on the plan | Content Protection and Access Rules Membership Levels Payment Gateways Online Courses Coupons and Discounts Easy Setup Community Features Add-ons | |
BigCommerce | $39-$399 monthly (monthly payments) or $29-$299 monthly (annual payments) depending on the plan | Storefront Design and Customization Scalable Product Catalog Marketing and SEO Tools Built-in Security Powerful Analytics and Reporting Open API and App Marketplace B2B Features Scalable solution Integrates content and commerce seamlessly Avoids PCI compliance hassle for sellers Offers a high number of payment gateway integrations | Ideal for businesses selling across multiple channels, managing complex catalogs, and handling high traffic. |
Shopify | $19-$2,300 monthly, depending on the plan | Easy to use interface Sell online and in person Built-in marketing tools App store Inventory management Analytics Security Mobile-friendly | Shopify is ideal for entrepreneurs and small businesses selling online. The plugin is only suitable for those already using the Shopify platform. |
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is easily one of the best-known eCommerce plugins for WordPress, and it’s not hard to understand why. If you’re looking for a diverse array of tools and capabilities in one tidy package, then WooCommerce may be the WordPress eCommerce plugin for you.
Key Features
This plugin has a wide range of features, including the following:
- Easy set up
- No restrictions on products or types of products
- A diverse array of payment options
- Order management capabilities
- Great product display and functionality options
- The ability to create attractive product pages
- Product categories and tags
- Built-in blogging
- Excellent user interface
- Seamless checkout
- Choose between guest checkout or customer account options
- Excellent scalability and customization
- Open-source and extendable
Pricing
If you decide to use WooCommerce, you’ll find that the core plugin is 100% free. However, in order to make the plugin completely functional, you’re looking at a monthly cost of around $10.
There are many other things to consider as well, though. For example, if you’re paying for a shipping extension, it may cost you anywhere from $50 to $120 per year. That said, the basic WooCommerce shipping platform allows you to use DHL or USPS, which should be sufficient for smaller businesses.
In addition, you may also need to pay for certain extensions, like Zapier, for instance.
In short, you can use this plugin for almost no money whatsoever. However, if you want more advanced features, it can cost you a few hundred dollars each year.
Easy Digital Downloads
If you’re looking for the best WordPress eCommerce solution for a storefront focusing on digital products, then Easy Digital Downloads is well worth considering. This unique plugin focuses specifically on digital products, allowing you to practice things not required when you’re selling physical products.
Key Features
The Easy Digital Downloads plugin offers an array of different tools and features that you wouldn’t necessarily require for storefronts selling physical products. Some of these include the following:
- A streamlined eCommerce platform and plugin for selling digital products
- The ability to sell subscriptions and recurring subscriptions
- Software update APIs
- User-friendly checkout options
- The ability to generate discount codes & host sales
- Sales tracking and report-generation abilities
Pricing
The Easy Digital Downloads plugin has four available plans.
The personal version costs $199 – For use on 1 site,
The extended version is available at $399 – For use on 1 site,
The professional version, which comes in at $599 – For use on 2 sites,
The all-access pass, which comes in at $999 – For use on 3 sites,
All of these plans are billed annually and offer varying degrees of functionality. As you continue up the list, the number of features and usability increases.
MemberPress
MemberPress is another unique plugin used in eCommerce for WordPress. Instead of simple digital products, or even physical products, this plugin specializes in the sale of memberships that give you access to content. While this technically qualifies as digital products to some degree, the focus is more on getting people to subscribe to the platform, where they’ll have access to various digital products.
Key Features
As a membership-based plugin, this tool has an array of unusual features that aren’t usually present in eCommerce plugins. Some of the key features include the following:
- Easy setup
- Content protection and access rules
- The option to offer different membership levels
- Diverse payment gateways
- Ability to host online courses
- Ability to generate coupons and offer discounts
- Community features
- Add-ons
Pricing
You can choose from four different pricing plans when using the MemberPress plugin, namely:
- Basic: $359 – For use on 1 site
- Plus: $599 – For use on up to 2 sites
- Pro: $799 – For use on up to 3 sites
- Elite: $999 – For use on up to 5 sites
The more expensive the plan you choose, the more features and flexibility it gives you.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another fairly popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress. As with WooCommerce and Shopify, it is far more generalistic and is typically used for eCommerce stores selling physical products.
Key Features
Some of the key features of this WordPress store Plugin include the following:
- Excellent storefront design and customization options
- Scalable product catalogs
- Marketing and SEO tools
- Built-in security features
- Powerful analytics and reporting features
- Open API and app marketplace
- B2B Features
- High level of scalability
- Seamless integration of content and commerce
- Avoids PCI compliance hassle for sellers
- Many payment gateway integrations
Pricing
The BigCommerce eCommerce plugin for WordPress is available in four different plans, namely:
- Standard – $39 per month on a monthly plan or $29 per month billed annually($348 per year)
- Plus: $105 per month on a monthly plan or $79 per month billed annually($948 per year)
- Pro: $399 per month on a monthly plan or $299 per month billed annually($3,588 per year)
- Enterprise: No fixed fees since it is customized to meet your business needs.
As the price increases, so does the number of features you get access to.
Shopify
Shopify is easily the most popular eCommerce platform, along with WooCommerce. If you speak to many developers about eCommerce, Shopify is the first thing they’ll mention. And, with such an array of tools and features, as well as a reputation for reliability, it’s not difficult to understand why.
Key Features
This WP eCommerce plugin offers many excellent attributes and features, including the following:
- Easy-to-use interface
- Sell online and in person
- Built-in marketing tools
- An associated app store with additional add-ons.
- Inventory management tools
- Analytics and reporting tools
- Integrated security tools
- Mobile-friendly storefronts and platforms
Pricing
There are four unique price points for Shopify, allowing you to scale up as your business grows. Namely, these are as follows:
- Basic: $19 per month, billed annually ($228 per year)
- Shopify: $49 per month, billed annually ($588 per year)
- Advanced: $299 per month, billed annually ($3,588 per year)
- Plus: $2,300 per month
Naturally, the higher-paid plans give you more features and better advanced options. However, all of them offer the basics you need to run an eCommerce store.
How Choosing the Right eCommerce Plugin for WordPress Can Boost Sales
Trying to understand how using these WordPress plugins maximizes your sales can seem complex. However, there are a few ways that a well-designed, appropriate plugin can make it easier for you to get conversions.
For one thing, well-designed WP eCommerce plugins streamline the checkout process, making it easier for customers to make a purchase.
They also allow you to make targeted campaigns and discount offers based on customer activity.
Many of them will send cart reminders for abandoned carts, and even offer live chat services, which can help you make more sales.
By making recommendations based on customer activity, these plugins can automatically help boost your sales values through upsales and cross sales.
Finally, if you choose the right eCommerce plugin for your WordPress website, it will mold to the products you’re selling and help users to make the right purchase.
All these aspects can help drive your sales, simply by improving user experience and enabling you to practice good marketing.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for the best WP eCommerce extensions there are a myriad of options to choose from. If you choose from the five plugins listed here, then you definitely can’t go wrong. Whether you’re selling digital products, physical products, or subscriptions, there’s a WordPress shop plugin that will meet your needs.
