Overview
WooCommerce is a free, open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress that turns a WordPress website into an online store. It is one of the most widely used e-commerce platforms in the world, especially for brands that already run their website on WordPress or want full control over their store's code and hosting.
Who is behind WooCommerce
WooCommerce was launched in 2011 and is developed by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. Because it is open source, the core plugin is free to use, and a large community of developers and agencies builds themes, extensions and integrations for it.
What WooCommerce offers brands
- Full ownership. The store runs on the brand's own WordPress site and hosting, so the brand controls its data, design and code.
- Content and commerce together. WordPress is strong for content, blogs and SEO, which suits brands that sell through storytelling.
- Extensions. Thousands of free and paid extensions add payments, subscriptions, shipping, bookings, marketing and marketplace connections.
- Payments. WooPayments and many other payment providers, such as Stripe, PayPal and Klarna, can be connected.
- Flexibility. Developers can customise almost every part of the store.
What it costs
The WooCommerce plugin itself is free. Brands pay for hosting, domain, themes, paid extensions, payment fees and development or maintenance, so total costs depend heavily on the setup.
What it takes to run WooCommerce well
- Reliable hosting that can handle traffic peaks.
- Technical maintenance, including updates to WordPress, WooCommerce and extensions, and security monitoring.
- Careful extension choices, since too many plugins slow the store down and cause conflicts.
- International setup for languages, currencies, taxes and shipping, usually through extensions.
- Marketing and traffic, since the store has to bring in its own visitors.
WooCommerce or Shopify?
WooCommerce gives more control and flexibility, but the brand is responsible for hosting, security and updates. Hosted platforms like Shopify handle more of that for a monthly fee. The right choice depends on the brand's team, budget and how much customisation it needs.
How eBrands looks at WooCommerce
eBrands works with brands on D2C webshops and marketplaces across Europe and North America. If you run a WooCommerce store and want to see how it could grow alongside marketplaces and other channels, we are happy to talk it through.
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