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17 January 2015E-commerce business is booming. There are reasons why e-commerce is a preferred channel. You get to reach out to a wide audience through e-commerce while with a brick and mortar shop you would at most manage to get folks around the street. As one marketer has put it nicely – there are only three things you must ensure for your business – location, location and location. An internet platform is perhaps the best location for your business. However, it’s not easy to set up an e-commerce site from scratch. That’s why WordPress is a good option for your e-commerce business.
Ease of installation
WordPress can be installed without any technical know-how. There are many hosting sites which provide WordPress which is pre-installed. When it comes to installing themes, you are literally spoiled for choice. There is a tailor-made theme for every occasion. You can buy an excellent e-commerce based theme which will enable you to do all that is necessary for selling your products and services. If you are adventurous you can even get your theme tweaked with minimum expenses.
E-commerce plugin with shopping cart
A major advantage of using WordPress for your e-commerce business is the availability of some great plugin. These are made for different users with different requirements. If you spend a few hours searching, you will certainly find the right one for your specific requirement.
Shopping carts come in various shades. Fortunately, there are enough shopping carts which operate with WordPress. You can even get them customized because they are built on open source code. Since there are thousands of developers working on WordPress you can identify the right fit for your business.
Digital goods
Of course, selling digital goods is only possible if you have a presence online. There are some excellent plugin available for WordPress with which you can sell digital goods. Options such as drip feature can be an effective way to get paid members online. Your membership site can be up and about in a matter of hours. Membership sites are becoming extremely popular because you can quickly monetize your knowledge and expertise without much effort. WordPress is a great platform for hosting membership sites. Using membership plugin you can create complex subscription and membership levels. In fact, WordPress is the only CMS which facilitates operation of membership sites.
Analytics
Online analytical tools are becoming more sophisticated. Understanding consumer behavior is the first step towards achieving success. Here again, e-commerce plugins for WordPress have proved their worth. There are both free and paid analytical tools which can give deep insight into your traffic to your e-commerce site. Predicative analytics is an important feature which e-commerce platforms are exploiting with good results. Integrating analytics with e-commerce themes and plugins can be easily achieved without technical expertise. Here again WordPress wins over others because of simplicity and ease of use, both during installation and operation.
Email management
E-commerce is not a standalone platform. It requires a host of other strategies to succeed. Email management has emerged as a serious marketing tool in the arsenal of online businesses. Due to misconceptions about email marketing, especially the fear of being discredited by recipients, businesses tend to avoid it, though is by far the most crucial factor which ensures success.
WordPress platform provides numerous email marketing tools to manage your online presence. Aweber which is popular and powerful email software has a plugin for WordPress. You can monitor the number of clicks on your email links which can be useful in designing your web pages. E-commerce sales can be boosted by offering discounts on specific products. In conjunction with analytic tools, which monitor website traffic, you can use email marketing to create potent sales funnels. The best part is that you can achieve all this and more within the WordPress environment. You have sufficient number of tools and plugin to efficiently manage your e-commerce business without leaving the familiar environs of WordPress. Moreover, you don’t need any technical knowledge to get going.
Affiliate plugin
There is a saying that two hands work better than one and many hands can work miracles. Your e-commerce business will flourish if you can get others to sell your products. This can be achieved by creating an affiliate network. You can use any of the numerous plugin available in WordPress to build an affiliate network. Remember that your affiliate plugin should be able to manage the entire gamut of operations, from setting up affiliates to automatically assigning and disbursing commissions. Your e-commerce business will take off quickly if you can create an effective affiliate channel.
Integration with payment gateways
An online business will succeed only if consumers feel secure while making payment on your website. There are many ways to achieve this objective. One of the ways is to provide a reliable and well known payment gateway. Integration with PayPal and other payment sites can lead to better realization of sales. Numerous surveys have shown that customers avoid making purchase online due to the fear that they may become victims of fraud. Hacking has become big business. To instill confidence in your customers, you must integrate your e-commerce site with well-known and secure payment gateways.
For small to big businesses
There is a misconception that WordPress platform is only for small businesses. This is totally false. You can have a huge e-commerce business running purely on WordPress. There is no limitation to the amount of traffic or transactions in WordPress. Moreover, you don’t need specialized technical knowledge to drive your e-commerce business. E-commerce plugins for WordPress are robust and versatile. Since WordPress itself and the plugins are made using open source software, you can always modify the interface to suit your particular needs.
Conclusion
WordPress is a powerful platform to launch your e-commerce business. There are a variety of themes and plugin which make an E-commerce business both vibrant and viable. You can use other plugins to enhance the presence and working of your online trade. WordPress has grown beyond the original objective of a pure play blogging platform and has transformed itself into a powerful channel for e-commerce.