How Much Does it Cost to Run an Online Store With WooCommerce?
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As you build your online store, you’ll need to decide which eCommerce platform to use. We’ll uncover the costs of running a store with WooCommerce so you can make a decision with confidence.
As a business owner providing a service or selling a product, you have lots of overhead costs to consider. However, as eCommerce continues to grow, having a coherent and functional online store is more important than ever. So, understanding the overhead costs associated with your online store is the next step. In this article, we discuss the costs associated with WooCommerce, the eCommerce platform that is connected to WordPress, so that you can seamlessly create or update your eCommerce website.
Running an Online Store with WooCommerce: 3 Factors to Consider
Understand your Business Goals
Before you begin to plan out your site, the first question you should ask yourself is “how basic or complex do I want my site to be?” For small businesses or start-ups, it is likely that you will want to keep things simple. But that is not necessarily true. You may have big plans for your WordPress website and WooCommerce store on the onset, which means that you will need additional plug-ins, themes, and more. Be certain of what your goals are for the site and go from there.
Hiring a Developer
WooCommerce is a great option for small- to medium-sized businesses because it is connected to WordPress—an easy-to-use platform—and it is in itself easy to use; even beginners can navigate it easily. However, depending on your business goals and the complexity of the site you are creating or modifying, hiring a developer can be cheaper and better for you in the long run.
Marketing Needs
When it comes to your marketing, it is good to understand what you need for your business before making critical decisions. When using WooCommerce it is important to consider your email and analytics needs.
Nearly 60% of business owners say that email offers the best ROI. Abandoned cart notifications or updates on sales are key to connecting to your customers. While WooCommerce does not provide email marketing, they work seamlessly with several plugins like Mailchimp, which costs $9.99/month for a basic plan. If you decide to go more complex with your email needs, the plugins and monthly subscriptions will increase.
As for analytics—it is important to consider your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and business analytics. WooCommerce works seamlessly with SEO. If you are not building out your own SEO, the plugin Yoast can help monitor this for you at $49.50/year. Google Analytics is completely free, and anyone can be educated on its use for free as well. However, if you want more than what the free version offers, there is a WooCommerce Google Analytics Pro extension that is $79/year.
What Are the Most Common Costs of WooCommerce?
Hosting and Domain Name Fees
To have your site eventually go live, it will need to be hosted by a web hosting service and you will have to pay for the domain name. Here are some things to consider when choosing hosting providers:
- Are you planning on having multiple sites? If you have several WooCommerce stores that are under one site, the pricing will increase. The server may also be overloaded, causing delays. Choosing a proper host that can handle this will be important.
- What is the operating time? You will want a site that is always working at its maximum capacity so that you do not lose conversions.
- What are the security features? When reviewing the provider, look at how they handle security issues and prevent them.
In addition to hosting sites like Bluehost SiteGround, WordPress has its own hosting plans that range between $10 to $40 monthly fee. The price goes up depending on the features you decide to use, and the amount of traffic that comes to your eCommerce store. If this increases, your hosting plan price will increase, but it likely would be well worth it. Domain registration is very cheap—usually about $15 a year. However, you must be on top of your renewal so that you do not lose the rights, and someone takes your URL.
Themes and Website Design
Deciding on the look and functionality of your WooCommerce store is important. You want it to be inviting, easy-to-use and ultimately increase your conversions.
There are WordPress themes for eCommerce, called the Storefront theme. This is a basic free theme option that can get your site going quickly but is not brand-friendly and is generic. However, since WooCommerce is an open-source platform, there are many customized free WooCommerce themes out there you can find, either through plug-ins or WooCommerce forums, or there are relatively cheap platform themes.
Alternatively, you can pay for a custom site. If you choose a developer, they may be able to do this for you or connect you to a web designer. Note that outsourcing this service will add costs to your project. However, if you plan on growing your business, it will be key to have a site that represents your business brand and needs appropriately so a designer may be a good idea.
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Store Management
Security
One of the most important aspects of maintaining your eCommerce website will be securing it. Online stores are transactional and thus involve money. If you aren’t on top of it, your site could be attacked, and you or your customers could be victims of private information or credit card fraud. WordPress (and thus WooCommerce) have several security plugins that can prevent attacks. They can prevent malware, spam, and backups. An example of such a plugin is Sucuri Security which costs $200/year for a basic plan. Depending on how your site functions, you also may need a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. SSL certificates encrypt sites while they are talking to each other, keeping information safe. If you use an SSL, this costs $20/ year.
Payment Gateway
Payment gateways are the functionality to accept payments to your store. There are many gateway options out there and WooCommerce provides loads of plugins so that you can use the gateway you were previously using and connect it to your new online store. Each company has its own charges but typically there is a transactional fee that is a percentage plus flat fee (e.g., PayPal is 2.9% = .30 cents per transaction).
Plug-ins and Extensions for WooCommerce
As an out-of-the-box system, WooCommerce provides a plethora of plugins that you can add to your online shop. Yes, the basic version of WooCommerce is easy and very basic, but it can be built to do anything you want. In addition to the examples we have shared before, like security, payment gateways, and designs, you can also add cart, checkout, and shipping WooCommerce plugins that suit your business needs. However, plugins will be an added cost to your site. There are some free plugins, but most have their own costs or cost money for the best version of the plugin.
3 Additional Questions to Determine the Cost
What Sort of Customer Experience do I want?
As a business owner, you have likely come up with a persona for your customer. They come to your business looking for your product or service, and they usually fit a specific lifestyle or need. It is important to apply this persona to how you craft your eCommerce site. Does your customer want a visual experience or get into your site and get out quickly? Do they want to stay up to date on your products? Answering these questions will be key to the choice of themes you use and the plug-ins you use.
How Much Should I Customize My Site?
You may not be happy with the options that WordPress and WooCommerce provide for their themes or plug-in features, so you may decide you want to customize your site. Customizing is great to make your site look and feel different from others; helping your brand stand out. However, know that every customized task you do with your site is an additional cost, both from the design/developer perspective and for future maintenance. Boxed websites are cheap because they are easy to update. It is not so with customized sites. Be cognizant of this as you plan your site.
Will I Need to Scale my Site in the Future?
When you first create your site, you may not be ready to think about how your business will grow in the future, but it is important to do so. You may need only a basic site right now, but if you plan to grow the number of add-ons, products, services, or eCommerce sites in the future, it is best to plan for that now, so that you do not have to redo all the work in the future, costing you much more money.
There’s No Time Like the Present
Feeling a little overwhelmed? Don’t worry—not everyone is a WooCommerce expert. If after this article you have decided that you are ready to start a WooCommerce site but want someone to help you through the WooCommerce pricing and development processes, UpCity has the solution. Our list of WooCommerce Developers can help walk through all of this with you so that you can focus on your business operations.
About the author
Haldis Toppen
Haldis Toppen is the Director of Communications of the cultural exchange organization, Greenheart International. With 10 years of experience in leading marketing and communication teams, Haldis has a proven record of successfully leading national campaigns and international programming. She is passionate about bringing the right message to the masses and finding those audiences who need to hear it!
