WordPress and WooCommerce have proven to be a powerful combination for small and medium-sized businesses. However, their versatility extends far beyond the realm of startups. Enterprise businesses and associations can also leverage this platform to effectively sell products or services online.
Both these organizations often grapple with complex product catalogs, intricate pricing structures, and stringent compliance requirements. Unlike smaller businesses, they require robust e-commerce solutions that can handle high traffic, large transaction volumes, and seamless integrations with existing systems. Additionally, associations have the added challenge of balancing revenue generation with member benefits and community building.
With the help of the powerhouse duo of WordPress and WooCommerce, we can help your online spaces grow and flourish.
WordPress as an enterprise platform.
From its humble beginnings to being used by some of the world’s biggest enterprises, WordPress is an open source platform. It’s easy to use, whether you’re the business owner customizing things in the back-end or a user exploring a site on the front. With access to a large variety of plugins, we can help you customize your site to have everything you need to interact with your customers.
Want to know more about WordPress as a platform? We’ve got a whole article about that over here.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is a free open-source plugin for WordPress. We can add the plugin to any WordPress website to set up your online store right away. Customize your shop to receive secure payments, be able to offer shipping options and more, all for free.
Benefits of WooCommerce
Limitless customization
Since WooCommerce is an open-source platform, the code is available. This means customization is full of possibilities – you can have an array of exciting features added, and as many products and product types as you like. What you’ll end up with is a store with an incredible brand personality to make sure your customers enjoy their shopping experience.
All yours
You’re in the driver’s seat where you get to make all the decisions when it comes to your store and your data. They always belong to you and you can choose where you want them hosted. Other platforms may have less control over where you data gets stored and how it’s used. As well, with other platforms, you’re tied into their space instead of deciding where you want to store to be hosted.
Powerful SEO
WordPress’ blogging infrastructure means there’s access to your site’s metadata. Meaning it can be monitored, reviewed, and updated to ensure that you’re receiving the SEO power you deserve.
Unlimited opportunities
The software you already know and trust integrates easily with WooCommerce so you can jump right in. Choose from familiar software or try something new – the possibilities are endless.
Scale up without paying up
As your business scales up, WooCommerce easily helps you transition into the right tools at the right time without breaking the bank. There’s no having to upgrade to more expensive plans or pay for items your business doesn’t need or use.
Payment options
Choose the payment gateways, such as Square or PayPal, that work best for you and your customers. No extra charge for using third-party providers means you get to keep more money in your pocket and your customers aren’t getting extra charges or fees either.
Safe and secure
While security is a critical concern for all businesses, it’s paramount for enterprises handling sensitive data. WooCommerce offers robust security features, but additional layers of protection may be necessary.
Performance optimization
To handle the increased traffic and product catalogs of enterprise businesses, performance optimization is crucial. This involves factors like image optimization, caching, and server configuration.
Considerations of WooCommerce
Customer support
Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce doesn’t provide phone support. In many cases, they don’t provide support at all. It’s a much more hands-off approach than Shopify.
This isn’t quite as bad as it sounds though as WordPress and WooCommerce are by far the most popular platforms in the world. This means there is a huge community of designers and developers able to help if you need it.
The cost of selling on WooCommerce
While WooCommerce is a free plugin, there will still be some costs associated with this option for selling online. You’ll need hosting and good hosting starts at around $30 a month.
Why choose these tools for your association?
Let’s go on a bit of a tangent here for a moment and talk about the benefits you would get from choosing to leverage WooCommerce and WordPress for your association’s next site build:
- Membership Management: Integrate WooCommerce with your membership management system to offer tiered membership levels with exclusive product access or discounts.
- Event Ticketing: Sell tickets to conferences, webinars, and other events directly through your website using WooCommerce’s event ticketing extensions.
- Digital Products: Offer digital products like ebooks, whitepapers, or online courses to generate additional revenue and provide value to members.
- Fundraising: Utilize WooCommerce to create donation pages or sell merchandise with proceeds benefiting your association’s cause.
- Data Analytics: Leverage WooCommerce’s reporting features to gain insights into member purchasing behavior and preferences.
What are you waiting for?
While there’s still interest in spending a Saturday afternoon at the mall, there’s no doubt that the ease of access to online stores is highly convenient and preferred by many. The digital landscape is here to stay, which means online stores are still a great way to share and showcase your business and products as well as build community for your association.
By carefully considering the unique challenges and opportunities of these organizations, it’s possible to build successful online stores that generate revenue, enhance member engagement, and drive overall business growth.
As WordPress and WooCommerce specialists, we can ensure a smooth transition to selling online where your business or organization can stand out in a saturated digital crowd.
