But what eCommerce features are most important for the success of your website, and which eCommerce platforms can best help you achieve your goals?
Let’s explore.
There are features you must have if you’re running an online business and have an eCommerce website. In this article, we review some of the top eCommerce platforms and their features and include a full list of standard eCommerce features for all online stores and shopping cart platforms.
Many websites’ success is determined by the products offered and how well the website is marketed, the features the website provides, and both the customer and the website owner. As a business owner, it is essential to have the tools to manage your website and that the administrative features fit with your business processes. For example, if you offer payment terms to your customer, you’ll need to be sure the platform you’re using gives you the ability to set a customer’s credit limit.
WooCommerce Website Features & Overview
WooCommerce is very popular for a few reasons. First and foremost, it is a shopping cart plugin for WordPress, the most popular free CMS platform on the planet. WooCommerce is an excellent choice for smaller-budget companies and start-ups, but really shouldn’t be considered an enterprise-level solution. While it is possible to build a great WooCommerce site, it probably makes more sense to invest in a different platform if you’re looking for enterprise-level solutions. Because it’s essentially a plugin for WordPress, many of the typical benefits of WordPress apply to WooCommerce. Open-source, PHP, great plugins and development community, etc. But, for scalability, security, and frankly, to be taken seriously, you probably want to look elsewhere.
Built on WordPress
- Many Developers Available
- Lower Cost Solution
- Plug-In, Not Full Platform
- Not Enterprise Level
Every eCommerce platform has a set of SEO features built-in or plug-ins available to power the SEO side of your needs. For example, WooCommerce utilizes Yoast SEO and Shopify has a large selection of add-ons.
SEO-Friendly Website Development
Now that you’ve selected a platform that offers the SEO features you need, there’s nothing more to think about. Right? Wrong. Even though a platform can be very SEO friendly, the developer implementing your design, theme, and doing all of your coding must understand SEO. We can’t stress this enough that no matter the platform you choose if your development agency doesn’t understand SEO and the SEO implications of their work, your website will be set up for failure. The best way to make sure this happens is to hire one company to build your website and handle your SEO campaign. Designers, developers, and SEO should always be working hand-in-hand, side-by-side, throughout a website build.
Below is a breakdown of important eCommerce features by feature type.
Categories
- Search and sort to easily find categories
- Manage categories and sub-categories
- Feature categories within navigation or on the homepage
- Set categories as “active” or “inactive”
- Set page URL’s and SEO elements for categories
- Manage categories thumbnails and images
Brands
- Manage brands
- Feature brands on the homepage
- Set brands as “active” or “inactive”
- Set page URL’s and SEO elements for brands
- Manage brand logos
- Manage products associated with brands
Products
- Search and sort to easily find products in certain categories or with specific attributes
- Easily manage and edit products
- Product fields include name, SKU, product details, additional details, list price, your price, weight, stock, minimum quantity order amount, handling fee, and more.
- Ability to select options such as featured, free shipping, reviews allowed, require moderation for reviews, and more
- Add and manage main product image and additional product images
- Microsoft Word-like editor for managing content block, such as product details
- Feature products on the homepage
- Set products as “active” or “inactive”
- Add products to a single category or multiple categories
- Select product brand
- Add and manage product options and option groups
- Add and manage related products
- Add and manage accessories
- Attach and embed YouTube videos
- Manage (approve and delete) product reviews
- Set product page URL and SEO elements for products
Easily manage your content pages and your navigation.
Content Management Capabilities
Pages
- Manage content pages and create new content pages
- Edit pages using a Microsoft Word-like content editor
- Add images and manage uploaded image library
- Image editing and cropping tool
- Set page as “active” or “inactive”
- Set page URL and SEO elements
Easily manage your blog posts.
Blog
- Manage blog posts
- Set blog publish date
- Set post as “active” or “inactive”
- Add blog summary and full blog post using Microsoft Word-like content editor
- Add images and manage uploaded image library
- Select blog category and author
- Attached blog posts to product pages
- Set post URL and SEO elements
Homepage Banners
- Manage homepage banners
- Set banner sort orders
- Set banner URL or leave unlinked
- Set banners as “active” or “inactive”
Navigation
- Manage your main navigations including header, side, and footer
- Add drop-down to main navigation
- Manage SEO elements on links such as link title
- Set links to open in the same or new window
Auto Email Messages
- Manage main email template design
- Set messaging for order status emails
- Set messaging for thank you an email on product reviews and blog comment submissions
Manage automated email messages that go out to customers.
Review Management
- Manage all product reviews
- Set reviews to “approved” or delete reviews
Comment Management
- Manage all blog comments
- Set comments to “approved” or delete comments
Customer Management
Customers
- Search and sort to easily find customers by first name and last name
- Manage customer accounts
- View customer details and previous orders
- View individual customers product reviews
- Add private comments to a customer
- Delete customer accounts
- Reset customer passwords