WordPress is an open source free blogging tool with a CMS based on MySQL and PHP that runs on a web hosting service. It is used by more than 18.9% of the leading ten million sites as of August 2013. Currently, it is the most common blogging platform, which is used on the Web, powering more than sixty million sites all over the world.
One of the most popular features of WordPress is its plugin architecture that allows developers and users to extend its facilities beyond the basic installation. WordPress has a database of more than 26,000 plugins each of which provides features and custom functions allowing users to tailor their websites to their particular requirements.
Many of the WordPress plugins are available for free but if you want to turn your blog into an eCommerce hub, you need to download a few good WordPress eCommerce plugins. However, if you take the decision of building an effective eCommerce website without using these plugins, it can cost you thousands of dollars only for coding.
The WordPress eCommerce plugins other than helping you run your business smoothly on WordPress, can also help you sell and promote your products, manage your clients as well as maintain your site. But if you want to use WordPress platform to sell online, make sure to choose your plugins from the following four:
• WP eCommerce
WP eCommerce is one of the most popular shopping cart WordPress plugins, with more than 1.5 million downloads. Its installation is easy and can be used effortlessly with a WordPress theme. It has a number of features including marketing tools, SEO tools, multiple payment routes, flexible shipping opportunities etc. The best part about WP eCommerce is that it is completely free! You can never go wrong with this plugin.
• WooCommerce
This plugin will allow you to sell anything on your site. It’s backed by Woo brand, which will give your website e-credibility. WooCommerce provides a lot of features including international and local delivery, sales report, product and inventory, order management, a dashboard widget for you to check your online business’ progress and a lot more. It’s highly customizable and is the second most popular WordPress shopping cart plugin.
• Cart66 Lite
Cart66 Lite is a shopping cart plugin for WordPress blogs. Unlike other plugins, it is light but powerful. You can see physical and digital items with it. With a number of shipping and currency choices, it can help you give your online business an international edge. Its features include email reports, inventory tracking, order management and a lot more. If you want you can place ads on any page and use affiliate marketing to earn more profit. Cart66 Lite is free.
• Shopp
Shopp is a superb cart plugin for WordPress. However, it is not free. The price starts from $55. At that price, you can get a single license for software. It offers low stock email alerts, order management, RSS feeds, email notifications and SEO tools. You can also purchase an extra plugin for shipping modules, and gateways. Price of add-on tools begins at $25. Since it is a paid shopping cart plugin, it offers more support than some of its free options. The installation of this plugin is also quite easy.
No matter what type of item you are trying to trade, adding one of these above-mentioned WordPress plugins can make your selling easier and streamlined.
Davis Miller works at an ecommerce website design company in India.
