06 Best E-commerce WordPress Plugins to Create Your Online Store in 2024
Thinking of launching your online store but converting this dream into reality feels overwhelming? Enter the world of WordPress plugins specially designed for e-commerce. Whether you are selling physical products, subscription services, or digital downloads, WordPress plugins can empower your online venture.
Let’s learn more about the best e-commerce WordPress plugins and make the right choice for your business!
We have stepped into an era where customer expectations are ever-evolving. Here, you need to pick the right set of tools to create your online store to meet their needs.
Your online store should not be bound by limitations. Although WordPress offers several features to build a website with text and images, you need to add plugins to extend its functionalities.
The beauty of WordPress plugins depends on their scalability and flexibility. It helps you personalize your storefront look and feel that reflects your brand identity.
Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner with an established brand, there is a plugin that perfectly matches your needs. From large-scale catalogs of products to digital downloads, these plugins provide functionalities that cater to varied business needs.
In this post, we will discuss the 06 best e-commerce WordPress plugins to create your online store. Let’s explore their unique features, strengths, and weaknesses along with pricing structure to make an informed choice for your business.
What are E-commerce WordPress Plugins? Which Is the Best One to Create Stunning and Functional Online Stores?
E-commerce WordPress plugins are add-on tools that extend the functionality of your WordPress site to boost online sales. Some plugins offer the functionality of shopping carts, product catalogs, payment processing, and more. For example, WordPress accessibility plugins make your website easily accessible to all types of users, especially those with disabilities.
However, the massive options in e-commerce plugins make it difficult for users to pick the right one.
Don’t worry. The following list of e-commerce plugins is the best in the market. Learn their features, strengths, weaknesses, and pricing structures to find the perfect fit for your business goals and needs.
1. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is considered the king of e-commerce plugins for WordPress. This plugin can transform your WordPress website into a stunning and functional storefront. It is an open-source plugin that seamlessly integrates with your WordPress website to create a full-fledged online store.
This plugin is a versatile solution for all types of businesses because it is compatible with digital, physical, and membership products.
Notable Features of WooCommerce:
- You can add unlimited products with images, descriptions, and variations (color, size, etc.), and set prices for each.
- Customers can easily add products to the shopping cart, review their choices, and make transactions securely using popular payment gateways.
- Ease of managing inventory including tracking stock levels, product availability, and receiving low-stock alerts.
- Processing payments, managing customer queries, and fulfilling orders with ease.
- Offers extensions and themes to customize the design of the store and add functionalities.
Strengths:
- WooCommerce is an open-source and free plugin which makes it a budget-friendly option.
- User-friendly interface makes it easy to learn, especially for beginners.
- Offers a huge library of extensions and themes to add functionalities and personalize store design.
- A large community and user base ensures you get plenty of tutorials, resources, and forums to troubleshoot issues.
Weaknesses:
- Advanced features need paid extensions.
- Require vigilant updates and security measures.
- Managing complex operations or huge product catalogs requires more extensions or additional development.
Pricing Structure of WooCommerce:
- The basic plan is free and the price of add-ons can range from free to $150 per year.
2. Shopify
Shopify is another popular platform that enables you to create and manage your storefront. This platform offers a wide range of features and a user-friendly interface. Shopify is one of the best options for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes.
Shopify offers various user-friendly tools and features to create a fully functional e-commerce site. All Shopify themes are SEO-friendly and responsive.
Notable Features of Shopify:
- User-friendly interface helps you set up your online store, add products, and handle orders easily.
- Comes with pre-designed themes to build a visually stunning online store that reflects your brand identity.
- Customers can easily add products to their shopping carts, review their selections, and make payments securely using popular payment gateways.
- Ease of order management including tracking and fulfilling orders, handling payments, and managing queries of customers.
- Built-in marketing tools to promote your products including email marketing and discount codes.
- Access to a vast app store offering additional features like analytical tools, loyalty programs, and shipping integrations.
Strengths:
- User-friendly interface requires no coding knowledge, making it the perfect choice for beginners.
- From startups to an established brand, Shopify easily accommodates businesses of all sizes.
- A vast app library allows you to personalize your online store functionality.
- Offers reliable and secure hosting for your storefront.
Weaknesses:
- Extensive design customization can be complex.
- This platform charges transaction fees on sales made via third-party payment gateways.
- Adding features through the app can be expensive.
- Offers limited SEO (search engine optimization) tools.
Pricing Structure of Shopify:
- Come with a 14-day free trial before committing to the paid plan.
- The basic Shopify plan is $29 per month.
- The Shopify plan is $79 per month.
- The Advanced Shopify plan is $299 per month.
3. Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)
Easy Digital Downloads is another best e-commerce WordPress plugins to create your online store. This plugin is specifically designed for selling digital products like music, software, courses, ebooks, and more. EDD can convert your WordPress website into a user-friendly and visually stunning online store to sell your digital products.
This plugin offers massive possibilities for selling various forms of digital products. Users can also opt for bundle downloads to purchase multiple products at once.
Notable Features of Easy Digital Downloads:
- You can create detailed product listings with price, description, and downloadable files.
- Customers can easily add products to their shopping cart, review their selection, pay securely, and download their purchases.
- Easily integrates with popular payment processes such as Stripe and PayPal to make secure transactions.
- Create discounts and coupons to incentivize your buyers.
- Using analytical and reporting tools, you can track sales, refunds, and customer behavior to understand the overall performance of your business.
- Ease of setting download limits and controlling access to the downloaded files.
Strengths:
- The free version offers essential features to sell digital products.
- User-friendly interfaces make it easy for beginners to use this platform.
- It is lightweight which ensures smooth performance.
- Developer tools and extensive add-ons provide more customization power.
- No limits on selling products and processing transactions.
Weaknesses:
- Majorly focuses on digital downloads, not suitable for selling physical products.
- Lacks advanced inventory management features for complex stocks.
- Comparatively limited customization than other e-commerce plugins.
Pricing Structure of Easy Digital Downloads
- The core plugins are free to download and use.
- The extension and upgrade paid plan starts at $99.50 per year.
4. WPForms
WPForms is another popular WordPress plugin specifically designed for WordPress sites. It comes with easy drag-and-drop functionality to create several types of forms without needing coding knowledge. It is a strong choice for entrepreneurs and business owners looking for effective and user-friendly forms on their WordPress website.
This plugin allows you to create visually appealing forms in a few minutes. You can either choose from the pre-made templates or create your own effortlessly.
Notable Features of WPForms:
- Drag-and-drop and intuitive interface allows you to construct forms by adding different fields like dropdowns, text boxes, and checkboxes.
- Offers a library of pre-made templates including order forms, contact forms, and subscription forms to quickly start with form creating process.
- Seamlessly integrates with popular payment gateways such as Stripe and PayPal.
- Integrating your forms with popular email marketing services like MailChimp and Constant Contact to handle and nurture leads.
- Come with in-built features like CAPTCHA verification to prevent spam submissions.
- Ease of managing and tracking form submissions.
Strengths:
- Drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for any user to create forms.
- Offers a range of features catering to various business needs.
- The free version of WPForms offers basic functionalities for building simple contact forms.
Weaknesses:
- Advanced features like marketing automation and payment integration require a paid subscription.
- If you need forms based on user input, you will require a paid plan.
Pricing Structure of WPForms:
- The freemium model offers basic functionalities.
- The basic plan starts at $39 per year/site.
- The Plus plan starts at $99 per year for three websites.
- The Pro plan starts at $199 per year for unlimited websites.
5. Rank Math
Rank Math is one of the best WordPress plugins in the market today. This plugin is specifically designed to optimize your website’s SEO. Rank Math helps you enhance your website rankings in SERPs (search engine result pages) to attract more organic traffic.
This plugin automatically analyzes your product pages and suggests meta descriptions, titles, images, and improvements in structured data.
Notable Features of Rank Math:
- Helps with keyword research, optimization of meta descriptions and tags, and on-page content analysis for a better understanding of search engines.
- Provides technical SEO tools including robots.txt editing, sitemap generation, and suggestions for internal linking.
- Streamline adding schema markup to your site, making it more understandable for search engines.
- It monitors your website ranking for particular keywords.
- Provides suggestions for enhancing the readability of your website content and improving your SEO score.
- Seamlessly integrates with several analytical tools including Google Search Console.
- Supports WooCommerce.
Strengths:
- User-friendly setup and is easy to use, making it the best choice for beginners.
- The free version offers good features to meet basic SEO requirements.
- Offers technical SEO tools and covers various aspects of on-page SEO.
- Paid plans offer a range of advanced features at a competitive price.
Weaknesses:
- Limited features in the free version.
- Not ideal for complicated SEO strategies.
Pricing Structure of Rank Math:
- The freemium model offers basic features.
- The Pro plan starts at $59 per year.
- The Business plan starts at $179 per year.
- The Agency plan starts at $499 per year.
6. MemberPress
MemberPress is one of the best WordPress plugins specifically designed for creating and handling membership sites. This plugin enables you to control access to specific pages or content of your website, offer exclusive benefits to paid subscribers, and sell memberships easily.
This plugin lets you offer multiple pricing plans to create different levels of memberships. The automated billing system notifies subscribers to renew their membership.
Notable Features of MemberPress:
- Flexibility in creating different membership levels with access benefits and pricing plans.
- Ease of setting up continuous subscription payments, offering convenience to members and site owners.
- Release content to members to keep them engaged and encourage them to come back for more.
- Restrict access to specific pages, categories, posts, tags, and even customize the post based on membership level.
- Users can also purchase memberships as gifts for others.
- Huge library of add-ons to extend the functionality of your membership website.
- Automatically calculates taxes for membership (add-on required).
- Ease of selling memberships to groups or organizations.
Strengths:
- The user-friendly interface makes it accessible for beginners to get started without coding knowledge.
- The content restrictions and various membership options allow you to create programs that match your needs.
- Seamless integration with popular email marketing services and payment gateways.
- Ease of delivering online courses or other content in a specific order.
Weaknesses:
- The basic design might require additional plugins or themes to refine the overall look.
- Expensive tiers.
- Requires additional plugins for advanced features.
Pricing Structure of MemberPress:
- The Basic plan is $179.50 per year.
- The Plus plan is $299.50 per year.
- The Pro plan is $300.50 per year.
- The Elite plan is $499.50 per year.
7. Free Gifts For WooCommerce
Free gifts for WooCommerce, is a powerful and unique plugin designed to enhance your e-commerce store’s performance by encouraging customers to purchase more by offering free gift products during the purchase process. This innovative tool enables you to offer gift products to customers based on various conditions, such as purchasing specific products or reaching a certain order value. By implementing this plugin, you can effectively increase your average order value, improve customer satisfaction, and drive more sales. With customizable methods and conditions, free gifts for WooCommerce make it easy to create rewarding shopping experiences that keep customers coming back for more.
Features
- Customers have the flexibility to choose from a selection of free gifts when they meet the qualifying criteria. This empowers customers to select desired items, enhancing their shopping experience and satisfaction.
- Streamline the gifting process by automatically adding free gifts to the user’s cart when they meet the promotion requirements. This feature simplifies the shopping experience and ensures customers never miss out on rewards.
- Free Gifts for WooCommerce offers 10 different methods to implement your gifting strategy. Whether it’s buy x get y, buy x get x, subtotal, bulk pricing, tiered pricing, tiered quantity, or other methods.
- This plugin fully supports variable products, allowing customers to choose specific variations of products as their free gifts. This ensures that customers receive the items they desire, whether a particular size, color, or style.
- The plugin provides an option for customers to manually select their free gifts from a list of available options. This personal touch can enhance customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases, as shoppers feel more in control of their rewards.
Strengths
- Enables gifting based on specific product attributes for targeted promotions.
- Offers insights into gift promotion performance for strategy optimization.
- Allows creating unlimited gift rules to boost sales and engagement.
- Provides customizable gifting rules for diverse marketing campaigns and behaviors.
Weaknesses
- Access to advanced features requires purchasing the Pro version.
Pricing
- The free version is available on WordPress.
- Annual plan: $69 for a site
- Lifetime plan: $109 for a site
6. WooCommerce Gift Card Plugin
The gift cards plugin from WebToffee empowers store owners to create and sell an unlimited number of gift cards right from their store. The tool offers immense flexibility in that it is an easy way to buy, redeem, and share gift cards, enhancing the customer experience.
The gift cards are also shareable via email along with personalized messages. Customers can send gift cards to their dear ones, scheduling delivery for special occasions.
Additionally, you can let your customers set gift card amounts, allowing them to choose between fixed amounts or custom values within specified limits.
Merchants can also simplify the refund process by issuing them into store credits, thereby minimizing potential revenue loss.
Features:
- Unlimited creation of gift cards
- Share gift cards to customers via email
- Customers can schedule gift cards
- Choose from 20+ gift card templates for diverse occasions
- Manage user credit balances
- Set fixed or custom gift card amounts.
- Set usage restrictions for redeeming gift cards
Strengths:
- Manage user credit balances from the plugin’s dashboard
- Providing instant refunds to store credits reduces the risk of loss due to returns
- Option to provide pre-set gift cards or enable customers to choose within specified limits
- Apply advanced usage restrictions for gift card coupons
Pricing:
- There is a free version available in the WordPress repository that is accessible to all.
- For advanced features, the premium version starts at $99 a year for a single site.
Concluding Thoughts
WordPress is one of the most powerful and user-friendly platforms that allows users to create dream online stores. Leveraging some of the best e-commerce plugins, you can transform your website into a functional and visually stunning store with shopping carts, secure payment gateways, product listings, and more.
This guide delved into the 6 best e-commerce WordPress plugins, highlighting key features, strengths and weaknesses, and pricing structure to help you pick the best for your needs.
Now, choose a suitable WordPress plugin and add a touch of your creativity. This can convert your basic site into a thriving online store.
