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Want to know the answer to the question, “What is WooCommerce?” Then, it’s completely up to you: feel free to watch the video below or you can choose to read the article that follows instead:
If you have the question “What is WooCommerce?” You don’t need to look any further for the answer.
As verified WooCommerce experts at Progressus.io, we get asked this question often. Either by clients or others who are interested in eCommerce.
When we answer it, it makes room for a lot of other similar questions that typically follow.
So if you’re wondering about WooCommerce too, here’s the answer to the question “What is WooCommerce?” along with many other relevant and related questions.
This article is also a part of a series that aims to answer even more of your burning WooCommerce questions. Feel free to check the out:
- Is WooCommerce Free? What it Costs to Build an Online Store
- WooCommerce Pricing: Plugin Costs and More for Your Online Store
- WooCommerce Cost of Maintenance: What to Expect After Building an Online Store
- and WooCommerce vs Shopify: When and How to Choose Between Them
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an eCommerce plugin that increases the functionality of WordPress websites.
WordPress is a program you can use to create websites and blogs. You can either have your site hosted for you on WordPress.com or you can self-host it.
If you choose the latter, you can choose a web hosting provider and a plan. Then, install WordPress on a server after downloading it from WordPress.org. It’s also incredibly customizable this way.
WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS). This means you can create and manage multiple types of content on your site using a database.
A plugin is a bundle of related code. It’s packaged up as an add-on to extend the core features of WordPress.
What is the Use of WooCommerce?
The WooCommerce plugin turns WordPress into an eCommerce platform. When you install it, your WordPress installation also doubles as an online store.
You can sell digital and physical products as well as process and manage transactions and customers.
You can also use other WordPress plugins or WooCommerce plugins. They’re called extensions and they add additional features to your online store.
For example, you could add the ability to create a membership site and accept subscription payments. You can also add a booking calendar to sell services, add coupons and pretty much anything else you need.
It may also be important to note that there are both free and premium WooCommerce extensions available on WooCommerce.com.
There are thousands of free WordPress plugins available on WordPress.org as well. There are also premium plugins available via third-party developers.
What is the Difference Between WordPress and WooCommerce?
What is WooCommerce in relation to WordPress? They’re different, but they work together.
WordPress is a program while WooCommerce is an add-on for it. You can build a WordPress website without WooCommerce, but not the other way around.
Is WooCommerce Part of WordPress?
You know the functional differences between WordPress and WooCommerce now, but what about their respective owners? Who is WordPress owned by? What about WooCommerce? Who is WooCommerce owned by?
WordPress was first released on May 27, 2003 as version 0.7 and version 1.0 was released in January 0f 2004. It’s published under the GPL licence even today. This means it’s open source and free to use and make derivative works including for commercial use.
Later on, the company Automattic was formed and owned the trademark for WordPress. In September 2010, the trademark was transferred to the WordPress Foundation, which is a non-profit organisation. It was set up to preserve the open source nature of WordPress.
While you can grab a copy of WordPress from WordPress.org for free, WordPress.com is separately owned by Automattic. There, the WordPress platform is used for profit like many other websites to power the site. It’s also used to offer users free and paid websites they can set up themselves.
In 2015, Automattic acquired WooCommerce, which was a third-party plugin with related products up until that point. At the time of publication, its trademark belongs to Automattic, unlike WordPress.
But, WooCommerce itself is open source under the same GPL licence as WordPress.
Is WooCommerce Any Good?
According to W3Techs at the time of publication, WooCommerce is used by over 7% of all websites on the internet. WooCommerce is also used by 29% of the top one million eCommerce sites, according to BuiltWith.
This also makes it more popular than any other eCommerce platform to date.
But, take the pet rock of the 70s and Tamagotchis of the 90s, for example. Just because something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s any good.
In the case of WooCommerce, it’s popular because of its great quality and versatility.
How Safe is WooCommerce?
But, how does its popularity stack up against security scrutiny? Like WordPress, the WooCommerce core is secure on its own. It’s well-supported and regularly updated to ensure its security.
However, if you don’t keep it updated, you lose out on the security updates that regularly roll out. This leaves your online store vulnerable to hackers.
Can WooCommerce Be Hacked?
Not updating WooCommerce isn’t the only security factor to consider. WordPress and Woocommerce are popular targets for hackers. This is because both WordPress and WooCommerce are so popular so there’s a greater pool of potentially vulnerable sites.
Another factor is that its code is open source. Anyone can look it up and try to find ways to hack into the plugin.
This is why it’s critical you keep your site updated. But, it’s also crucial you implement other security measures. This includes installing a security plugin and an SSL certificate.
You also need to ensure the hosting you’re using is secure.
That’s why we highly recommend using reliable and secure hosting like WP Engine. They were kind and let us offer you a deal on hosting. With any luck, maybe they’ll also send a little love our way, too.
The bottom line is yes, it can be hacked because any code has the potential of getting hacked. But at the same time, it’s pretty secure on its own.
The chances of your site being hacked are greatly reduced. At least, as long as you continue to ensure the security of your online store. You can do this by implementing an ongoing security strategy.
Is WordPress Secure Enough for ECommerce?
The same security details outlined above for WooCommerce also applies to WordPress.
How Many Products can WooCommerce Handle?
You can create an unlimited number of products or services as well as unlimited variations with WooCommerce. How many products can it handle in terms of the loading speed of your online store? It depends largely on your setup.
A significant factor in that is your site’s code. If it’s written efficiently, it increases the capacity of your online store. If your site is full of bloated code, it will slow your site down.
Beyond that, get an efficient hosting provider and implement performance optimisation strategies. Then, your online store could easily handle 100,000 product listings or more.
The reason why performance optimisation becomes key isn’t so much because of WooCommerce or your hosting setup itself. It’s because of the traffic you get and the number of transactions your shop sees on a regular basis.
For example, let’s say you have 10 products, but see hundreds or even thousands of orders come in every hour. Your store’s performance will struggle.
This kind of situation is particularly where performance and code optimisation becomes key.
That’s why working with a verified WooCommerce expert developer like Progressus.io is ideal. They can help you in all these areas.
Can You Add WooCommerce to Any WordPress Theme?
Technically, you can use any WordPress theme with WooCommerce. But, some are designed to be used with WooCommerce. This means that developers took the time to make adjustments so that your store looks and works especially well.
Keep in mind that not all themes are made alike. Some are coded better than others, which would mean they’re more suitable.
Who Uses WooCommerce?
Many top brands use WooCommerce. This includes WooCommerce.com, GoDaddy, the World Vision charity, musician Björk and comedian Jeff Dunham, just to name a few.
Is WooCommerce Difficult to Use?
When it comes to ease-of-use, WooCommerce varies in difficulty level. Setting up a basic store to manage is pretty simple once you get the hang of it.
Most users we come across note that WooCommerce and WordPress are initially a bit difficult to learn your way around. Just like learning anything new. But, once you understand it, it’s a snap.
When it comes to customising WooCommerce, or WordPress for that matter, things start getting trickier. At least, when you need to start diving into code.
That’s when calling upon a verified WooCommerce expert developer such as those at Progressus.io is particularly useful.
Wrapping Up
WooCommerce is an excellent plugin for WordPress to turn your website into an online store.
By now, your question “What is WooCommerce?” and other related ones have been answered.
Do you still have questions about WooCommerce? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.
