Do you want to take your WooCommerce powered online store to the next level? You have a lot of drive and ambition, and you’re willing to take on any obstacle to expand your business. You want to scale your WooCommerce Website, but you have some doubts about this. If you’re like most people, you’re nervous about the inevitable technical challenges that come with running an e-commerce business. You are uncertain and perplexed and perhaps a little bit afraid. Endless questions like “is WooCommerce scalable?” or “can I scale my business using WooCommerce?” occupy your mind. You are always looking for an answer or a solution to these problems as they are stopping you from achieving what you want. Let’s eliminate any misconceptions that could sabotage your online success. Don’t worry; we’ll address these concerns and reveal how easily you scale a WooCommerce Websitein this post.
Let’s briefly discuss WooCommerce and Why it is so Popular
WooCommerce is an open-source plugin developed by WordPress theme developer WooThemes. You can convert your WordPress site into an online store with this plugin. WooCommerce has made it simpler than ever to start a successful online business. On September 27, 2011, WooCommerce was introduced. Its accessibility and ease of use have contributed to its widespread adoption. Adding this single plugin will allow you to create a fully functional online store. This is the main appeal of it. It’s very adaptable and comes with a plethora of useful features.
WooCommerce is, without a doubt, one of the most widely adopted online eCommerce plugin. WooCommerce is used by 23% of the top 1 million websites using e-commerce in the world. As a percentage, that’s 0.3% of all websites or 4.67% of the top million. A sizable but not overwhelming share. It’s miles ahead of competing solutions like Shopify and Magento.
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WooCommerce Comes with a Plethora of Themes
On ThemeForest, you can choose from among 1,300 WooCommerce themes. One can find over 1,504 more WooCommerce themes in the WordPress.org theme directory. With these two major contributors, we now have more than 2,804 in total. The grand total rises dramatically when you include the many other theme markets and standalone theme developers.
So, these points show how popular WooCommerce is. We will not be going much deeper into these because we will discuss something very important today.
Many individuals have told me that WooCommerce works well for start-ups but needs to be more scalable for larger enterprises. WooCommerce is not scalable. But I’m here to set the record straight and let you all know that WooCommerce is actually incredibly scalable, which is why so many large businesses rely on it. An online WooCommerce store can be as small or as large as its owner desires. There’s no need to worry about your site collapsing under the weight of too many product pages. However, there is an appropriate way to do so, and I will outline that below.
What is scalability in E-com?
For an online business to expand, scalability means that performance won’t suffer. Scalability issues do not compromise site performance and user satisfaction. Thus, a scalable business can expand successfully without hitting any roadblocks.
The term “scalability” refers to the ability to accommodate a growing business and the correspondingly increased customer demand. Just think of how frustrating it would be if your site suddenly crashed due to an influx of visitors. Therefore, you’ll need a fool proof strategy if you want to take your web store to the next level. There needs to be a solid foundation for the site to stand on. Scalability refers to the ability to accommodate a growing number of users. Simply put expanding with no setbacks.
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So, is it Possibe to Scale a WooCommerce Website?
Without a doubt, Yes. It will become abundantly evident when I have laid out the facts that I am about to discuss. WooCommerce stores can be grown to any limit. There are no restrictions at all.
- You can add an unlimited number of products with WooCommerce. If you started with just a few items on your website, but as your business has grown, you now want to add more items and cater to more people. You can accomplish that, and there is nothing that can stop you.
- The WooCommerce plugin is capable of handling massive amounts of traffic. Whether it’s a Black Friday or Cyber Monday traffic surge, WooCommerce has you covered.
- WooCommerce’s open-source nature and adaptability allow for bespoke implementations. Naturally, hundreds of developers are constantly improving it and adding new features.
- WooCommerce works with many other WordPress plugins. As a result, alternative WordPress plugins can be used to fix any problems that may arise. There are several plugins available that have been developed with e-commerce in mind.
WooCommerce is the ideal platform for building and managing an online store; we’re willing to bet you already know that. What’s not to like about it, given that it allows for customization, has many available plugins, and can scale almost indefinitely?
So, let’s move on. Let’s find out what factors are worth considering when scaling your WooCommerce store.
Factors that need consideration Before Learning How to Scale a WooCommerce Website
WooCommerce is highly scalable, but there are some factors that you must consider before scaling.
1. Website Traffic
It would be best if you gave this the most weightage. Extremely high volumes of visitors will cause your website’s loading times to increase, which will hurt your business. Therefore, you must ensure that your site can sustain extremely high traffic volumes without breaking down. It would be a huge mistake to ignore traffic, as it is the primary source of income. Ensure that your product pages are optimized to accommodate the increased traffic.
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2. Server Hardware
Make sure your WooCommerce site is hosted on the appropriate platform. Choose the one that best meets your demands rather than the cheapest. SSL certification, caching, Uptime, and CDN support are all must-haves. Your ability to scale could be negatively affected by giving an inch on any of these issues.
3. WooCommerce Plugin updates
Make sure to install the latest version of WooCommerce. Check for changes often and implement them if necessary; do this in good conscience. Site vulnerabilities and incompatibilities with WordPress core or other plugins are only two examples of major problems arising from neglecting to update.
How to Scale A WooCommerce Website
Without further ado, let’s see how to scale a WooCommerce websitesite.
1. Software Updates
Ensure that everything on your website runs on the latest version, be it the WordPress core, WooCommerce plugin, or any other plugin or theme. You must bring all systems up to date as soon as a new version is released. Having this in place will guarantee that your website functions without a hitch. Important bug fixes and patches are included in every update. Developers check for any signs of security breaches or any other issue in the current versions and fix them with a newer version. An out-of-date version is an open invitation to hackers. By performing these simple tasks, you can keep hackers at bay and help your business run optimally.
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2. Use tactical caching
Caching is the practice of keeping multiple versions of a file in a cache, or another temporary storage site, for the purpose of faster access. Caching helps in the quick loading of the website which is very helpful if you need to scale a WooCommerce Website. Many the E-Com site owners refrain from caching because sometimes they really don’t know what to cache and what not to cache. WooCommerce caching should be done strategically; otherwise, it will do more harm than good.
Generally, you should cache these certain things
- Product category and catalogue pages.
- Customer’s past history for abandoned cart shoppers.
It would be best if you refrain from caching your other store elements, as they can harm the proper functioning of your store.
If you are still trying to figure out the correct steps to take while caching, then you can refer to the WooCommerce caching guide for more information.
3. Keep your WooCommerce extensions and plugins to a minimum.
WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that has spawned a very large community. Consequently, it may require many resources. Numerous plugins are compatible with WooCommerce. However, you should only use them if necessary, as having too many plugins active on the website can reduce its loading speed and even cause conflicts between different plugins. Regular updates to additional plugins are required; however, doing so for many plugins can be tedious. Therefore, you should use as few plugins as possible so that the site’s performance is not negatively affected.
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4. Use CDN to Scale a WooCommerce Website to New Heights
Nearly all of the WooCommerce hosting services include CDN service integration. You can use CDN to back up multiple copies of your website to servers worldwide. Each time a user accesses your site, a copy is sent from the server that is geographically nearest to them, thereby reducing the time it takes for the page to load. With a content delivery network, the increased traffic load may be distributed among numerous servers, thus reducing the possibility of a site outage.
5. Test your site regularly.
By conducting regular load tests, you can ensure your site can cope with increased traffic, orders, and visitors.
That way, you’ll have hard data to back up your claim that the business can handle increased traffic. To ensure your store can handle the influx of customers and the increasing complexity of their interactions, you should create test cases that reflect these future scenarios as closely as possible. When it comes to your online store, nothing beats a good performance test to ensure everything is running smoothly. One thing to consider is how quickly different pages load on your site.
The Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) and the delay in interaction are two other prevalent performance concerns. The Core Web Vitals scores on Google consider both of these aspects. Your overall standing may only improve if you do well in these categories. You can check my other article on how to optimize Core Web Vitals for more information.
WooCommerce’s scalability relies on how fast your site loads overall. Your store’s ability to handle high quantities of visitors and rise in search engine rankings depends on how quickly pages load.
6. Choose the Hosting Provider Which Is Right for You helps a Lot in Scaling a WooCommerce Website
Finding a reliable hosting service is crucial. Simply put, a reliable hosting platform is like a solid bedrock upon which you construct your website. To build a successful company and to scale a WooCommerce website a solid foundation is required. You cannot host your site on a server that goes down when there’s a little surge in traffic because you need to scale. In addition, the hosting platform you choose should provide reliable customer assistance if any problems arise. Shared, dedicated, and VPS hosting are just a few of the many options for those looking to host their websites online. Various hosting options are available, each of which can manage a varied volume of visitors. When deciding, you should prioritize finding a provider that offers both a solid set of features and responsive, helpful customer service. Your hosting provider and the package you choose can both affect how well you scale.
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Some features to look for while selecting a Hosing Platform
1. SSL Certification
Ensure that the web hosting platform provides SSL certification because it is a must to ensure that your site is secure and it helps build trust with potential customers.
2. Uptime
Go with the one that provides great Uptime. Uptime is very important in the E-Com business, and I don’t have to tell you about that.
3. Technical Support Team
This one feature is mostly underrated. Many people don’t give it much of a consideration but let me tell it is very important to look for a hosting platform which provides 24/7 support through chats, e-mails and calls.
4. WooCommerce Dedicated Hosting
Choose a hosting platform that provides WooCommerce dedicated hosting because they provide a server that is specially built to handle an enormous amount of traffic without any site outage.
5. Caching
You want a fast website; caching is a must. We won’t be discussing it in great detail as we have already discussed why and how caching is important.
6. CDN
Well as we have discussed how CDN is important for scaling your online store, so you must always look for a Hosting platform that provides CDN feature.
7. Select Payment gateways wisely
As an entrepreneur running an online store, you need to consider the payment channels you want to implement seriously. A shopper places an order and pays for it on a web store. About eighty different payment extensions are available for use with a WooCommerce store. In addition to its own built-in payment extension, WooCommerce is compatible with several of the industry’s most popular gateways. Consequently, it is important to consider fees and commissions charged by the gateways while choosing which one to integrate with your business. You should learn everything you can about them before implementing them.
8. It’s important to clean up your website’s code to scale a WooCommerce Website
One of the most essential, yet often overlooked, components of scaling WooCommerce is optimizing its code. You’ll have a much harder time scaling your website as your business grows if the code is untidy and chaotic.
One way to make your WooCommerce store more scalable is to improve its coding. This can be achieved:
- By decreasing the number of HTTP requests
- Eliminating or at least minimizing database query costs
- Caching frequently used resources
- Eliminating unused code
- Using more compact file size
If you clean up the code on your website, adding new features and improving performance will be less of a hassle as your business grows.
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9. Align your inventory with what your customers see online.
To have a profitable, scalable, and optimized online business, there must be a direct communication channel between the warehouse and the numbers shown for available stock.
Examples of Great WooCommerce Sites
Amundsen Sports
Amundsen Sports is an athletic clothing company that specializes in winter sportswear and equipment. In their hero image, you can see a wide range of their products, from outerwear to accessories, with options for both men and women.
It’s simple for customers to switch between the men’s and women’s sections right from the homepage.
Amundsen’s photo may not be as eye-catching, but it’s still presented in a decently high quality and does an excellent job at conveying the brand’s identity to site visitors.
Over
Youth-oriented apparel and accessories are what OVER specializes in selling.
With a minimalist layout, few words, and a large hero image taking up over half the screen, this WooCommerce website has one of the most distinctive designs we’ve seen.
Kemo Sabe
Kemo Sabe is another example of a WooCommerce site whose homepage is centered on a single hero image. They have a wide selection of high-end western wear, from coats to hats to boots to belt buckles.
In fact, Kemo Sabe goes above the typical hero image by including a backdrop video showing how one of their signature hats is made. It’s a fantastic opportunity to highlight your company’s distinctive brand personality, especially if you employ time-honored or custom manufacturing techniques.
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Love Frankie
Lamps, lampshades, artwork, mirrors, throw pillows, baskets, candles, mugs, plates, diffusers, and more are just some of the items you can buy under the Love Frankie brand name.
The Love Frankie website stood out in particular for its prominent shipment delay notification at the page’s top. They inform clients right away that lamp shades would take more time to process, but that other products in their catalogue would not be affected.
Customers today count on companies to keep them apprised of any changes in order processing or shipment times. In the event that you are experiencing delays in shipping orders, it is wise to inform your customers as soon as possible.
Karmin Professional
A popular name in the world of cosmetics, Karmin Professional is known for its wide selection of hair care tools.
Each type of goods has its own section in their online shop, and one of their best sellers is featured on the front and center.
With this design, site visitors may quickly zero in on the information they need.
Now, Let’s Scale
Now you know that you can scale a WooCommerce website, only you need to implement the right strategy, and now you also know how to do that. So, what are you waiting for? Put your best foot forward and take your online store to the sky. Just ensure these steps, and I guarantee you won’t be looking back. WooCommerce is undoubtedly a great platform for your online store. With WooCommerce, your online store can attain heights you couldn’t have dreamed of. Stop thinking and start scaling.
