WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress that currently stands as the most popular method for adding an online store to a WordPress website. However, popularity doesn't necessarily mean it's the best solution for you, even if your existing website is WordPress-based.
This article will help you understand WooCommerce well enough to decide if you want to use an alternative. We will then discuss the benefits of using a WooCommerce alternative and the best WooCommerce alternative for your WordPress website.
One reason so many people get attracted by the WordPress + WooCommerce combination is that you'll see the word "Free" all over the place. Yes, the WordPress software can be downloaded for free, and the WooCommerce plugin is free to use, but there are still costs involved that you cannot avoid. Unfortunately, most WooCommerce instructions on the web gloss over these costs, focusing only on the parts that are free.
First, if your WordPress website is hosted on WordPress.com, you'll need a WordPress Business account to use WooCommerce at all. This comes with a cost of $25 per month, billed annually (equaling $300 per year). This WordPress.com/WooCommerce combination is also only available in the US and Canada.
The other option for WordPress is to download the software from WordPress.org and install it on your own web host, and while the software itself is free, you'll have to pay for hosting. Hosting providers vary in both price and capability. As an example, the popular WordPress host Bluehost charges $14.99 per month for a plan appropriate for online stores.
After choosing a web host (whether it's the WordPress.com Business plan or a hosting package from an outside provider) you'll be confronted with other costs that aren't so predictable: themes and plugins.
Plugins are the single greatest source of unexpected charges when running a WooCommerce store. While WooCommerce has several built-in features that are great for eCommerce, many others are locked behind add-ons that can cost hundreds of dollars per year.
The other main issue with WooCommerce plugins is that they're not all developed by the same staff that works on WooCommerce. Many are made by third-party developers with no guarantee that the plugin will continue to receive updates. In this case, a plugin your store relies on may eventually break and need to be replaced, even if you paid for it. Finding a replacement plugin can take lots of time and even cost you sales — and come with its own price tag too.
Plugins and themes don't always work nicely together, either — sometimes even if both are developed by WooCommerce itself. For example, some users report issues like subcategories being invisible when certain themes are used, or site layouts being altered unexpectedly when some plugins are installed. Unfortunately, even if everything is working together right now, necessary software updates can cause sudden problems in the future. Updates to plugins, themes, or the core WordPress or WooCommerce software have been known to cause issues ranging from broken images to crashing the entire website. Sometimes the only recourse is to pay for different themes and plugins.
We've covered a few of the flaws in WooCommerce above in our pricing breakdown, but there are still potential problems we haven't explored yet. Some of these issues can be extremely specific to a particular online store's WordPress theme and plugin setup, so a long list of further examples wouldn't be helpful to most readers. Instead, we'll narrow it down by comparing the limitations of WooCommerce to the results you can achieve using an alternative.
Here are some ways a WooCommerce alternative can help you avoid limitations and benefit your business:
In addition to the advantages listed, using a WooCommerce alternative can also save you a great deal of money because so many features are built in (this is one area where 3dcart stands out not just above WooCommerce, but above competing hosted platforms as well). Let's look at the cost of important WooCommerce plugins and compare them to what's included in 3dcart:
We could list more, but we think the picture is clear enough. Between the time and money you can save, and the other benefits we mentioned earlier, 3dcart is clearly a better choice than WooCommerce.
You've worked hard on your branding and your store's look and feel, so of course you want your website and online store to match. Don't worry, you can still maintain a consistent look between your main website and your online store!
There are a few ways you can do this; if you only care about colors, fonts, and other basic style elements, you can edit your 3dcart theme's CSS and plug in the right information where necessary. If you want to duplicate an entire theme, it gets more challenging — but you may not need to copy it exactly. 3dcart has a large theme selection available with a variety of layouts that should work well with any website. Full documentation is available for editing any theme as you see fit, or even building a new one from scratch. Alternately, you can have a 3dcart developer duplicate the entire look of your website as closely as possible!
There's one thing you should be aware of, though: remember WordPress is first and foremost a blogging platform. Most WordPress themes are therefore not built to prioritize selling. Duplicating a WordPress theme to your 3dcart store may not be in your best interests without making some changes to optimize it for eCommerce. Web design for eCommerce has developed over time to utilize certain layouts and features that entice customers to buy. Designs for blogs and general websites don't always work as well for this purpose.
Don't be afraid to change up your WordPress theme to make your 3dcart store more effective, rather than having it strictly duplicated. If you're comfortable customizing a 3dcart theme on your own, it will not hurt your brand to choose a theme with a layout you like and just edit the colors, fonts, and images to match your WordPress site. If you're having a 3dcart designer create an online store theme for you based on your favorite WordPress theme, listen to their suggestions for optimizing it for eCommerce.
Your 3dcart store can be connected to your existing website's domain name through use of a subdomain, which helps maintain your brand consistency. For example, if your WordPress website is found at www.mywebsite.com, your 3dcart store can be linked to store.mywebsite.com. There's no need to get a second domain name unless you choose to.
With far more features out-of-the-box, guaranteed theme compatibility, 24/7/365 live support, and a dedicated team to handle your online store's software, 3dcart is the best alternative to WooCommerce in every way. By using WordPress and 3dcart together, you'll have access to the most powerful online store software without giving up your existing website. It's a win-win situation!