Many of the articles you see about WordPress plugins for online shops outline options like WooCommerce and WP Ecommerce.
This is just fine and dandy, but what about plugins beyond the scope of setting up an online store and creating products?
Both of the plugins I just mentioned work very well, and we recommend you consider them if you’re trying to make moves with a brand new store or convert your current website into something that distributes digital or physical products. However, what about WordPress plugins to use for your online shop after you’ve got your store up and running?
You’ve setup your WordPress site and now you’re trying to expand your reach and bring in more money. What are some of the plugins that can help you do that? Well, we have a few suggestions for you that will help you with your contact forms, receipts, logins, coupons and urgency.
Keep reading to learn more about these WordPress plugins, and consider evaluating your current online store situation to see if any of them can fit in your arsenal.
CaptainForm
The CaptainForm plugin is an interesting one, because you often see recommendations for options like Gravity Forms and Contact Form 7 when speaking about WordPress sites. However, these suggestions don’t usually take into consideration the fact that some of the users may have ecommerce stores. That’s why we really like CaptainForm, because it’s great for a wide variety of sites that need multiple types of forms.
As an online store owner you’ll want forms for events registration, email contact forms and more. Ecommerce shops are far more complex than regular business websites, so this flexibility is a huge advantage when playing around in the form game. Some other features to mention tie into the integrations provided by the plugin. You can connect with apps like Google Drive, MailChimp and SalesForce. The SalesForce integration is key for keeping your day to day operations in order, and the MailChimp combination serves you well when attempting to collect information about users and sending out emails afterwards. Along with support for payment processors like Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net, this plugin is one of the best you can decide on.
Receiptful
We have a full review of Receiptful right here, so if you’re interested in learning more about the plugin, we recommend taking a look at that.
Although Receiptful is not necessarily a WordPress plugin, it integrates with all types of ecommerce websites, so we also like it when combined with a WordPress operation. Overall, you get a few tools when opting for Receiptful. The first is an automated system that sends out receipts to your customers. The receipts include options for feedback, coupons, upsells and more. They look beautiful and you can go with the free option if you’re not trying to remove the Receiptful branding.
That said, the plugin provides the opportunity to brand the receipts for your own company, and the coupons in the receipt integrate directly into your WordPress shop. Not only that, but it lets you implement product recommendations in your receipts, meaning that you can try to bring people back to your store for more. The follow up emails are key to your store’s success, and the abandoned cart emails only strengthen the efforts you put into increasing the amount of money you’re making.
As I stated above, one of the plans is completely free, but you can upgrade to remove Receiptful branding and to gain access to a few more features that are extremely helpful to your own company.
Social Coupon for WordPress
Check out the Social Coupon for WordPress plugin if you’re interested in using social media to promote your business. Basically, the plugin provides special coupons for your shoppers if they are willing to share the offer, or your store website, with other people on social media. So, the coupon is hidden until the user shares it on their Facebook, Twitter or other social media site. Becoming a fan of your page is another way that people can unlock coupons, and the coupons get punched right into your shopping cart like any other coupon.
We like this one because it integrates flawlessly with the WooCommerce system, meaning that you can track how well the coupons are performing in the backend of your WordPress website. The social sharing coupons are revealed wherever you specify, such as your product pages, checkouts or homepage. The plugin supports tons of social media sites including Pinterest and LinkedIn.
Product Countdown WordPress Plugin
Scarcity is one of the biggest factors that drives people to buy items online. You’ve seen it in action on Groupon sites, so you may be wondering how exactly you can implement a timer for special deals on your own online store. Well, your problems are pretty much solved with this plugin, called the Product Countdown WordPress Plugin. The plugin is fairly simple in that you can implement it on any of your product pages.
Set the timer to countdown to a certain date, and set your prices a little lower if you want to show that deals are going fast. The pricing actually goes through this plugin, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that you would have to change the display in multiple areas. It’s really as simple as selecting a date, changing the price and activating the plugin for the world to see.
WooCommerce Social Login and Checkout
If you’re using WooCommerce, we highly recommend implementing the WooCommerce Social Login and Checkout plugin on your website. Why? Because all customers are different, so it’s nice to give some of them a chance to login with their Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts. This goes all the way through to your checkout area, so if someone logs in on your homepage, they can still checkout with the same account after buying products.
Social logins can be monitored from the backend, and all of the accounts that are created with those social logins are managed in your WordPress site. Overall, it’s a seamless integration with WordPress and WooCommerce.
Over to You…
Do you think any of these WordPress plugins could be useful for your online shop? Drop a line in the comments section below if you have any experience with them.
The post 5 Creative WordPress Plugins to Use for Your Online Shop appeared first on Design Reviver - Web Design Blog.