Is WordPress a Good Option for eCommerce?

When it comes to the creation of any ecommerce site, it is fair to say that finding the right content management system and tools for online stores could be the difference between success and failure.

Users, business owners and newbies who are trying to enter the space usually consider the WordPress system platform and its tools. While this platform is thought of, whether it is best for use in any development is another matter.

Indeed, it is not the most popular solution for an ecommerce business, especially with Shopify pricing being considerably lower due to a lack of theme and plugin fees. Though platforms like Shopify are used more,

WordPress can be effective and useful for certain needs, development and business requirements. It only has to be used in the right way for you to build something respectable. Let’s consider if WP is a good option or not for ecommerce and what are the main advantages and disadvantages of using it.

Can WordPress Benefit eCommerce?

This is essentially the question that can sway people's opinions concerning whether or not they are willing to use it. However, the short answer is that it can be used to great effect with only one condition, which is that it should fit your business. For those whose business does not fit the nature of WordPress, the platform will most likely not work for you.

To tell whether or not WordPress will work for your development, you have to look at the attributes it possesses that could be most useful to you. Conversely, you have to look at the flip side of the coin and at what may cause you problems.

Advantages of WordPress Usage in eCommerce Operations

For those whose business it fits, WordPress can be a handy tool in the ecommerce space. The following are just a few of how this tool can be of great use.

Plugins

Plugins are the WordPress modules that allow for better functionality in your business. Everything that could aid you on the eCommerce front including an iconic storefront, an optimal gateway to your page via a search engine, and customizing pages can be found here.

Basically, anything that allows you to better form and manage your page can be accessed through the WordPress plugins. The WP plugins come in a variety of forms, with some of them being specific to a certain task. Examples of these include:

• Sucuri, which is to help secure the page
• Product Review, which is to get feedback on goods and services
• Cart Recovery, which is to help reconnect with people who have left their carts behind

Multiple Template Options

The amount of templates available on the platform is vast, making it beyond useful to anyone trying to build a presence. The capability of creating one of a kind that allows you to make a site that showcases your brand makes WordPress highly sought after.

In fact a good number of templates are created specifically for ecommerce usage, that’s why the platform becomes increasingly attractive for users. You can also apply the WP business premium plan and get access to a wider theme subscription that comes with multiple page templates. They are completely configurable while using the theme options panel.

SEO Compatibility

WordPress also allows you to build a site that can work with any search engine with little to no problems and respectable traffic. By using the aforementioned plugins, you can have your site rank highly on the search results. With a highly ranked site and page, potential customers are more likely to find you by typing any general product that you can offer.

Disadvantages of WordPress Usage

Although WordPress can be of great use for an ecommerce business, there is a flip side to it. The following are a few of the issues the use of WordPress poses to a developer.

Ecommerce Specifics

Although it does possess attributes that could work well for ecommerce, it is not built specifically for it. This is because this platform is more of a general space that can build all sorts of sites. As such it lacks a few tools that would otherwise be present on a platform that is built for eCommerce.

Moving Processes & Plugins

Plugins can both serve the cause and hurt it. In this case, there is an apparent lack of compatibility between some of the more essential plugins and it is a flaw that can hurt overall development, especially in the moving processes. As a result, the use of lower-tier plugins will make for a business of similar quality.

The Alternatives to the WP eCommerce Site Builder

From the above logic, we can see that WordPress is a serviceable site for an ecommerce brand. However, it lacks some of the things that are needed to make an ecommerce site of the highest quality, which doesn’t make it ideal for ecommerce.

Fortunately, other similar platforms are built specifically for ecommerce and these include the likes of Shopify and Squarespace.

The purpose of the above platforms is to build sites for the sole purpose of ecommerce which means that every tool that a typical site has is tailored to this type of business. Everything from cart retrieval to security is handled in a way that suits ecommerce the best.

One should know, however, that despite the existence of platforms that can build an ecommerce site for you, developers can be hired to perform the same service. With the use of WordPress as well as more specific platforms, they can build and customize your ecommerce business, leaving you to run it and pay for the domain.

Final Thoughts

It is safe to say that branching into ecommerce is a feat that is not for those who are unprepared. The building of an online store is an obvious step, but as we have learned, there is a lot more that goes into it and it doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you are considering WordPress.

For starters, if you are building the site on your own a site like this may not be ideal for the process despite its availability.

For this reason, you should probably move your operations to a site that is completely rooted in ecommerce. Anyone looking to start an online store on WordPress should expect some bugs along the way and be equipped with the knowledge that developers with more adequate tools will always be present.

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