As an experienced ecommerce consultant, I‘ve helped dozens of online businesses maximize sales and growth with WooCommerce. Trust me when I say plugins are a must-have for getting the most value from your store.
Let me explain more…
Why WooCommerce Rules the WordPress Ecommerce Market
WooCommerce dominates as the most popular ecommerce platform for WordPress.
- Over 4 million sites have chosen WooCommerce to power their online stores
- It has nearly 43% market share, more than double all competitors combined
- Built and supported by Automattic, the same company behind WordPress
Unlike other platforms, WooCommerce delivers enterprise-level capabilities as a free, open source solution. You avoid paying monthly fees just to sell online!
Even better, WooCommerce was designed specifically for WordPress. This means you:
- Effortlessly integrate ecommerce into existing sites
- Use shared resources for smoother performance
- Get free access to WordPress‘ vast plugin ecosystem
That last point is key.
While WooCommerce itself provides all the basic ecommerce functionality out of the box, plugins unleash its true potential for customization and growth.
Hence this guide on the absolute best WooCommerce plugins worth checking out.
I‘ve personally tested dozens of options over years of managing complex ecommerce projects. Consider these my top tier recommendations for every aspect of your online store.
Let‘s dive in!
Before Installing Plugins – Word of Advice
With over 50,000+ plugins in the WordPress directory alone, things can quickly get out of hand with compatibility conflicts, performance lags and styling issues.
So I always recommend being selective and purposeful when adding plugins to any WooCommerce store.
Here are smart guidelines as you evaluate plugin options:
- Understand Needs First – List specific features lacking or areas needing improvement. Otherwise it becomes too tempting to overbuy!
- Research Compatibility – Double check plugins work with your WordPress version, theme and server configuration.
- Read the Fine Print – Confirm plugin pricing fits your budget, especially for recurring subscriptions. Free trials are your friend here.
- Check Developer Reputation – Review user ratings and determine how responsive the company is to support questions or issues reported.
- Test Performance Impact – After installing a plugin, use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to measure changes in site loading times.
- Backup Regularly – No matter how stable plugins seem, always maintain regular backups in case of conflicts or crashes down the road.
Bottom line – carefully validate new plugins before deployment and limit bloat to what‘s absolutely essential.
Now let‘s explore highly-vetted plugins guaranteed to give your store a profitable boost!
Essential WooCommerce Plugins to Handle Payments, Taxes and Shipping
Every business wants to get the basics right when it comes to taking payments, calculating taxes accurately and smoothly handling shipping and delivery.
This set of reliable plugins takes care of those non-negotiable aspects right out of the gate:
1. WooCommerce Payments
As WooCommerce‘s own fully-integrated payments processor, WooCommerce Payments should be the default choice for accepting online payments.
It boasts some impressive growth indicators since launching just a couple years ago:
- 310% increase in active merchant sites
- Processes over $5.5 billion in annual payments
- Available across 23 countries and growing
The beauty is everything gets handled seamlessly within your WordPress dashboard for:
- Accepting debit/credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Support popular local payment methods in key markets
- Single view of transactions, refunds and disputes
- Accept payments in over 140 currencies
As you scale, WooCommerce Payments also offers:
- Ability to accept bank transfers like ACH
- Fraud protection and handling chargebacks
- Multi-location inventory syncing between stores
Supported by WooCommerce developers and a major financial partner in Stripe, I highly recommend setting this up first before exploring other payment gateways.
Cost – Free; competitive 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction fee
2. EasyPost Shipping Method Plugin for WooCommerce
Figuring out shipping always proves confusing and time consuming for online sellers. EasyPost makes it painless to connect with all major carriers both domestic and international.
The EasyPost plugin superpowers your store to:
- Instantly access rates from USPS, UPS, DHL, Canada Post and more
- Print shipping labels and customs forms
- Track package delivery status
- Receive notifications on shipping related events
- Save up to 90% on shipping label costs relative to carrier retail rates
Used by over 100,000 ecommerce stores, EasyPost helps centralize order fulfillment efficiently.
You can even integrate further with EasyPost‘s suite of value-added solutions down the road:
- Wheels – Insured ground delivery network
- Returns – Online return portal to simplify RMAs
- Pickup – Schedule carrier pickups from any location
If shipping and logistics demand your time, definitely check out EasyPost.
Cost – US Shipping free up to 100 labels/month then $0.05 per label. Plus discounts on other solutions.
3. TaxJar
I can‘t emphasize enough that tax mismanagement is one of the biggest headaches online merchants face.
- Over 10,000 different sales tax jurisdictions across the United States alone!
- Tax codes constantly changing
- Requirements to file regular sales tax returns
TaxJar is the leading tax automation platform designed for ecommerce stores to:
- Automatically calculate sales taxes at checkout
- Supports rules across the US, Canada, EU regions and more
- Syncs customer transaction data needed for tax reports
- 1-click filing of tax returns
- Direct integration for accounting software like QuickBooks
Used by over 26,000 merchants, I strongly advise using TaxJar or comparable tax automation software. It saves mountains of pain dealing with compliance obligations across regions.
Cost – Starts at $17/month with bigger discounts for annual subscriptions
That wraps up the non-negotiable plugins to introduce early on. Let‘s tackle how to amplify marketing next.
Grow Your Store‘s Reach with Marketing and Analytics Plugins
Beyond core operations, investing in marketing and analytics remains crucial for customer acquisition and long term loyalty.
Here are proven plugins to maximize reach and provide data-driven insights:
4. Google Analytics + Google Ads Conversion Tracking
When it comes to understanding overall site performance and monitoring conversions, Google Analytics has no equal despite privacy-focused alternatives emerging.
Some behavior patterns revealed:
- 33% of visitors spend only 15 seconds on a website before leaving
- ecommerce conversion rates average between 2-5% across industries
- Saturdays have 30% less traffic compared to weekdays
With Google Analytics installed, observing trends like this becomes second nature. Key perks include:
- Granular segmentation – Filter data by traffic source, location, technology used
- Custom dashboards – Focus only on key metrics like revenue, transactions etc.
- Actionable insights – See abandoned carts, popular pages, conversion dropoffs
- Universal + cross-domain tracking – Monitor user behavior across devices and sites
Additionally, the Google Ads conversion tracking plugin connects your Google Ads account with Analytics. This enables:
- Tracking conversions from paid traffic sources
- Importing cost data for ROI analysis
- Isolating high performance campaigns
If you use Google Ads and Analytics together, make sure to get the conversions plugin installed too!
Cost: Free
5. Yotpo Social Reviews
Social proof in the form of reviews, photos and Q&As influence over $23 billion in annual online spending!
Yotpo makes it easy to showcase authentic customer content by:
- Email collection of visual reviews
- Curating UGC for Instagram and Google
- Moderating and responding to questions
- Integrating ratings everywhere – product pages, search, ads, email, SMS
I advise Yotpo for the impact of user generated content on both new customer trust and existing buyer relationships.
Some persuasive data points:
- 68% more site traffic from rich product information
- 32% higher conversion rates with user images
- 9% repeat purchase uptick with Q&A integration
Cost – Free up to 100 SKUs, then from $99/month
Advanced WooCommerce Customization Plugins
While many stores can operate fine with core WooCommerce, power users gain advantages customizing experiences further for differentiation.
I rely frequently on these plugins for unlocking new product capabilities, tailoring checkout flows better, and mapping custom integrations.
6. Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
For personalized product organization or specialized interfaces, Advanced Custom Fields enables unlimited flexibility to:
- Create custom fields for products, categories or globally
- Add custom admin interfaces, forms andhendpoints
- Extend core WordPress metadata for central models
- Design custom site functionality without coding
ACF opens creative doors without touching core code – perfect for marketers, designers and non-developers.
Over 5 million WordPress installs and a 4.8/5 rating cement ACF as my go-to for modelling custom experiences.
Cost – Free personal version – Pro $249 for premium support and updates
7. WooCommerce Functionality Plugins by SkyVerge
Countless merchants rely on SkyVerge to build reliable WooCommerce extensions. I appreciate their transparent approach and a la carte business model.
Instead of huge feature packed commercial plugins, SkyVerge lets you only pay for specific functionalities wanted.
I often use their plugins for:
- Custom order statuses
- Product bundles
- Subscriptions and memberships
- Dynamic pricing controls
- Integrations like Xero, Recharge, Zapier
With over 1.5 million active installs, SkyVerge removes gaps in core WooCommerce at fair prices.
Cost – Free – $79 per plugin
8. Product Add-ons Ultimate
For conveying product variations, customizations and upgrades during checkout, I advocate for Product Add-ons Ultimate.
It makes it simple to:
- Define radio, checkboxes, multi-select, text options
- Calculate extra pricing from selections
- Set conditional rules to show fields
- Inventory deductions and reporting
This replaces messy workarounds I‘ve seen merchants create over the years just to show variable products with custom inputs.
Product Add-ons Ultimate streamlines the process tremendously – plus works nicely with ACF if needing additional custom fields.
Cost – $129 one time payment
Now let‘s shift gears to a category many tend to overlook…site security protections.
Lockdown Security and Performance with Essential Plugins
With growing reliance on ecommerce stores, it‘s a necessity to lock things down both for security and optimized performance.
Here are my top plugins to bulletproof stores:
9. iThemes Security
Hardening WordPress security is no joke – over 70 million intrusion attempts blocked by WordFence firewall monthly!
That‘s why iThemes Security belongs in every site toolkit with protections like:
- System lockdown blocking bad queries
- Disable trackbacks and suspicious requests
- Stealth mode to hide admin URLs
- Sophisticated user permission management
- Two factor authentication options
Used by over 1 million WordPress sites, iThemes Security offers both free and paid plans to implement defense in depth.
I sleep better knowing this is watching my back on client sites!
Cost – Free or Pro $99/year
10. WP Rocket
With page load times being a ranking factor now in Google, optimizing site speed matters both for organic visibility and reducing visitor bounce rates.
WP Rocket works to:
- Minimize code bloat from plugins/themes
- Enable browser caching and lazy loading
- Compress images down to sane resolutions
- Eliminate render blocking resources
Their optimization shaves off an average of 62% in page size leading to much snappier sites.
Plus with deep WooCommerce integration, you safeguard checkout and product pages performing excellently.
Cost – $49-$299 based on site traffic
Final Thoughts – Take Advantage of the WooCommerce Ecosystem
I hope surveying these highly vetted plugins gives inspiration on capabilities to enhance your WordPress powered WooCommerce store.
Remember – start with strategic needs first before getting plugin happy! Compatibility and performance testing is a must during evaluation.
WooCommerce‘s greatest asset lies in the massive WordPress ecosystem continually pushing innovations via plugins and themes.
Now that you know my tips and favorites, leverage this ecosystem judiciously to drive results selling online!
Leave any questions below – eager to hear what plugins become part of your next winning store.
