WordPress is one of the most popular CMS platforms available today, and for eCommerce businesses, it represents a great option not only for building a website, but also conducting business. All of this is made much easier with the availability of many WordPress eCommerce plugins which can make your life a lot easier!
But which is the best WordPress eCommerce plugin for your business?
Here’s a closer look at just that, plus more information on what exactly eCommerce plugins are!
What is an eCommerce Plugin?
An eCommerce plugin is a software add-on designed to enhance the eCommerce capabilities of a website once installed. They’re mostly designed in PHP programming language and seamlessly integrate with most sites, extending the site’s functionality and customizing it to a certain degree.
What is the Best eCommerce Plugin for WordPress?
Many WordPress eCommerce plugins are readily available in 2020, enhancing WordPress users’ sites in various ways and boosting their eCommerce abilities. A few of the best WordPress eCommerce plugins currently available include:
- WooCommerce
- BigCommerce
- Easy Digital Downloads
- WP e-commerce
- Jigoshop
- Shopp
- Ecwid
- Cart66 Cloud
- MemberPress
- Veeqo
Let’s take a detailed look at each of the plugins, including how they can help your online store!
1. WooCommerce
The most popular of all WordPress eCommerce plugins, WooCommerce is designed to help you build an eCommerce business from scratch, seamlessly turning your existing WordPress site into an online store. Being an open-source plugin, unlike Shopify for example, WooCommerce offers a wide array of themes and customization options and is free to use, though requires many additional features, all of which cost money, to be especially effective.
An extensive and flexible plugin, WooCommerce offers the ability to embed checkout and products in many pages as well as built-in blogging. For WordPress users looking to dive headfirst into the world of eCommerce, WooCommerce is always a great choice!
Why is WooCommerce one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Fairly frequent updates
- Great degree of flexibility and customization
- Primary plugin free to use, though extensions needed to be truly effective
- Ability to add more advanced features to your online store
- No coding knowledge required
- Hundreds of themes and extensions to choose from
- Ability to sell just about any product on your online store, both digital and physical products
- Complete inventory management
- Multiple built-in payment gateways and extensions
- Simple for eCommerce beginners and veterans alike
2. BigCommerce
While BigCommerce has been a popular, fully-hosted eCommerce platform in its own right since 2009, it’s more recently launched a plugin specifically for WordPress sites. BigCommerce seamlessly integrates with WordPress, making it simple to embed products and manage sales and inventory from a single dashboard.
The plugin also creates the sign in, account, cart and other key pages automatically, making it very easy for eCommerce beginners to use.
Why is BigCommerce one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Ability to sell across multiple channels, including Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, and more
- Minimal maintenance required to run your online store
- High scalability
- No transaction charges
- Multiple payment gateways thanks to BigCommerce’s multiple partnerships
- All PCI compliance handled by BigCommerce
- Can run on multiple sites
3. Easy Digital Downloads
This plugin for WordPress eCommerce stores is designed specifically for those businesses that sell digital products. A free plugin, Easy Digital Downloads is very simple to use, has an intuitive interface and, much like WooCommerce, makes it easy to create a full-fledged online store very efficiently.
Why is Easy Digital Downloads one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Improved and simple sales of digital products
- Easy to use
- Availability of hundreds of extensions
- Seamlessly integrates with almost every WordPress theme
- Multiple built-in themes
- Reliable support through forums, videos, IRC chatroom, tutorials and more
- Primary plugin free to use
4. WP eCommerce
WP eCommerce offers a solid alternative to WooCommerce, featuring very similar dashboard and pricing model in which the primary plugin is free to use with optional additional features costing money.
The key difference between the two is that WP eCommerce also offers a Gold Cart extension for $99 for a single website which essentially serves as a premium version of the eCommerce plugin, offering upgraded features such as premium payment gateways, live search and a product gallery grid view.
Why is WP e-commerce one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Seamless integration with WordPress
- Comes with template and shortcode tag features
- Primary plugin free to use
- Variety of PayPal payment options
- Fully customizable
- High level of compatibility with other plugins and most of WordPress themes
- Offers numerous payment gateways
- Built-in features for easier marketing of products
- Shopper-friendly features, including ‘drag and drop’ option for easier shopping
5. Jigoshop
One of the oldest WordPress eCommerce plugins available, Jigoshop is easy to use, free to download and open-source. Created by veteran developers, Jigoshop offers broad eCommerce functionality with a user-friendly interface, making it ideal for those just starting off in the world of eCommerce.
Why is Jigoshop one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Easy to install and use
- Offers detailed reports, from store performances to sales and orders
- Offers maximum security
- Highly customizable
- Active community for support and advice
- Extension features generally more affordable compared to other eCommerce plugins
6. Shopp
Unlike most WordPress eCommerce plugins, Shopp is not free and costs $55 to download the core plugin for a single site license and $299 for a developer license, which allows for usage for an unlimited number of websites.
Despite its high upfront cost, Shopp offers considerably more functionality compared to many other WordPress eCommerce plugins who need extensive add-ons to be truly effective. Shopp is simple to set up, has intuitive carts and checkout pages and numerous payment options, making it a well-rounded all-in-one eCommerce plugin for WordPress sites.
Why is Shopp one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Easy to install and use
- Javascript-enabled
- Highly-responsive design
- Effective catalog management
- SEO-friendly
- Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins
- Discount feature for products available
- Secure downloads
- Multiple product image option
- Resumable downloads option
7. Ecwid
One of the most flexible WordPress eCommerce plugins available, Ecwid may appear similar to WooCommerce at first, but one aspect that uniquely sets this plugin apart from others is that it can actually be utilized on any website, whether for WordPress, Tumblr, Drupal, Facebook and more.
Ecwid is free to use for up to ten products and offers basic eCommerce functions for WordPress sites, making it yet another great option for eCommerce beginners to consider. Upgraded Venture, Business and Unlimited Plans are also available, allowing you to sell 100, 2,500 and an unlimited number of products, respectively.
Why is Ecwid one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Highly versatile
- Flexible pricing plans to allow for additional product sales
- Storefronts can be translated into 50 different languages
- Responsive storefronts and point-of-sale functionality
- Availability of phone and chat support
- Free plan for the first 10 products
- Effective syncing that enables sales on multiple store fronts, including eBay, Facebook and Google
8. Cart66 Cloud
Cart66 Cloud is an excellent eCommerce plugin designed, like Shopp, to offer many key features upfront without the need for multiple add-ons to be effective. The core plugin for Cart66 Cloud is free, though an upgraded premium version is also available for $49.
Though generally more complicated to use than WooCommerce, the plugin offers a stellar customer support team and most of its best features already built-in, making it a good option for those who don’t mind a similar platform that’s a bit more complex but also more convenient as most add-ons aren’t necessary to achieve maximum effectiveness.
Why is Cart66 Cloud one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Excellent customer support team
- Unique built-in features
- Option to choose between free and premium features
- Minimal add-ons needed to be effective
- Over 100 built-in payment gateways
- Supports physical and digital products
- Great email marketing tools, including drip campaigns, list segmentation and timed follow-up emails
9. MemberPress
MemberPress is a great eCommerce plugin for businesses that sell digital products and services. For companies who focus on selling services such as membership plans and products based on subscription plans, MemberPass is an excellent investment!
Why is MemberPress one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Can easily sell subscription-based products, pay-per-view content, membership plans and more
- Extensive integration options, including integration with WooCommerce
- Many extensions available
- Simple to use and a great option for both WordPress and eCommerce beginners
10. Veeqo
Veeqo helps you effectively handle all your WooCommerce sales and inventory management tasks. This open-source WordPress plugin lets you easily manage all of your orders from a single dashboard and also seamlessly integrates with major couriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS, making it great for companies that need multi-courier shipping solutions.
Why is Veeqo one of the best WordPress eCommerce Plugins for 2020?
- Effective management of orders
- Easier syncing of inventory
- Simple to edit product listings
- Total control over customer fulfilment needs
- Minimizes overselling
- Makes your business operations more streamlined and efficient
The Best WordPress eCommerce Plugins: Choose What Works for Your Store
Choosing the best WordPress eCommerce plugin for your online store can be tricky, especially with so many to pick from! However, by taking a hard look at what your online store specifically needs and closely examining what each WordPress eCommerce plugin can do for your business, you’re be able to better gauge which one works best for your store and be able to use it effectively.
If you're looking to keep costs down, a free plugin like WooCommerce or WP eCommerce is probably best for you. If you need help with sales and inventory management, Veeqo is probably the ideal choice. Businesses who specialize in digital products and services should take a good look at Easy Digital Downloads or MemberPress.
Ultimately, only you know what's best for your eCommerce business. Choose the best WordPress eCommerce plugin for it accordingly!
