Get Ahead of the Competition with These 10 Powerful WordPress Plugins for eCommerce

Creating an eCommerce website has always been a daunting task. These days, it is simply not enough to add your basic features. A simple shopping cart and a checkout system don’t cut it anymore. Now, it is all about adding tools to your website that will ultimately enhance the customer experience.

With so many WordPress plugins available for eCommerce, it can be challenging to determine which ones are the most beneficial for your business. Let’s explore 10 WordPress Plugins for designing your eCommerce website, all of which will ultimately help you generate more sales.

 

What Precisely is a WordPress Plugin for eCommerce?

WordPress eCommerce plugins are software extensions that augment the functionality of a WordPress website, facilitating online sales and transactions without the need for complex coding or programming skills. Before you start looking for WordPress plugins, it is important to choose the right visual brand elements for an eCommerce business. The logo, brand colors, and fonts are all an important part of the brand identity and will be featured on the website too.

For a versatile logo, you can consider any logo maker tool and create a unique design that represents your industry closely. Once you have designed the visual assets, you can move on to improving the eCommerce website with plugins. These plugins seamlessly integrate with WordPress sites, offering an array of features to support eCommerce activities.

 

1.     WooCommerce

The top WordPress e-commerce plugin, WooCommerce, powers 21% of the top 1 million websites and 8% of all e-commerce sites. Online stores of all sizes can use WooCommerce for free. WooCommerce helps create stunning product galleries, plus there are plenty of extensions available for more functionality. Prices for extensions vary, ranging from $79 for Authorize.net to $249 for WooCommerce Bookings.

It is a free and customizable eCommerce plugin for WordPress. Unlike other eCommerce platforms, you own your website, giving you complete control over your store. It provides features like product listings, shopping carts, payment processing, and order management. WooCommerce is highly scalable and integrates with various payment gateways and shipping providers. It’s a versatile eCommerce solution that’s suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries.

Advantages:

• Customization
• Flexibility

Disadvantages:

• Requires technical knowledge
• Maintenance

 

2.     WPForms

WPForms is a user-friendly drag-and-drop WordPress form builder plugin that allows you to create any type of custom form for your website, including contact forms, payment forms, survey forms, registration forms, and newsletter opt-in forms. With over 300 templates available in the Pro version, you can quickly launch a form that is proven to work. The plugin is beginner-friendly and can be easily customized with add-ons while remaining lightweight and easy to use.

The best tool for improving user experience through the collection of insightful feedback is WPForms. With polls and real-time results, it includes intelligent survey fields like the Likert scale, ratings, and multiple-choice. WPForms produces attractive reports and visualizations that offer real-time insights. Prices begin at $49.50 per year.

Advantages:

• User-friendly
• Extensive features

Disadvantages:

• Limited free version
• Less customizable than some other form builders

 

3.     WP Easy Shopping Cart

For small businesses who wish to launch an online store without having to invest time in learning complicated techniques, WP EasyCart is a WordPress eCommerce plugin. It enables the sale of digital and physical products with configuration options for shipping methods, taxes, and payments via PayPal, Square, and Stripe.

However, the free version of the plugin has a 2% processing fee and lacks additional functionality, which is available in the premium version. Premium features include various payment gateways, coupon functionality, abandoned cart outreach tools, and more.

With commercial options beginning at $69/year, the plugin offers an unlimited number of products, live shipping calculations, and sophisticated product variants.

Advantages:

• WP Easy Shopping Cart is user-friendly and easy to set up, making it a great option for beginners.
• As a WordPress plugin, WP Easy Shopping Cart integrates seamlessly with your existing WordPress site, allowing you to easily add an e-commerce feature to your website.

Disadvantages:

• WP Easy Shopping Cart is a basic e-commerce plugin and may not meet the needs of businesses with more complex requirements.
• WP Easy Shopping Cart has limited support options and may not provide the level of assistance some users may need.

 

4.     Easy Digital Downloads

A WordPress plugin called Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is made for the sale of digital goods. It is designed especially for online sales and has a simpler UI than WooCommerce. The basic plugin for EDD is free and comes with tools for measuring activity, tracking activity in files, and discount codes.

Numerous add-ons are available in EDD’s Extension Library to customize a digital store.

It offers multiple download options and supports one-off payments, as well as subscriptions through add-ons. The plugin supports PayPal, Stripe, and Amazon Payments and offers shopping cart functionality with “Add to cart” and “Buy now” buttons. Easy Digital Downloads also enable the use of discount codes. It is ideal for those who plan on selling only digital products and want to process subscriptions.

Advantages:

• Easy Digital Downloads is specifically designed for selling digital products, making it a great choice for businesses selling e-books, music, software, and other digital files.
• Easy Digital Downloads offers a range of customization options, including templates and add-ons, making it easy to create a unique and professional-looking online store.

Disadvantages:

• Easy Digital Downloads is primarily designed for digital products and may not be the best option for businesses selling physical products.
• While Easy Digital Downloads is free to use, many of its add-ons are not, and costs can quickly add up, especially for businesses that need a lot of functionality.

 

5.     MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is a user-friendly WordPress plugin that offers sophisticated eCommerce tracking tools. With MonsterInsights, you can easily link Google Analytics and Facebook Instant Articles while tracking sales, referrals, form views, submissions, and conversion rates. It also offers a straightforward pricing structure and makes tracking code insertion simple.

With the free version, you can see real-time stats in your WordPress dashboard and view popular posts, pages, and referral sources. The pro version offers advanced features like enhanced e-commerce tracking, ads tracking, file download tracking, custom dimensions tracking, performance tracking, outbound link tracking, and Google AMP tracking.

Advantages:

• MonsterInsights makes it easy to connect your WordPress site with Google Analytics, providing valuable insights into your website’s performance.
• MonsterInsights is user-friendly one does not need any coding know-how to use it, which makes the set-up rather intuitive.

Disadvantages:

• The free version of MonsterInsights has only limited features, including a lack of real-time data and advanced tracking features. This may not be enough for some businesses.
• The Pro version of MonsterInsights can be quite expensive, especially for startups or individuals.

 

6.     WP Simple Pay

WP Simple Pay is a user-friendly plugin, perfect for the non-technical, that allows you to accept one-time and monthly payments. It’s ideal for accepting donations, selling individual products, and collecting service fees. It accepts payments made using credit cards, ACH debit payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The annual starting price with WP Simple Pay is $49.50.

Advantages:

• WP Simple Pay is user-friendly and easy to set up, not requiring too much technical knowledge.
• WP Simple Pay integrates seamlessly with Stripe, making it easy to accept payments from customers worldwide.

Disadvantages:

• WP Simple Pay only supports Stripe as a payment gateway, which may not meet the needs of businesses requiring multiple payment options.
• The free version of WP Simple Pay has limited features, including a lack of customization options, which may not meet the needs of some businesses.

 

7.     SeedProd

WordPress landing page builder SeedProd helps you easily construct beautiful eCommerce pages, even if you are not familiar with coding. It has custom WooCommerce blocks, countdown timers, social sharing buttons, and email opt-ins. Furthermore, SeedProd provides launch, under construction, coming soon, and maintenance mode pages. The price for SeedProd starts at $39.50 annually.

Advantages:

• SeedProd is user-friendly and easy to use, making it accessible to beginners and non-technical users.
• SeedProd offers a range of customization options, including templates and design elements, making it easy to create a unique and professional-looking coming soon or maintenance page.

Disadvantages:

• SeedProd is specifically designed for creating coming soon and maintenance pages, which may not meet the needs of businesses requiring more extensive landing page features.
• The Pro version of SeedProd can be expensive, especially for small businesses, which may limit its accessibility to some users.

 

8.     MemberPress

The best WordPress eCommerce plugin for creating a membership website is MemberPress. Digital courses, downloads, and content can all be made available behind paywalls with a variety of payment options and unrestricted access policies. Along with an automatic billing system, the plugin interfaces with foreign payment processors. The cost of the plans, which range from $179.50 to $399.50 annually, is not free.

Advantages:

• Easy to use: MemberPress is user-friendly and has an intuitive setup.
• MemberPress offers a range of features, including subscription management, content access control, and payment processing, making it a comprehensive solution for businesses offering membership-based services.

Disadvantages:

• MemberPress has limited integration options with third-party tools, which may not meet the needs of businesses requiring more extensive integrations.
• The Pro version of MemberPress can be rather expensive as mentioned above.

 

9.     SearchWP

A WordPress eCommerce plugin called SearchWP enhances your site’s search functionality by tailoring the search to incorporate all site material. Its features include scalable search engines, enhanced keyword-stemming search results, and comprehensive search metrics. You can enhance user experience and lower bounce rates with the aid of SearchWP’s improved search feature. The price of the plugin begins at $99 per year.

Advantages:

• SearchWP improves search functionality on WordPress sites, allowing users to find relevant content more easily.
• SearchWP offers a range of customization options, including search weightings and result displays, making it easy to create a search experience that meets specific business needs.

Disadvantages:

• SearchWP might be considered expensive by small businesses.
• SearchWP requires some technical knowledge to set up and configure, which may make it difficult for beginners or non-technical users.

 

10. Cart Recovery

Cart Recovery for WordPress is a free eCommerce plugin for WordPress that is compatible with WooCommerce, WP eCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and Restrict Content Pro. The plugin tracks abandoned carts, allows for automatic recovery email campaigns, and integrates with GDPR compliance

tools. The plugin is user-friendly, comes with responsive and helpful support, and has a pro upgrade that starts at $39/year.

Advantages:

• Cart Recovery allows businesses to recover lost sales by automatically sending abandoned cart recovery emails to customers.
• Cart Recovery provides customizable email templates, allowing businesses to create personalized recovery email that reflects their brand and messaging.

Disadvantages:

• Cart Recovery is a single-feature plugin, which means it lacks the extensive functionality of a full e-commerce platform.
• Cart Recovery can be expensive for small businesses, especially when considering the additional costs of integrating it with an e-commerce platform.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are plenty of WordPress plugins out there for your eCommerce website. However, when looking for powerful plugins, consider the impact on site speed, payment integrations, customization, and support. Too many plugins can affect loading speed, so opt for lightweight or multifunctional plugins. Choose plugins with payment gateway integrations that suit your store’s needs. Customizable plugins are essential, with documentation and learning materials, shortcodes, and hooks. Access to a support team is important, especially for plugins your eCommerce store can’t function without.