
What to Look in a WordPress eCommerce Plugin for Your Site?
There are plenty of WordPress eCommerce plugins in the market. But
not all of them have the essential set of features you would need to
start your eCommerce site.
Some eCommerce plugins are good for selling digital goods like
eBooks, photos, music, etc. While others are better suited for selling
physical goods that need shipping and inventory management. There are
also eCommerce plugins that are good at both of them.
You need to choose a plugin depending on what you will be selling and
what kind of features you would need to efficiently run your online
store.
Next, you need to consider which payment gateways you will utilize to
accept payments. Make sure that the plugin you choose supports those
payment gateways by default or through addons.

It is impossible for an eCommerce plugin to have all the features.
Most of them solve this problem by addon plugins. These addons extend
the functionality of your eCommerce plugin. Make sure that there are
enough addon plugins to connect your WordPress eCommerce website with
other services.
Last but not the least, you need to see what kind of support options
are available for the plugin. Even if you will be hiring a developer to
work on your site, you would still need help from time to time. Make
sure that the plugin has a support system where you can get help.
What Do You Need to Run an eCommerce Website?
Ecommerce websites are resource intensive, so the first thing you will need is the best WordPress hosting that you can afford.
If you’re on a budget, then you can start with Bluehost. The Ecommerce plan comes with SSL Certificate
which you need to collect payments securely, dedicated IP, and a
dedicated support line. They also install WooCommerce by default which
when you read the article will find out is the most powerful WordPress
Ecommerce plugin.
If budget is not an issue, and you want the best performance, then we recommend using a managed WordPress hosting provider like WPEngine.
Next, you will need to choose a domain name for your website.
Lastly, you will need to choose essential business plugins that you will need such as OptinMonster which help you reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase sales.
Having that said, let’s take a look at the best WordPress eCommerce plugins.
1. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin. It was acquired by Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com blog hosting service) in 2015.
There is a large number of addons and themes available for
WooCommerce. They also have a large and passionate user and developer
community behind it.
Pros of Using WooCommerce
Here are some of the advantages of using WooCommerce as your WordPress eCommerce plugin:
Extensions and Themes – There are hundreds of
extensions and themes available for WooCommerce, which makes it easy for
you to add new features to your eCommerce site. Large collection of
themes means you have tons of options when choosing your site’s design
and layout.
Supports Both Digital and Physical Goods – With WooCommerce you can sell physical as well as digital downloads (such as ebooks, music, software, etc.). With Envira Gallery’s WooCommerce integration, you can easily sell photos from your website as well.
Sell Affiliate or External Products – Using WooCommerce, you can add affiliate or external products to your site. Affiliate marketers can create product sites and provide users a better experience.
Complete Inventory Management – WooCommerce comes equipped with tools to easily manage your inventory or even assign it to a store manager.
Payment and Shipping Options – WooCommerce has
builtin support for popular payment gateways and you can add many other
payment options using extensions. It can also calculate shipping and
taxes.
Support and Documentation – There is excellent
documentation available online for WooCommerce. Apart from
documentation, there is knowledge base, help desk, and community forums
available.
Cons of Using WooCommerce
Too Many Options – WooCommerce is very easy to use,
but the number of options available on the settings page can be quite
intimidating for a new user.
Finding Addons – There are lots of addons available
for WooCommerce, sometimes a user may not find the right addon for
features that they need.
Theme Support – WooCommerce works with any WordPress
theme, but it is not always as easy to setup or good looking with all
themes. You need a WooCommerce ready theme to take full advantage of its
features without too much hassle.
WooCommerce is the perfect choice for any kind of eCommerce website.
It has a large community of developers and users, lots of addons and
themes, excellent support for multilingual websites, and best free and paid support options.
2. Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads
allows you to easily sell digital downloads online using WordPress. It
is very easy to use and comes with powerful features to create beautiful
and functional digital goods store.
We use Easy Digital Downloads to sell our software like WPForms, SoliloquyWP, etc.
Pros of Using Easy Digital Downloads
Designed To Sell Digital Goods – Easy Digital
Downloads is built from the ground up to sell digital downloads. Unlike
eCommerce plugins that can be used to sell all kind of products, EDD
provides a far better experience for selling digital goods.
Easy To Use – Easy digital downloads is very easy to
use, from the start you would instantly figure out how to add products
and display them. This is really useful for the first timers.
Extensions – There are hundreds of extensions
available for Easy Digital Downloads. Addons for many payment gateways,
platforms and services, and to add extra features.
Themes – Easy Digital Downloads works with almost
any WordPress theme, however if you have not choosen a theme yet, then
Easy Digital Downloads has themes built specifically for the plugin.
Awesome Support – The plugin is very well
documented, and you have free support forums, videos, tutorials, and
even an IRC chatroom. There is also a priority support option for
premium users.
Cons of Using Easy Digital Downloads
Digital Downloads Only – As the name suggests, Easy
Digital Downloads makes it easier to create eCommerce sites for digital
goods. But if you want to sell non-digital goods along with digital
downloads then it will become quite complicated.
Selling External Products – If you want to add an
external product or an affiliate product to your EDD store, then you
will need to install a third-party add on for it.
When it comes to selling digital products online, we believe that
Easy Digital Downloads is the best plugin to do that. We have used Easy
Digital Downloads with great success, not only on client sites but also
on a few of our own projects.
3. iThemes Exchange

Created by the folks behind the extremely popular BackupBuddy plugin, Exchange is a strong contender in WordPress eCommerce platforms.
Pros of Using iThemes Exchange
Multiple Product Types – iThemes exchange supports
both digital downloads and physical goods. It also has a paid addon to
sell memberships and subscriptions on your website.
Easy and Quick Setup – Upon activation, it takes you
directly to a setup wizard where you can quickly setup your site by
choosing what are you going to sell and how you will receive payments.
Intuitive UI – iThemes Exchange offers a very nice user interface to add products and manage your eCommerce store.
Free Stripe Addon – Most other plugins in our list are charging $40-$80 for Stripe addon, iThemes exchange has stripe addon available for free and for unlimited sites.
Cons of Using iThemes Exchange
Smaller Community – iThemes Exchange is younger than
many other popular eCommerce plugins. Even though there is plenty of
documentation, support, and addons available for it. You may feel that
their community is still growing.
We feel that iThemes Exchange is a strong contender in the market
with lots of potential. We would recommend it for users who know what
they will be selling, and how they will be getting paid. Easy and quick
setup wizard makes it a good choice for new users who don’t want to be
bothered by too many options.
4. Shopp
The fourth contender in our list of best WordPress eCommerce plugins
is the Shopp plugin. Let’s take a look at some of it’s pros and cons.
Pros of Using Shopp
Separate Tables in Database – Developers of the
Shopp plugin, believe that by using separate tables in the database,
they improve the database performance, which results into faster queries
and faster page loads for the users.
Multiple Product Types – Shopp plugin supports
physical, digital, and virtual product types. Unlike other plugins on
this list, Subscription product type in Shopp plugin allows you to sell
products with recurring payments without buying an extension.
Security and Compliance – The Shopp Plugin is
designed to be PCI compliant. The plugin pays special attention to
security and safety which helps you create a PCI-DSS compliant eCommerce
store.
Cons of Using Shopp
Limited Free Support – The most important
disadvantage of using Shopp Plugin is that they have no free support
forums. You will have to pay for support and access to community forums.
Creates Separate Tables – While we have already
listed this feature as an advantage, it could also be a disadvantage. We
do not think that using separate database tables significantly affects
speed of a website.
Limited Themes – Shopp Plugin works with any
WordPress theme out of the box. However, if you are looking for themes
designed specifically for Shopp then there are very few options
available.
Shopp is a great plugin to sell anything you want. But if you are a
new user, then you would probably need to buy their premium support
subscription. You may also want to use Shopp if you feel that other
plugins are not helping you out getting certified for PCI-DSS
compliance.
5. Shopify

Shopify is a fast growing eCommerce platform that handles everything
for you. Although it is a standalone service, it does come with a
WordPress integration. Let’s look at the Pros and Cons of Shopify.
Pros of Using Shopify
Super Easy for Beginners – No need to worry about the technical aspects of an eCommerce store such as setting up SSL, integrating with different payment gateways, handling shipping, worrying about taxes, etc. Shopify handles it all.
Supports Both Digital and Physical Goods – Whether you’re selling physical goods like shirts or digital downloads like music, Shopify can handle it all.
Complete Inventory Management – Shopify comes with
an inventory editor and bulk importer combined with an order tracker
which makes managing inventory a breeze.
Payment and Shipping Options – Shopify makes it easy
for you to accept credit card both online and in person. Their shipping
system streamline your fulfillment process with direct integration with
popular providers like USPS.
Facebook Store, Buyable Pins, and Twitter Buy Buttons
– Shopify integrates with everything. Whether you want to create a
Facebook store, add a buy button on Twitter, or create buyable Pins on
Pinterest, you can do it all with Shopify.
Cons of Using Shopify
Monthly Platform Fee – Shopify charges you a monthly
fee to use their platform which is comparable to purchasing hosting and
individual addons using the other plugins in this list.
Shopify Payments – Shopify encourages you to use
their payment platform which is powered by Stripe and is a very good
option for beginners. However if you want to overcomplicate things and
use external systems, then Shopify charges you an additional fee.
If you want to have a powerful platform without having to deal with technical issues, then Shopify
is the solution for you. While the monthly fee sounds bad at first, the
hassle-free approach and peace of mind is definitely worth it because
it allows you to focus on what you do best, your business!
Conclusion – The Best WordPress eCommerce Plugin is:
If you want maximum control, flexibility, and features, then WooCommerce is the best solution for you.
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