This is a guest post written by Patrick Foster. I didn’t receive any compensation for it. You can find out more about Patrick in the ‘About the Author’ section at the end.

There are multiple eCommerce platforms out there: WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and so on.

How do you know which one is right for you?

If you are an experienced eCommerce business owner, well-versed in all aspects of running an online store, playing around with any of these platforms will probably produce somewhat similar results.

However, if you are just starting out in the eCommerce field, WooCommerce is the best platform to use because it makes having an online store very easy.

Let’s go into some more detail about why this is.

What Is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a free eCommerce plugin for WordPress that has been around since 2011.

It has been download over 53 million times and currently powers 28% of all online stores.

When you install the WooCommerce plugin, you can easily start selling both digital and physical products, manage your inventory and shipping, provide secure payment options to your customers, and even handle your tax information. All in one place!

When you are starting out as a new eCommerce store owner, ease of use is key to learning the ropes quickly, and WooCommerce provides that in spades!

What makes WooCommerce an exceptional eCommerce platform for your online store

With so many options on the market, why should you try WooCommerce for your online store?

Let’s go through some of the biggest reasons.

1. A simple web hosting setup

WooCommerce is not a hosted platform, which means that all you need to do in terms of hosting is already taken care of if you have a WordPress site.

If you do not have WordPress hosting yet, all you have to do is go to one of the most popular WordPress hosting providers, such as SiteGround (affiliate link), and complete a simple sign-up process for a plan that won’t cost you more than $100 if you exclude the domain registration and extra services.

Keep in mind that the type of web host you need depends on your online shop’s size and traffic!

If you’re just starting out with a small online store, then purchasing an affordable and simple shared hosting plan will be enough until you start to grow and learn how to properly work with WordPress and WooCommerce.

2. Easy online store management

You won’t have to spend any time figuring out how to connect WordPress with WooCommerce to get your eCommerce store up and running.

It easily integrates with the back-end of your WordPress site and lets you start selling right away!

All you need to do is add the products and connect to a payment gateway.

The WooCommerce – WordPress integration will immediately let you access and control all of your online store’s operations, including payments, security, and any additional plugins and extensions you want to use in conjunction with WooCommerce.

It is perfect for brands who are just dipping their toes in product-based offerings, as well as eCommerce newbies who do not want to spend weeks or months getting started.

3. Advanced functionality made easy

WooCommerce makes using advanced eCommerce features simple, including:

• Pre-installed payment gateways for Paypal, direct bank transfer, check payments, and cash on delivery. You can add more gateways with the help of extensions;
• Built-in geo-location support which makes shipping and tax calculations easy by automatically detecting each customer’s address;
• Built-in currency support, so you can select your preferred currency from a range of options;
• Customizable and secure checkout process;
• AJAX support for ‘Add to cart’ buttons to reduce page loading time and ensure that the page does not have to reload every time the customer adds something to their cart.

WooCommerce’s convenient setup process make all of these features easy to use, even for absolute beginners.

Instead of trying to figure out how to make the shipping costs add up, you will be able to work on things that actually matter, like getting the word out about your business and online store.

4. Incredible flexibility

WooCommerce is not just easy to learn, it’s also a very flexible eCommerce platform.

There are myriad WordPress plugins, themes, and extensions available that work perfectly with WooCommerce.

You can easily tweak any aspect of your eCommerce site to create an online store that matches your brand and behaves exactly the way you want.

Learned about a new social media plugin you want to add to your website? You can do it with just one click of a button.

Want to hire someone to tweak the WooCommerce plugin code? No problem!

WooCommerce’s flexibility is particularly useful for beginner eCommerce players because it will make the learning process as painless as it can be.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other eCommerce platforms.

With WooCommerce, you can try as many different add-ons as you like before you get the right combination.

In many cases, there are no extra costs associated with integrating other popular plugins with WooCommerce, and you don’t need to worry about complex installation procedures.

5. Helpful marketing features

There are so many things you need to think about when launching a new eCommerce website.

One of the most important ones? Driving traffic to your brand new online store.

You can build the most beautiful online store and sell the most unique products, but if no one ever stumbles upon your website, you will not make any money.

Well, you are in luck!

WooCommerce makes generating traffic easy, and fully supports additional marketing strategies, such as setting up coupon codes for your new customers.

Wondering how are you going to incorporate customer reviews on your site to boost conversions? Don’t worry, there’s already a built-in feature for that.

Additionally, the flexibility I mentioned above allows you to add any number of marketing-related plugins straight into your website, including social media feeds, wishlists, live sales notifications, and more.

When the time comes to get your online store ready for Black Friday, you’ll have plenty of options.

6. An intuitive and easy-to-use design

The last thing you want to worry about when launching a new eCommerce business is spending a lot of time tweaking the design details or paying an expensive web designer to do it for you.

WooCommerce themes make customizing the design and functionality of your storefront a breeze.

You don’t have to learn any code to create a beautiful storefront. Simply choose one of the free or paid themes (affiliate link) and start creating!

Final Thoughts

WooCommerce makes having an eCommerce website so, so easy.

With advanced management functionality and easy-to-use design, it always beats other eCommerce platforms for convenience and ease of use.

When you use WooCommerce, you don’t have to worry about figuring out a complicated setup.

Instead, you can focus your attention on learning about the industry, driving traffic to your site, and converting your online store visitors into paying customers.

Is it the perfect eCommerce platform in every situation? No, because different situations have different requirements. But in 99% of situations, WooCommerce is a rock-solid choice!

That’s a wrap

I hope you liked Patrick’s post!

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