Woocommerce: Recommended plugins?

[Barba]

Hello all,

I've almost completed my first online store using woocommerce. I thought I'd give WC a go as I'm a long time Wordpress user, I'm proficient in php/css/html and only have a small range of products to sell. I've decided to use Stripe and Paypal Express as my payment methods until an increase in sales calls for a more cost effective option.

I was wondering which plugins UK store owners would recommend?

I see a few shortcomings with woocommerce such as non-sequential invoice numbering (required under UK accounting law if VAT registered?) and pdf invoices not being automatically generated, although plugins can solve these problems.

Also, on a slightly different note, how have you coped with invoicing and stock control when selling through additional channels (such as amazon, ebay and 'offline').

Many thanks,

Barba

 

[Jon_B]

I'm using a fair few.

Cart Notices - so I can notify customers to spend x amount more for free shipping. Also will add more messages based on specific products.
Chained Products - for bundles whilst controlling stock using the individual items stock levels that make the bundle up.
Dynamic Pricing - for automatic discounts on large orders
MSRP Pricing as most things in the shop are discounted already and it still allows me to do timed sales.
Smart Coupons
Table Rate Shipping
Woocommerce Waitlist - using this so customers can put in an email address on pre-order items.

Some non woocommerce specific:
wpMandrill - smtp service from mailchimp, great for transactional email tracking, gives delivery confirmation and tracks opens and clicks etc. would recommend this for every shop.

I'm using more than this, I may also be able to get you better pricing on some of them if you send me a PM.

As for additional channels I only do offline (not ebay and amazon). I add a manual order for items I sell offline. It's not ideal but I don't do many as I prefer to run things through the site.

There is a free sequential ordering numbering, I'm not using it as I'm not VAT registered but I did look into it recently.

Happy to answer any follow up questions.

 

[fisicx]

Hi Barbara, I believe WC has by far the best available ecom plugin.

No it's not. It's just very popular.

If you like to mess with the php and CSS woo commerce is a right pain. I prefer to use plugins with less functionality as this makes them far more flexible.

 

[Tbozz]

Im currently using WC, will appreciate more information on plug in for stock control and invoicing.

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[BrightpearlUK]

Hi,

Some of the above suggestions sound good, but there is only so far you can go by augmenting Woocommerce. It's is a great platform to build a website on, but it's not a tool designed to manage stock, orders and invoicing across multiple channels. There are some great software platforms out there designed to help retailers in exactly your position and you should trial a few to see which best suit your needs.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I agree with Brightpearl, as much as I love WP & WC, once you get to complex multi location inventory control etc you need to be looking at a dedicated ecom platform like magento, open cart etc

 

[antropy]

If you're serious about ecommerce, you shouldn't be using a blog platform with an ecommerce plugin, you should be using a platform that's designed and built for ecommerce such as:

• OpenCart
• Prestashop
• Magento

 

[Tbozz]

If you're serious about ecommerce, you shouldn't be using a blog platform with an ecommerce plugin, you should be using a platform that's designed and built for ecommerce such as:

• OpenCart
• Prestashop
• Magento

I find your comment very rude.
There are still online sellers with one single product and very small variation that WC can handle.

 

[fisicx]

Maybe, but that's not what the OP wants so your argument is invalid.

 

[Babymoos]

If you're serious about ecommerce, you shouldn't be using a blog platform with an ecommerce plugin, you should be using a platform that's designed and built for ecommerce such as:

• OpenCart
• Prestashop
• Magento

Harvey Nic's is built on WP, I'd say they're pretty serious about business ... Just sayin' ;-)



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[fisicx]

No it's not. They may use WP somewhere but it's certainly not the main site.

 

[antropy]

I find your comment very rude.
There are still online sellers with one single product and very small variation that WC can handle.

Haha well apologies, I didn't mean to offend anyone. I'd suggest though that if you just have 1 product to sell then you may be serious about ecommerce but you're not really the typical multi-product, multi-channel ecommerce retailer that I'm referring to here.

Harvey Nic's is built on WP, I'd say they're pretty serious about business ... Just sayin' ;-)

As above - no it's not but I'd be interested to hear why you think it is

Maybe, but that's not what the OP wants so your argument is invalid.

To be honest, the OP sounds a little unsure about WP with WC and it sounds like they haven't gone too far down that road, so it's probably a good time to suggest that there are other, better options.

 

[Babymoos]

No it's not. They may use WP somewhere but it's certainly not the main site.

No you're right, looks like they changed the main part sometime last year, some is still on WP though as you'll see from the attachment links.


Pretty sweeping statement to say WC isn't for serious ecommerce businesses though!


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[adamo]

I'd recommend the Stripe plugin if you're considering processing payments via Stripe (one of my favourite payment processors)