In Digital JUMP! We work with various projects where each one has its particularities. From simple institutional websites to E-commerce with price calculators and other complexities. But in general we always repeat the same pattern in the tools we use to be able to work on our clients’ sites, in this particular case, when we work in online stores. That is why in this blog entry we want to show you what are the base tools that we use to be able to work on them.
So, what are these tools?
First of all, you have to understand that WordPress is not really prepared to develop an e-commerce or an online store. Even so, and as there is a very large community around this CMS (content management system), because it is an open source platform, we have countless plugins available that help us add functionalities to our WordPress core. These are the famous Plugins. If what we need is to develop an online store, without a doubt we will need one of these and there is one that is the most popular for electronic commerce.
- Woocommerce: It is an open source ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It is designed for small and large online merchants. Released on September 27, 2011, the plugin quickly became popular for its simplicity in installing and customizing the database of sold products. It offers a number of options to create different types of products and allows you to link to a large number of payment gateways, such as Mercadopago, Mobbex, Paypal, Payoneer, etc.
Very good! We already have our WordPress prepared to be able to sell online. However, we still need to give personality to our online store. This is where the use of themes comes into play.
- Themes: They are nothing more than pre-built website structures and in the WordPress repository there are an infinite number of them. Like the plugins, many developers participate in this open source proposal and upload their themes to said repository to share it. Some with well-defined and stylized structures that have great room for customization and optimization. There are also themes that are practically blank, which allow us to work on our design with a high level of freedom. In Digital JUMP! We believe that each brand and each client is unique, that is why we always work with custom developments and a high level of customization. This allows us to address each aspect of the site without having to suffer the limitations of pre-built themes, which sometimes do not convince us or do not fully fit our brand proposal.
We have already converted our WordPress into an online store, we personalize and stylize it by installing a theme that adapts to our brand needs. After that, we load and configure our products but… Users cannot complete the purchase because they have no way to pay for our product safely. What do we do?
- Payment gateway: Yes, we need a payment gateway. Choosing it will depend on your area or country, since each place has its own regulations. In our case we can recommend options that are reliable and that are also very popular. Likewise, it must be taken into account that stores provide more security when purchasing if they use well-known payment gateways that are part of people’s daily lives. Likewise, if you choose a payment gateway that you are not sure of its origin or popularity, you can investigate it before starting to operate with it. In our case at Digital JUMP! The payment gateways that tend to be most common with our clients are usually Mercado Pago or Mobbex, especially if what you are looking for is a means of payment in Argentine pesos. They are very easy to link and both platforms have very intuitive documentation on how to carry out the implementation in our Woocommerce. If what you are looking for is to receive international payments or use a payment method in another currency, without a doubt, we recommend PayPal since it supports any type of payments in any currency and from anywhere in the world. It is also a platform that has very intuitive documentation in this regard to be able to carry out its implementation.
Ready! With this information you can now have your online store up and running. What we must not fail to keep in mind is that this is only the base. Each online store has its particularities and requires different elements and tools. Having the online store and waiting for it to sell alone is not enough. Many more actions are necessary to encourage the purchase of products.
That’s where Digital JUMP! It is there to help you grow and generate sales. Not only do we build online stores with a high level of customization and functions, but our entire team will also work on both internal and external aspects of e-commerce that help increase your sales. So what are you waiting for? Contact us today and take the leap with us.