WooCommerce
Original author(s)Mike Jolley, James Koster
Developer(s)Automattic
Initial release2011 (2011)[1]
Stable release
8.5.1[2] / 15 Jan 2024
Repository
Written inPHP
Operating systemUnix-like, Windows
Typee-commerce
LicenseGPL
Websitewoocommerce.com

WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It is designed for small to large-sized online merchants using WordPress. Launched on September 27, 2011,[3] the plugin quickly became popular for its simplicity to install and customize and for the market position of the base product as freeware (even though many of its optional extensions are paid and proprietary). WooCommerce is developed and supported by Woo and includes contributions from a global community of developers.[4]

History

WooCommerce was first developed by WordPress theme developer WooThemes,[5] who hired Mike Jolley and James Koster, developers at Jigowatt, to work on a fork of Jigoshop[6][7] that became WooCommerce.[8] In January 2020, it was estimated that WooCommerce is used by around 3.9 million websites.[9]

In November 2014, the first WooConf, a conference focusing on eCommerce using WooCommerce, was held in San Francisco, California. It attracted 300 attendees.[10][non-primary source needed]

In May 2015, WooThemes and WooCommerce were acquired by Automattic, operator of WordPress.com and core contributor to the WordPress software.[11]

In December 2020, WooCommerce acquired MailPoet, a popular WordPress newsletter management plugin.[12] Subsequently, WooCommerce launched WooCommerce Mobile App for iOS and Android. The app lets WooCommerce store owners view and manage their stores from mobile devices.[13]

On October 31, 2023, WooCommerce changed its branding to Woo. Woo is how Automattic starts referring to the brand/company, while WooCommerce is the open-source e-commerce platform for WordPress — Woo's core product.[14]

Usage

WooCommerce is used by a number of high-traffic websites such as Small Press Expo.[15] For the 3rd week of September 2015, Trends indicated that WooCommerce ran on 30%[16] of e-commerce sites and millions of active installs.[17]

Since Automattic's acquisition WooCommerce has kept gaining market share to become one of the leading E-commerce platforms on the Internet.[18]

Extensions

WooCommerce has attracted significant popularity because the base product, in addition to many extensions and plugins, is free and open-source. WooCommerce has hundreds of extensions and over 1,000 plugins.[19] In addition, there are thousands of paid add-ons for fixed prices. Many Premium Themes now offer capability with WooCommerce as well as plugins that make a theme framework compatible.[20]

WooExpert Partner program

Instead of a certification program WooCommerce uses an official partnership program. WooCommerce recommends users to use these WooExperts for their WooCommerce projects.[21] Suppliers can apply to become a partner and by doing so will undergo a multi-stage application process that includes skill evaluation and an interview. Throughout the process WooCommerce aim to assess familiarity with WooCommerce core and extensions. The partnership program had either a Gold, Silver or Bronze level[22] until late 2017, when it moved to a flat "verified WooExpert" system.[23]

Revenues

A study conducted in 2017 by Todd Wilkins, Head of WooCommerce, suggests that WooCommerce stores would collectively account for nearly $10 billion in sales.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ "WooCommerce Has Arrived". WooCommerce. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. ^ "WooCommerce".
  3. ^ Perez, Sarah (27 September 2011). "WooThemes Launches WooCommerce To Turn WordPress Sites Into Online Shops". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ^ "What is WooCommerce?". woocommerce.com. 5 December 2023.
  5. ^ "WordPress Themes, Plugins & eCommerce". WooThemes.
  6. ^ Imel, Ryan (28 August 2011). "Jigoshop team and WordPress community members share thoughts on forking". WPCandy. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Our forking views". Jigoshop. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  8. ^ Imel, Ryan (25 August 2011). "WooThemes forks Jigoshop into WooCommerce, launches WooLabs". WPCandy. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  9. ^ Hyde, Ethan. "WooCommerce Vs Shopify". More Leads More Revenue.
  10. ^ "Dedicated to store owners & WordPress developers wanting to learn the art of eCommerce using WooCommerce". Wooconf. November 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. ^ "WordPress Parent Automattic Buys WooCommerce, a Shopping Tool for Web Publishers". Re/code. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  12. ^ "MailPoet Joins WooCommerce". MailPoet Blog. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  13. ^ "WooCommerce Mobile App announcement". WooCommerce Blog. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Say Hello to Woo.com". GeekSeller Blog. 2023-10-31. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  15. ^ "WooCommerce E-Commerce Usage". WebTechster. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  16. ^ "Statistics for websites using Ecommerce technologies (The Entire Internet Tab)". builtwith.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  17. ^ Warnimont, Joe (14 February 2018). "WooCommerce Review: The King of Ecommerce Plugins on WordPress". Ecommerce Platforms. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  18. ^ "WooCommerce keeps gaining Market Share". ProWoos. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  19. ^ "[Infographic] 2017 WooCommerce Statistics". Holler Box. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  20. ^ "WooCommerce Genesis Framework for WooCommerce".
  21. ^ "WooExperts - WooCommerce". WooCommerce. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  22. ^ "Becoming a WooExpert - WooCommerce". WooCommerce. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  23. ^ Scott, Robin (2017-12-02). "WooCommerce Ends Gold Silver, Bronze – Just WooExperts". Silicon Dales. Silicon Dales Ltd. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  24. ^ "WooCommerce Stores on Track to Surpass $10B in Sales This Year". WordPress Tavern. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2018-09-15.

External links

Automattic
Categories