Building an E-commerce Website in WordPress

E-commerce platforms have become the new arena for businesses. They offer quick services and a convenient shopping experience, all accessible without the need for a physical store. In the past, brand recognition depended largely on budget size. Now, effective e-marketing strategies enable businesses of all sizes to succeed with fewer resources.

Currently, 43% of shoppers research products online before buying. Retail e-commerce sales are expected to increase from about $875 billion in 2022 to over $1.3 trillion by 2025, indicating a significant opportunity for growth in online retail.

At White Label Agency, we have witnessed this trend through our projects. As experts in WordPress development, with over 3,000 projects completed annually, we’ve seen a rise in requests for WordPress e-commerce services, particularly for WooCommerce. Backed by this experience and expertise, we are sharing best practices for an e-commerce website in WordPress.

A Detailed Look at WooCommerce: Is it the Right E-Commerce Platform for Your Clients?

When advising your clients on the e-commerce platform, you have to match the platform with their specific business functionality and design needs. Ensure that the chosen system can handle their unique point-of-sale requirements. For example, there might be better choices than WooCommerce for client websites in the fashion or restaurant businesses. In such cases, we recommend specialized e-commerce platforms that address the specific needs of these industries.

WooCommerce is an ideal option for clients with online-only businesses. The main goal for these clients is to make transitions and get profitable. However, when integrating offline and online shops, overstocking or mismanaging inventory can be a challenge. Still, if you decide to go with Woo for that type of business, it will require you to assign a dedicated team member, who will keep track of client’s sold products online and offline.

Now let’s see what our CEO, Einar has to say about WooCommerce:

“Things that are obvious of business owners in NY, are not going to be obvious for remote developers. If it’s a complex WooCommerce shop you wanna have your developer sitting next to you, because it’s not about coding, it’s about business advice.

But if you have a couple of hundred products and everything has the same shipping, and sales tax, then it’s fine to source it. The more complex the things are, the better to pay more and do it locally. “

WooCommerce can be your go-to choice if you’re replicating a client’s previous website’s model and structure. It offers every important feature for e-commerce development such as shipping, payment options, inventory management, and more.

Choosing the Right Themes for Your E-commerce Website

WordPress has over 20,000 themes for websites, with over 1,500 ecommerce-focused templates. Regardless of the device your client is going to use, if plugins and themes are compatible, the website remains responsive and maintains a high user experience.

When selecting a theme for your client’s e-commerce website in WordPress choose the one that offers:

• Customization option
  Look for a theme that allows diversification of design and modification of layouts, product displays, and landing pages. Make sure the theme is easily navigable to maintain user satisfaction.
• Guaranteed security
  By investing in security, business is safe, and customers of your client are protected from cyber threats.
• SEO Friendliness
  With the support of plugins and themes in WordPress, a website can significantly increase sales through SEO. Check if the theme is SEO-friendly or enhance it with plugins.

Potential Limitations

E-commerce websites in WordPress offer several advantages, including affordability and a wide selection of themes. But to keep a realistic sight, let’s see the challenges you might face while building an e-commerce website in WordPress for your clients:

1. You may encounter issues with plugins not working well together or with certain themes. This can lead to problems on your site that are difficult for junior web developers to resolve
2. WooCommerce can be complex for businesses with a small range of products. For such businesses, simpler platforms like Gravity Forms or WP Forms are recommended. These are more manageable options for smaller inventories and also support various payment gateways

Einar provides an extra insight about WooCommerce limitations:

“From a business perspective for a couple of hundred products, Woocommerce makes sense, however, if you have a lot of products thousands for example, then you are running into limitations and issues because all the products go to the database and then you can get performance issues. When we talk to customers, if they want to sell thousands of products, we do not recommend going with woo commerce.“

White Label Agency: Your Expert Partner for WordPress and WooCommerce

White Label Agency, our developers have extensive experience and training in WordPress and WooCommerce. We specialize exclusively in WordPress and WooCommerce development, handling thousands of projects every year. Understanding that digital agencies’ sales and project needs can vary seasonally, we offer scalable solutions to match your activity levels. You maintain complete control over your budget, adjusting it according to your sales. During busier periods, we can provide additional developers at a fixed price. If sales slow down, we can reduce your development team size. Let’s work together to achieve your business goals for an e-commerce website in WordPress! Contact our sales team for more details.