What is the Difference Between WooCommerce and eCommerce?

Planning to establish your own online store?

If you are not able to decide what platform you should use to build your online presence, we can help you choose the right one. Whether it’s WooCommerce or eCommerce where you want to build your online presence, let us help you overcome the confusion. You can think of eCommerce as an entire shopping mall, and WooCommerce as a popular brand or store present within the mall. 

We are going to learn the difference between WooCommerce and eCommerce. 

• We will also check if WooCommerce is the right choice for your business or not. 
• We will also explore other eCommerce solutions and much more. 

So without further ado, let’s begin our article. 

What is eCommerce? 

e-Commerce, also known as, electronic commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services through electronic networks on the Internet. Previously, e-Commerce was only used for transactional purposes in the online retail market, specifically in the B2B, B2C and C2C or C2B markets. 

But fast forward to today, eCommerce has seen the rise of many emerging platforms. 

The two which are adequately famous are Amazon & eBay which have massively & substantially contributed to the growth of the online retail market. Just to give our readers a bird’s eye view, 

• Amazon.ae: In 2023, Amazon.ae reported net sales of approximately US$708.7 million.
• Noon.com: Estimates suggest that Noon’s annual revenue ranges between US$200 million to US$500 million as of January 2025. 

As of 2023, the UAE e-Commerce market was valued at AED 27.5 billion which is approximately $7.48 billion with a future projection to exceed AED 48.8 billion (approximately $13.28 billion) by 2028. 

What is WooCommerce? 

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress. 

If you’re planning to launch your own eCommerce store and WordPress is your favorite CMS, then WooCommerce is your ultimate solution. It comes with all the essential features like product listing, shopping cart functionality, secure payment gateways and even order management. 

WooCommerce is great because it offers high-end customizability, and comes with maximum support for different extensions. It’s best for small to medium-sized businesses seeking to build their eCommerce presence and guess what, you don’t even need any technical expertise for this. 

Key Differences Between eCommerce and WooCommerce

eCommerce – Platforms & Features 

Since eCommerce is an umbrella term, it constitutes a number of platforms including Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Squarespace, Shift4Shop, Wix, OpenCart, Big Cartel, Volusion, SquareOnline, and WooCommerce. Every platform is unique bringing a range of features to make your digital experience a widely accepted one. From adding a user-friendly interface to setting shopping carts and wishlists, eCommerce adds a range of interesting features. You can also add other features like order management, product management, customer account & profile management, security features, SEO and marketing tools plus shipping & delivery options. 

What Are the Main Features of an eCommerce Store?

Every eCommerce store requires a few important and user-friendly features. 

For example, you can find what you want using site search and important filters. Consider purchasing what you have in mind by browsing your favorite brand’s website and coming across your desired product. Another essential feature is payment integration for easy payment processing. 

Therefore, we are going to take a holistic approach to define the essential features.

Multiple Payment Options – A good eCommerce presence brings a variety of payment options for customer satisfaction and conversion. Having multiple payment options ensures customers can have their choice and are most comfortable with paying using their credit cards, PayPal, or any other alternative methods such as Apple Pay or cryptocurrencies. Having multiple payment gateways added to your eCommerce site will reduce cart abandonment rates and more. 

Product Reviews – Product reviews also help with building trust and influencing the overall purchase decision. It gives customers a chance to fully experience the product before purchasing anything & also enables them to make informed choices. Products with positive reviews not only improve credibility but also help with increasing SEO rankings. When you add product reviews to your eCommerce store, it will drive more organic traffic and increase your sales. 

Search Bar – Search bars are essential for eCommerce stores because it directly improves the user experience by letting customers easily find what they are searching for. With Search bars, customers can easily navigate through different pages and reduce the overall frustration of a buyer to find desired products. Search bar is well connected with every data point and ensures your search results automatically serve the right answer to any query & provide results in real-time. 

User-friendly Navigation –  When it comes to website navigation, it’s important that it must be user-friendly. A website with user-friendly navigation helps visitors to quickly find different categories, products or information without having the fear of getting completely overwhelmed. Also, a decent navigation on a website negatively impacts sales, increasing the overall bounce rate. Your customers will eventually back out from your website and not receive any user engagement. 

Product Details – Another important aspect of having a good product on your eCommerce website is to have proper details. You can start with adding complete product descriptions, specifications & features which allow customers to develop a decent understanding of what they are purchasing. Keeping all your products transparent will create a level of trust and eventually reduce the chance of any returns coming your way. Your buyers will receive exactly what they expect. 

High Quality Images – Image quality which is clear will take your customer a long way. When you have a product that is well detailed and has a proper view, it becomes easier for your eCommerce store to attract customers. Clear visuals with better quality images make online shopping a breeze. Customers feel more inclined towards coming to your online store and purchasing your products. In fact, they won’t even have to touch or try the product but they will feel inclined to purchase. 

Customer Support – Having a good quality product is a blessing, but what if something doesn’t fit right! There could be products that are not quite better in quality. And for that, you need an expert who can come to your place and replace it. But before that, you might want to contact someone with live chat, email, or phone number to ensure your customer receives better service. Good support will increase customer satisfaction, and also help sustain loyal customers building positive reputation.

WooCommerce – Platform & Features 

Another effective platform for eCommerce is WooCommerce. It’s a flexible and open-source eCommerce plugin powered by WordPress which enables institutions to create and manage online stores. WooCommerce is great for supporting a lot of things such as multiple payment gateways, customizable product pages, inventory management and implementing SEO. WooCommerce comes with a large library of extensions for you to choose from. If you’re a business owner looking to opt-in integration , shipping providers, marketing tools and analytics, WooCommerce is a powerful choice for businesses. Whether you’re small or big, WooCommerce has it all for you. 

Multiple Payment Options – WooCommerce comes with different payment options. It offers store owners to have multiple payment gateways in a single WooCommerce site. Whether you want to add PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay or want to perform bank transfer, WooCommerce has multiple options. A decent WoOCommerce store will offer an easy checkout experience & with a preferred payment method, it will create the perfect store experience for your customers. 

Product Reviews – The platform also comes with built-in product review functionality. It gives users the chance, customers to leave ratings and feedback on different products on the website. Good reviews increase the trust among readers and contribute to better SEO ranking overall. It also increases trust, improves conversion, and contributes to whatever by generating user-generated content. Product reviews are important to establish authority of your eCommerce overall. 

User Friendly Navigation – WooCommerce includes customizable menu items, useful categories and product filters which are useful. The platform also includes easy navigation for shoppers to quickly find and buy products which are available in a store. In fact, store owners are fully equipped to optimize layouts and organize products. All of this is achievable, all thanks to WooCommerce which brings greater browsing experience, one that keeps customers coming back time & again. 

Product Details – If your store is built on WooCommerce, you can add product descriptions and even include important attributes such as size, color, SKU and stock availability. There are many additional options such as download products, add subscription offers and add better pricing which altogether make WooCommerce an interesting purchase. It makes product search and buying highly versatile & interactive for customers so they choose the product of their choice and use it. 

High Quality Images – WooCommerce comes with high-resolution images. It comes with zoom functionality as well which allows users to zoom-in and check product details before purchasing anything. Whether you are looking at pictures in product galleries, finding store owners to showcase products with multiple images or just gaining a 360 degree view for a better shopping experience, good images can do the job. WooCommerce will make it possible for end-customers everywhere. 

Customer Support – The platform has an in-built Customer Support feature. With Customer Support, they can directly influence and work with customers. It can allow them to easily document everything, add reviews to community forums and set third-party purchases. With many important service plugins & features like live chat, ticketing system and automated response, you get the best customer support. It helps with WooCommerce and lets the entire setup perform adequately. 

Conclusion 

Looking to build your next-gen digital presence? Whether you’re looking for a flexible presence where you have maximum control with different customization and added features, or you’re looking for building a presence on WooCommerce, you can choose the one that fits best to your needs. Branex is a digital marketing and Ecommerce website development company where we offer solutions built-on WooCommerce. We can also build custom website solutions based on the eCommerce presence of your choice! We can provide you with a store presence which is flexible, customizable & easy integration. Branex comes with built-in solutions with the best features. Searching for the right fit? Feel free to contact our professionals to build your next-gen project.