Wanted to discuss some great WordPress eCommerce plugins. In fact, the eCommerce plugins listed below should make you swoon with delight. Plus, they are great eCommerce solutions. Some of these are paid and others are free solutions. Either way, all of them are solid options that can really help you with your eCommerce.
Please note: I do have an affiliate relationship with the plugins below that I use.
WordPress eCommerce Plugin Swooning Begin
Woocommerce- This is a free eCommerce plugin from Woo Themes. Check my post on this plugin from WordCamp Chicago. It is easy to use, and takes about 5-10 minutes to set up.
Pros: Woocommerce is one of the few eCommerce plugins you can use with hundreds, and even thousands of products added to the
site without the platform breaking down. Most eCommerce plugins do not have the same capabilities. They are limited to around 50-100 products max.
Cons: It is a bit challenging to segment the products with a custom order to each product. Generally the products are segmented based on when I added the product. That is not a horrible challenge, but I noticed a few times when I was not able to make changes to the product list.
MarketPress– This is a plugin from WPMU Dev. They have a free and paid version to the plugin. I have used the free version of the plugin for a few of my clients this year. It is a really clean plugin that a number of my clients love to use.
Pros-The layout of the products is smoother on Marketpress than on WooCommerce.
Cons-It is harder to organize which product should be listed first. Also, the short-codes they have for Marketpress are not clear when you create the shopping cart. It can be easily missed for those who are uninitiated with using eCommerce stores.
Jigoshop– I have never used this plugin, but Otto from WordPress was discussing this plugin at WordCamp Chicago 2012 (The photo at the top was from his presentation), so it must be pretty darn good.
Pros-You can add affiliate products into your eCommerce store. I really love that idea. While not everyone is an affiliate, having the ability to quickly sell affiliated services is an amazing deal. Let’s be honest! None of us have all the answers. If we did I would have created my supreme eCommerce solution already. However, I am a great blogger (not to pat myself on the back. Pat!)! Having appropriate products for cross-selling is never a bad deal.
Cons-From my understanding, you need to have a good amount of code know-how before you can install Jigoshop. Whether the paid or the free version. Also, from the comments on the WordPress forum the support for the plugin is not completely there.
My recommendation for most businesses starting out is to use Woocommerce. They have a number of great extensions you can use to enhance your eCommerce store. One note: use MarketPress if you have a multi-user site.
Let me know which WordPress eCommerce plugins you are swooning over in the comment section below.
Thank you for your informative article, that you went to a lot of time and trouble to write so as to provide people with free information. It explained everything I needed to know and I appreciate your time.
Candice,
Glad to help!
Andy