If you plan to transition your WordPress website to an e-commerce store, you’ll need to set up a lot of features to make it possible. From product management and shopping carts to checkouts, you have to ensure a smooth shopping experience for your customers.
To make this process easy, WordPress has come out with Shopping Cart plugins. These plugins are available in the WordPress plugin repository.
With these shopping cart plugins, you can effortlessly convert your website into an e-commerce store and enable customers to buy products from your store.
What is a WordPress Shopping Cart plugin?
A WordPress Shopping Cart plugin is a software extension or plugin that integrates with the WordPress content management system (CMS) to add e-commerce functionality to a website. It enables website owners to set up and manage an online store, allowing customers to browse products, add them to a virtual shopping cart, and complete purchases securely.
WordPress shopping cart plugins vary in terms of features, complexity, and customization options. They offer a convenient way for businesses and individuals to create and manage their online stores within the familiar WordPress environment, leveraging the CMS's flexibility and extensive ecosystem of themes and plugins.
What are the features typically present in a WordPress Shopping Cart plugin?
The features typically present in a WordPress Shopping Cart plugin can vary depending on the specific plugin and its capabilities. However, there are some common features you can expect to find in a WordPress Shopping Cart plugin.
It typically provides features such as product catalog management, inventory tracking, secure payment processing, shipping and tax calculations, order management, and customer account management. It allows website owners to showcase and sell various types of products, including physical goods, digital downloads, subscriptions, and services.
Product management
It helps you create and manage product listings, including images, descriptions, prices, variations, and inventory tracking.
Shopping cart functionality
A shopping cart plugin enables customers to add products to a cart, view cart contents, update quantities, and proceed to checkout.
Secure checkout
It provides a secure and encrypted checkout process to protect customer payment information.
Payment gateway integration
It supports integration with popular payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net, allowing customers to make payments using credit cards, digital wallets, or other payment methods.
Shipping options
A typical shopping cart plugin configures shipping methods, rates, and calculations based on factors like weight, location, or flat rates. Integration with shipping carriers may also be available.
Tax calculation
It automatically calculates and applies taxes based on the customer's location and applicable tax rules.
Order management
With a WordPress shopping cart plugin, you can track and manage orders, view order history, process refunds, generate invoices, and send order notifications to customers.
Customer account management
It allows customers to create accounts, view order history, manage addresses, and save payment methods for faster checkout.
Coupons and discounts
You can also create and manage discount codes, coupons, or promotional offers to incentivize purchases.
Product reviews and ratings
It enables customers to leave reviews and ratings for products, contributing to social proof and helping other shoppers make informed decisions.
Reporting and analytics
The plugin generates sales reports, tracks inventory levels, monitors website traffic, and gives insights into customer behavior to help you make informed business decisions.
Integration with email marketing services
It helps you connect with email marketing platforms to build customer lists, send targeted email campaigns, and nurture customer relationships.
SEO optimization
Ensure the plugin supports SEO best practices, allowing you to optimize product pages, meta tags, and URLs for better search engine visibility.
Mobile responsiveness
The WordPress Shopping Cart plugin provides a mobile-friendly shopping experience with a responsive design, allowing customers to browse and purchase products on various devices.
These features are a general overview. It varies depending on the plugin. So, the best way forward is to first understand your business requirements and then select a WordPress Shopping Cart plugin that suits your needs.
Here, we have listed the 5 best WordPress shopping Cart plugins. WooCommerce tops the list, and there are hardly any competitors for it. Nevertheless, go through the features of all five Shopping Cart plugins for WordPress and select the best one for you.
1. WooCommerce
Active Installations - 5 million+
WooCommerce is a leading open-source e-commerce solution. It is renowned for its flexibility and is backed by a global community. With WooCommerce, you have complete ownership of your store's content and data, making it a powerful choice for businesses of all sizes.
It allows you to seamlessly blend content and commerce, creating captivating storefronts with customizable themes. The optimized shopping cart experience increases conversion rates, while modular product blocks enable quick customization of product pages. You can showcase physical and digital goods, offer product variations and configurations, sell subscriptions and bookings, and leverage WordPress' SEO advantage to boost search rankings.
WooCommerce scales with your business, offering flexible eCommerce for high-volume stores. Developers love it for its extensibility, comprehensive documentation, and dedicated development team.
Features
-
Beautiful storefronts with customizable themes.
-
Optimized shopping cart experience.
-
Modular product blocks for easy product page modification.
-
Ability to sell physical and digital goods, variations, and custom configurations.
-
Support for subscriptions, bookings, and memberships with vetted extensions.
-
SEO advantage through integration with WordPress.
-
Scalability for high-volume stores.
-
Built-in tools and popular integrations for efficient business management.
-
Flexible payment options with 100+ payment gateways, including WooCommerce Payments, Stripe, PayPal, and Square.
-
Configurable shipping options with WooCommerce Shipping and integration with carriers like UPS and FedEx.
-
Simplified sales tax calculations with WooCommerce Tax and similar services.
-
Powerful WooCommerce Admin dashboard for monitoring store performance.
-
Integration with marketing and social channels, including Google Ads, HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Facebook.
-
Mobile app for managing the store on the go (Android and iOS).
-
Ownership and control of store data, with the ability to export content and switch platforms seamlessly.
-
Developer-friendly with hooks, filters, REST APIs, webhooks, and customization options with React and CLI.
-
It is translated into multiple languages.
Pricing
WooCommerce is free open-source software.
2. WordPress Simple Shopping Cart
Active Installations - 20,000+
The WordPress Simple Shopping Cart plugin enables you to create 'Add to Cart' buttons on your WordPress site, turning it into an e-commerce platform. It allows customers to pay for their selected items using popular payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe. You can easily display the shopping cart on any post, page, or sidebar, allowing users to view and modify their cart contents.
Features
-
You can embed the smart PayPal payment buttons on your cart page.
-
Ability to offer Stripe checkout options for credit card payments.
-
Stable and hassle-free shopping cart functionality.
-
Easily create customizable "add to cart" buttons.
-
Supports selling tangible products, services, and media files.
-
Orders menu to track and manage received orders.
-
Customizable email notifications for buyers and admins.
-
Ability to configure discount coupons for special discounts.
-
Responsive design for compatibility with responsive themes.
-
Translateable into any language.
Pricing
This is a free software add-on for your WordPress site.
Build An Engaging App For Free
3. Ecwid ECommerce Shopping Cart
Active Installations - 30,000+
Ecwid Ecommerce Shopping Cart is a powerful and user-friendly plugin that allows you to seamlessly add an online store to your WordPress website. Trusted by over 1 million sellers in 175 countries and available in 45 languages, Ecwid offers a comprehensive e-commerce solution.
With support for PayPal, Stripe, and 40+ other payment options, real-time shipping integrations, and automated tax calculations, Ecwid simplifies the process of selling products online. It also enables you to expand your reach by selling on popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
-
Automatic shipping rate calculation and integration with major carriers.
-
Automated tax rate calculations, including U.S., Canada, and EU VAT.
-
Seamless integration with Facebook and Instagram for selling on social media.
-
Free mobile applications for managing your store and selling on the move.
-
Unlimited storage, regular backups, and effortless upgrades.
-
PCI DSS Level 1 certification for secure transactions.
-
Excellent customer support through various channels.
-
Multisite compatibility to include your online store on multiple platforms.
-
Mobile-responsive design for an optimal shopping experience on any device.
-
Extensive library of extensions and a powerful API for customization and integration with third-party tools and services.
Pricing
It has a free plan with limited features. If you want to access its complete features, subscribe to its paid plans, starting at $14.08 per month.
4. Shopping Cart & eCommerce Store
Active Installations - 6,000+
The Shopping Cart & eCommerce Store is a feature-rich and versatile Shopping Cart plugin for WordPress. It offers a fast and easy way to create an online store, allowing you to sell a wide range of products, from retail items to subscriptions, digital downloads, gift cards, and more.
The plugin supports major payment gateways such as Stripe, Square, and PayPal, including options for recurring billing, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Microsoft Pay. It also provides seamless integration with Facebook and Instagram, enabling you to sell your products on these platforms.
With multiple editions available, including a free version, Professional, and Premium, Shopping Cart & eCommerce Store offers a variety of features to meet different store requirements.
Features
-
Support for 30+ payment solutions, including Stripe, Square, and PayPal Express.
-
SCA-compliant payment gateways and GDPR-compliant options.
-
Integration with Facebook and Instagram for selling on social media.
-
Creation of essential store pages automatically.
-
Multilingual and multi-currency support.
-
Customizable design options.
-
Extensive shipping options, including live shipping integrations with major carriers.
-
Tax calculations with support for the TaxCloud API.
-
Order management features, including printing sales receipts and packaging slips.
-
SEO editing for products, menus, and categories.
-
Social sharing capabilities.
-
Marketing tools such as coupons, promotions, gift cards, and abandoned cart systems.
-
Premium extensions for Facebook and Instagram feeds, ShipStation, Quickbooks, and more.
-
Mobile apps for managing the store on iOS and Android devices.
Pricing
Other than the free version that is available on the WordPress plugin store, you can subscribe to its paid plans starting at $69 per year
NOTE: Its free plan has a 2% additional application fee.
5. XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce
Active Installations - 8,000+
Instead of customers having to visit their cart page each time to track their purchases, you can display a floating cart page that follows your customers wherever they are on the website. This enhances their shopping experience. The XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce, an innovative plugin designed to streamline the online shopping experience for your customers, does exactly that.
This powerful tool follows your customers as they browse your store, providing them with a floating cart that allows them to easily track their purchases and proceed to checkout with just a few clicks. By simplifying the buying process and making it more convenient, the Floating Cart significantly reduces cart abandonment rates and increases conversions, leading to higher sales and revenue for your business.
The XT Floating Cart offers a range of features to optimize the customer experience and boost sales.
Features
-
Live Preview Customizer for real-time visual customization.
-
Fly To Cart animation for a visually appealing cart experience.
-
Coupon support to offer discounts and promotions.
-
Cart totals and total savings display to showcase pricing information.
-
Express checkout form for a seamless and quick purchase process.
-
Cart menu items for easy access and visibility across all pages.
-
Suggested products section for upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
-
Free shipping bar to incentivize customers and showcase progress.
-
Customization options for colors, backgrounds, and fonts.
-
Ajax “Add to Cart” functionality for quick and seamless product-adding processes.
-
Checkout or view cart button selection for cart interaction.
-
Option to trigger the cart on mouseover for an improved user experience.
-
Subtotal or total display options for pricing visibility.
-
RTL (right-to-left) support for languages with RTL writing systems.
Pricing
It charges a subscription fee of $59 per year for one site. A free trial is available.
How a mobile app for your WordPress e-commerce store can help streamline the shopping cart process
A mobile app for your store is truly beneficial to increasing sales for your WordPress e-commerce store. It can streamline the shopping cart process and enhance the overall customer experience. Here are a few ways in which a mobile app can help you drive higher conversions and sales.
Convenient shopping experience
A mobile app allows customers to shop directly from their smartphones or tablets, providing a seamless and convenient experience. They can browse products, add items to the cart, and proceed to checkout with just a few taps, anytime and anywhere.
Optimized user interface
Mobile apps are designed specifically for mobile devices, offering a user interface tailored to smaller screens and touch interactions. This optimized interface makes it easier for customers to navigate through product catalogs, view product details, and interact with the shopping cart, resulting in a smoother and more efficient checkout process.
Faster loading speed
Mobile apps are typically optimized for performance, offering faster loading times compared to mobile websites. This speed advantage ensures that customers can quickly complete their purchases without delays reducing the likelihood of cart abandonment.
Push notifications
With mobile apps, you can send personalized notifications about special offers, discounts, new product arrivals, or order updates. These notifications serve as effective reminders, encouraging customers to revisit the app and complete their purchases.
Seamless integration with device features
Mobile apps can leverage various device features to streamline the shopping cart process. For example, they can integrate with mobile payment systems (e.g., Apple Pay or Google Pay) to provide one-click payment options, eliminating the need for manual data entry. Apps can also utilize device capabilities like camera scanning for barcode or QR code-based product search, further enhancing convenience.
Enhanced personalization and loyalty programs
With mobile apps, you can track customer preferences, order history, and behavior. You can provide targeted product recommendations, personalized offers, and rewards to loyal customers.
Offline capabilities
Some mobile apps offer offline functionality, allowing customers to continue browsing products and adding items to the cart even without an internet connection. Once connectivity is restored, the app syncs the data, ensuring a seamless experience and minimizing disruptions.
Leverage these advantages to streamline the shopping cart process and boost sales. If you are worried about how to create an app for your store, we’ve got you covered.
Swipecart, a no-code app builder, will help you create an app for your store in minutes without the necessity of codes. It is available as a plugin on the WordPress plugin store. It uses a visual interface and a drag-and-drop editor to help you place pre-coded blocks into your app layout. You can then customize the layout and blocks to suit your theme.
To extend the functionality of the app on Swipecart, you have plugins and third-party integration tools. All-in-all, the no-code app builder Swipecart helps you create an app for your WordPress e-commerce store so that you can benefit significantly from it.
Wrapping Up
We hope the 5 best WordPress Shopping Cart plugins will help you decide which is the best for your website. And if you want a value addition, think about having an app for your store. Try the no-code app builder Swipecart to build an app for your WordPress e-commerce store in minutes without having to code. A website and an app can help you significantly increase conversions and improve your online revenue.
