Ecommerce has boomed in recent years, especially over the past year, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions put in place in response to it. Brick and mortar stores have begun turning to online marketing and sales, but ecommerce is a vast world that includes large and small businesses, from huge corporations to mom and pop shops operating out of their homes.
As the world of ecommerce has grown, so, too, has the popularity of WooCommerce, an open-source plugin for online merchants. It has quickly soared in popularity, thanks to its simple installation, easy customization options, and compatibility with WordPress sites.
What is the difference between WordPress and WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an ecommerce plugin used by WordPress. WordPress, one of the most popular webpage development management systems, acquired WooCommerce in 2015. WooCommerce was initially developed by WooThemes, a WordPress theme developer, to be a fork of Jigoshop, an ecommerce software developed by Jigowatt. Jigoshop’s popularity quickly declined as WooCommerce became part of the suite of plugins offered by WordPress.
Many web designers use WordPress and its simple drag-and-drop capabilities to build sites quickly and efficiently. WordPress offers a variety of plugins that do everything from manage online calendars to establish ecommerce stores. WooCommerce is WordPress’s most popular ecommerce plugin because it is easily installed and and offers simple customization options that even the amateur web developer can manipulate.
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Why is WooCommerce so popular?
WooCommerce is used by an estimated 4.4 million websites, a number that grows steadily. There have been over 123 million downloads of the plugin and 28% of the entire ecommerce market. Part of its popularity is due to the number of themes available for customization, and there are 980 plugins for the ecommerce tool on WordPress(recommend https://wpcrux.com/blog/best-wordpress-books-to-learn-platform books to learn wordpress).
By working with WordPress, WooCommerce is able to integrate commerce and content seamlessly. This allows estore owners to create their sites any way they want them, and the platform allows the flexibility to add only the options the site owner wants.
One of the biggest reasons WooCommerce is so popular is that it is comepletely open-source – users can modify as much or as little of the platform as they wish. Product listings are unlimited as are the number of orders that can be taken.
Tutorials about WooCommerce use and installation are plentiful, further adding to its ease of use, even with amateur web builders. Users of the commerce plugin are devoted to it and have organized get-togethers around the globe. Anyone new to WooCommerce can easily find support and help with whatever needs might arise, making its ease of use exponentially greater thanks to its proponents.
How safe is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce affords very few security issues, thanks to its affiliation with WordPress. The WordPress core has excelled in development and patch releases, so security is generally not a problem. WordPress is easy to upgrade and has a quick development cycle, so possible potential for hacking and security problems is at a minimum.
The biggest culprit in security problems with WooCommerce is usually due to the short-sightedness of its users. Themes and plugins(forums plugins) have the potential to include weak or dangerous coding, making the site vulnerable to security risks. Users should thoroughly research any themes or plugins to ensure there are no coding or security issues in them. It’s estimated that 51% of sites that were hacked were vulnerable due to security issues in either the theme or the plugins used. You can find here https://sampleproposal.org/blog/online-marketing-plan-proposal marketing plan proposals for your ecommerce project.
Poor quality hosting can also contribute to site security issues, too. It is estimated that 41% of websites that are hacked are vulnerable because of the hosting account. Anyone operating an ecommerce site should be extra diligent in researching site hosts and make sure security measures are up-to-date and stringent. Strong passwords are important, too, as 8% of sites hacked were vulnerable because of a weak password.
Its ease of use, affiliation with WordPress, and relative security have all contributed to WooCommerce’s success in the ecommerce world. Estimates for future use show continued growth in its use, too, as online marketplaces continue to grow and thrive.
