Launching your eCommerce business requires the right tools. Online shopping is increasingly popular these days, and only the best companies can achieve success. Having the right technology can make or break your eCommerce website – but what are the necessary plugins you need to grow?
There are currently well over 50,000 plugins in the WordPress plugin repository. Your eCommerce business has a lot to choose from, but the many choices can also seem overwhelming. It’s easy to get over-excited and end up clogging your website with too many useless features. You don’t want to end up having a plugin overload.
How to choose a plugin for your eCommerce site?
Be careful when selecting your plugins. You shouldn’t go for plugins just for the sake of it. You want the right plugins for your specific business. Therefore, simply going through a list of popular plugins might not be the smartest of ideas. Just because something is popular, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right choice for your business. Carefully curate what plugins are the most useful for your business’ needs.
The main factors when choosing good eCommerce plugins are the following four things:
- The plugin is up-to-date. WordPress is constantly updating itself to ensure it provides the most security for your site. When choosing a plugin, you should ensure it supports the latest version. Using a plugin that hasn’t seen an update in over a year is a bad sign.
- The plugin doesn’t clog website speed. Plugins should take care of your CPU usage. If they don’t, you might end up seriously slowing down your website. And customers don’t like slow websites!
- The plugin has a community presence. While popularity isn’t always the mark of a great plugin, you still want to go with a plugin with a strong community. Active installations can give you a better idea of satisfied customers. Reading reviews can also give you a good idea of how supportive the community is and what real users actually think of the product.
- The plugin offers backend support. No plugin will work perfectly 100% of the time. What matters is the kind of support you get when things go wrong. You want to ensure you’re offered timely support that helps you solve problems on the go.
The above are the most important aspects of a good eCommerce plugin. They are crucial for all types of eCommerce websites – from the big websites to the small businesses out there. Of course, you also need to consider your website’s specific requirements.
What does your eCommerce website need from a plugin?
There are two other considerations to keep in mind when choosing the necessary plugins for your eCommerce site. These considerations are dependent on your business and its approach to facilitating transactions.
First, your plugins will depend on the types of goods you are selling. If you are selling digital or physical only products, you might want to opt for plugins catering to these specific categories. There are even platforms supporting drop shipping, which is a good option if you don’t want to deal with inventory and handling fulfilments.
You also need to consider the countries you’re going to sell to. There are great WordPress plugins that support different languages, making it easier to reach a global audience. You also need to keep this in mind when choosing financial plugins – i.e. you want a plugin that supports different payment options for international audiences.
5 necessary plugin to help launch your eCommerce website
So with the above in mind, what are some of the best plugins to consider adding to your website? Here are five good options to keep in mind:
- WooCommerce – A popular WordPress favourite that supports both physical and digital goods. You can scale the plugin and get started with its free-to-use system. WooCommerce powers roughly 20% of all eCommerce sites.
- Shopify – The plugin works outside of the WordPress ecosystem but it’s still worth mentioning. The eCommerce platform makes it easy to add different functionalities to your website.
- HubSpot – The plugin offers a range of marketing opportunities for your eCommerce website. You can add a chatbot to your website or send personalised marketing emails to customers. It’s a quick and easy-to-use program for big needs.
- WP Rocket – As mentioned, website speed is important for any website and WP Rocket can help you with it. It can speed up your website loading times by optimising your databases and site mapping.
- Expertrec – Everything on your eCommerce site starts with the customer being able to find what they are looking for. We make it easier for you to direct customers to where they want to go and we support different language options, too!
All of the above WordPress plugins are chosen with the main functionalities of a good plugin. But as mentioned earlier, you also need to consider every plugin with your business’ needs in mind. So take a look at the five plugins and see how they could help your business.
When you’re launching your eCommerce site, the temptation is to keep adding good plugins. But it’s worth it to keep a cool head. Make sure you understand the benefits of each plugin you want to use and keep in mind its compatibility with the other plugins you are using. Always focus on security and use plugins that offer the highest security options. If you don’t like a plugin, don’t be afraid to get rid of it!
Final thoughts
The process of choosing a plugin for your eCommerce site can take a bit of time. But you can start noticing the good plugins when you keep the four main points in mind: what are the reviews saying, do you get enough support, is it compatible with current WordPress and does it keep your website running smoothly? The answer to these questions will help you find a plugin that’ll improve your eCommerce site, not hinder it. So start browsing for great plugins today and give your eCommerce site a boost!
