In the last several years, WooCommerce has grown in popularity. It offers simplicity and is, at the same time, perfectly adapted to the needs of users. Yet, just as with any other popular platform that is used on a large scale, the depths of WooCommerce can also hide some traps. I want to make you aware of the potential risks to help you make the right choices.

Creating a WooCommerce store takes a few steps. The list covers plugin installation on your WordPress website, setting it, adding products, optimizing. If you’ve ever wondered how much time it would cost you to create a simple online store, it can take less than 30 minutes. Although WooCommerce platform is user-friendly there are things that are easy to forget. Paying attention to them will let you avoid unpleasant surprises. 

1. Overuse of plugins 

That’s a popular mistake. Using too many plugins that are either unnecessary or do not meet your needs (e.g. using only a small part of a complex plugin) can have a disastrous effect on the performance of your store. Without careful usage of plugins, you won’t be able to effectively manage your store. Sometimes less is more. 

2. Additional costs

If you decide to scale your store, it may turn out that along with the increase of client orders, the plugins that you have been using for free will have to be changed to Premium versions or other solutions requiring additional costs.

That’s why, to scale your business, you have to adjust the type of WooCommerce version and take into account its future.

3. Choosing a bad hosting service 

A badly chosen hosting service combined with business expansion can contribute to losing clients. Even if your service is properly optimized, slow page loading will discourage customers from buying.

4. Relying entirely on yourself

Resigning from expert help during the initial stage of your project, as well as having non-standard needs and relying entirely on yourself, without a deeper knowledge of the WordPress and WooCommerce ecosystem, can require solutions which, in the long run, can be much more costly or even impossible to fix and properly optimize. 

If you decide to move your dedicated system to WooCommerce 1:1, you may need to tamper with the plugin or you’ll spend a considerable amount of time on introducing necessary modifications. A string of activities completely redundant from the perspective of your business.

You should be in contact with a reliable partner who:

– understands the business logic,
– has enough experience to propose an alternative WooCommerce solution that will help you save time and achieve the desired effect in the form of a functioning online shop. 

Build your business on WooCommerce 

What I described above certainly hasn’t exhausted the topic, so you can treat my advice as a foundation for further discussion. I wanted to place emphasis on those aspects that frequently get overlooked when we make decisions, even though they are balanced out by the advantages of WordPress and WooCommerce. Without a thorough analysis of your business needs and online store requirements, you may end up with wrong choices or a disappointing implementation. As a business person functioning in the turbulent world of Internet sales, you’ll face many business management challenges. A daily struggle with a system that doesn’t fulfill your needs or that requires unforeseen additional costs can discourage even the biggest enthusiasts and make their motivation and excitement slowly fade away.